Minaki Lodge 1954 Menu

In 1914, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway built a hotel in Minaki, a resort area in northwestern Ontario. The hotel burned to the ground in 1925, and Grand Trunk successor Canadian National rebuilt it into a major lodge that opened in 1927. CN continued to operate it until the year after this menu was issued, when it sold it to a real estate company. The hotel then went through a succession of owners including the Ontario government, which spent $50 million renovating it only to sell it for $4 million. In 2003, it burned to the ground again and, since the owner at the time lacked insurance, has not been rebuilt.

Click image to download a 1.6-MB PDF of this menu.

This is a dining car menu, not from the hotel. One side says, “Dining Car Service” and lists a la carte items; the other side lists non-alcoholic beverages, cigars, and cigarettes. There’s no indication whether this is for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, though it does say “See Table d’hôte Menu” (which isn’t included) for other items. While there are plenty of egg dishes on the menu, it also has sandwiches, salads, and vegetables, so I suspect it is a lunch menu. I’m dating this to 1954 solely because of a handwritten note reading “July 17, 1954.”


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