Southern Pacific probably had menu series before 1932, but the earliest I have date to that year. Many SP menus, particularly those in the Golden Gate Expo series and the Color Photo series, were flimsier and smaller that those used on other western railroads.
Aside from the 49er series, the series shown here exclude the menus used on the various Chicago-San Francisco trains that that I’ve shown with Union Pacific menus. Also excluded are the Chicago-Los Angeles Golden State menus as these all had a nearly identical cover and therefore don’t count as a series.
If you know of any menus or entire menu series that aren’t included below, please let me know. If you have such a menu or menus and a scanner, please send me scans. Thanks.
Michel Kady Series
Michel Kady (1901-1977) was a Bay Area commercial artist who also did some posters for Southern Pacific as well as work for Standard Oil of California and other California companies. His paintings on these menus use just a few colors to convey some beautiful scenes. All of the menus I’ve seen in this series were for special tours or trains and it is likely that these menus were reserved for such trains.
 1932 Menu |  1932 Menu |  1934 Menu |
 1934 Menu |  1934 Menu |  1934 Menu |
Brochure Series
These menus folded into thirds like a brochure and was printed on flimsy paper. One side had the front cover, a back cover ad for some train or destination, and an inside flap showing an SP locomotive or sight. The other side had the menu with table d’hôte in the middle, a la carte on the left side, and beverages on the right.
 1934 Menu |  1934 Menu |  1935 Menu |
SP had several menus in this series. Others that I’ve seen advertised air conditioning (shown on the Texas Compound web site), California desert resorts, tours through Mexico, and Mazatlan. The menus I’ve found that have dates are from 1933 through 1935.
At least some of the Brochure series weren’t menus at all but merely advertisements for the dining car. These have a stamp saying, “This Sample Menu illustrates the type of service offered in dining car attached to this train, but not the exact dishes being served today.” However, others are clearly marked for certain trains or tour groups.
Black-and-White Photo Series
Most of these menus, which date from 1935 through 1938, have a wide photo that wraps around to the back cover, but a couple have separate photos on the front and back covers. Like the Michel Kady series, every menu in this style that I’ve seen was used for a tour group, so these may not have ever been offered to regular dining car patrons. I am missing at least one menu in this series which shows the Alamo on the front and a New Orleans courtyard on the back.
 1935 Menu |  1936 Menu |  1938 Menu |
 1938 Menu |  1938 Menu |  1938 Menu |
 1938 Menu |  1938 Menu |
Icon Series
All of these menus have an icon in the shape of a circle on the cover representing some important site or destination along the SP. These icons were printed in different earth tones, and any given icon might appear in any or all of the earth tones. Printed on heavier stock that most SP menus, these may be the most distinguished menus used by the railroad. Yet they were apparently used only in 1937 and 1938.
 1937 Menu |  1937 Menu |  1937 Menu |
 1937 Menu |  1937 Menu |  1937 Menu |
 1937 Menu |  1937 Menu |  1937 Menu |
 1938 Menu |  1938 Menu |  Missing |
Golden Gate Exposition Series
For 1939 (and probably 1940), SP menus advertised the Golden Gate Exposition with these menus. Most of the images on the covers exaggerated the colors of the buildings at the expo, which were mostly built of white concrete. Like the Brochure series, these menus were printed on flimsy paper.
 1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |
 1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |
 1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |
 1939 Menu |
49er Series
To serve extra traffic generated by the Golden Gate Exposition, Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Chicago & North Western added a train called the 49er. The menus for this train, most of which featured a woodcut showing a historic scene from the Gold Rush era, were printed on stiffer paper than the Golden Gate Expo series. In addition to the five in my collection, I’m showing one menu that I’ve identified; click on the image for a larger view.
 1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |
 1939 Menu |  1939 Menu |  Missing |
Color Photo Series
After the Golden Gate Expo and through about 1950, SP used a series of menus printed on flimsy paper with color photos on the front covers. These menus were slightly larger than a sheet of 8-1/2″x11″ paper folded in half. I’m pretty sure the fifteen menus shown here are all of the menus in the series.
 1940 Menu |  1940 Menu |  1940 Menu |
 1940 Menu |  1940 Menu |  1940 Menu |
 1941 Menu |  1941 Menu |  1941 Menu |
 1942 Menu |  1946 Menu |  1947 Menu |
 1949 Menu |  1950 Menu |  1950 Menu |
Audubon Series
The Sunset Limited was SP’s premiere train and the only transcontinental train that it offered that it didn’t share with Union Pacific or Rock Island. So this train had its own menu series. This series gets its name from the backs of the menus, all of which discuss the famous bird painter, who is also shown (in cartoon format) painting the crane in the third menu. All of the menus I’ve found in this series are dated in the 1960s; I don’t know what menus the train used in the 1950s.
 1962 Menu |  1962 Menu |  1964 Menu |