Nostalgia & History > Weekend garage sale find

You just never know what you are going to find out there!  Denver Union Station restaurant menu from 1950. 
I like the railroad theme graphics and dig those prices!   Anybody ever eat at that restaurant?

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I'm a retired printer. It is nice to be reminded just how primitive printing was in those days. I started in 1954 and retired in 2007. Saw a lot of changes.
Bill Pyper
Salem, OR
 

Note the 1950 dinner menu price sequence.  Fresh halibut is the one of the two cheapest choices.  Half a spring chicken (which was signficantly smaller than today's 5-lb "normal supermarket size" chickens) is almost as expensive as prime rib! 

Nowadays chicken would be one of the the cheapest entrees, thanks to subsidized grain prices, whereas wild halibut is increasingly rare and expensive, routinely retailing for over $20.00 per pound.

Every entree is reminiscent of the days when railroad dining cars routinely served superb meals featuring the best ingredients available.

- Doug Debs

Ate there many times, when we would meet the eastbound Portland Rose to pick up my aunt, who was returning from teaching in Seattle, for summer break.  Would arrive early,  have a meal.  Enjoyed the bustle of the station, back when there were many named trains all through the day.  Always liked the food, but whaddaya expect from a ten-year old?

2015 inflation calculations - 1950 prices in 2015 prices:

Prime Rib: $19.78
NY Steak: $27.19
Filet Mignon:  $27.19
1/2 Chicken: $17.31
Shrimp:  $16.32
Halibut:  $12.36
Spaghetti:  $12.36
Caboose Club: $9.89

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

I had lunch there often in the late 70's, was the one of the boiler operators at the Grandes Burnham shops and had a part time gig at Downtown Hobbies, Left the hobby shop at 1:30, had lunch and did the second shift at the power house.

Yes, Woody, I have been there many times. I have also eaten right where your office is now. wag216

Nice price updates. Railroad depots especially in larger cities were generally not the cheapest prices around.

They sort of had a captive audience and higher property values even if the railroads might subsidize that.

I am not sure one could beat those 2015 prices in Downtown Denver these days, though.

Posted from iPhone

I remember eating at the lunch counter in Denver Union Station which lasted until "the end."

wag216 Wrote:
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> Yes, Woody, I have been there many times. I have
> also eaten right where your office is now. wag216

This menu was from a guys collection of literally thousands of menus from restaurants all over the world.
Not sure of the guys name, but he was from Wichita.  Also have one from the DUS "Continental Room".

I appreciate the stylized representation of the Big Ten Curve.
...Lorenzo

I was going to mention the same thing.  According to the Beaureau of Labor Statistics ( http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=.85&year1=1950&year2=2015 ), that $.85 Ommelette is priced at $8.41, which is an absolutely reasonable price by today's standards, if not a bit high.

- Jeff Carlson

webmaster Wrote:
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> 2015 inflation calculations - 1950 prices in 2015
> prices:
>
> Prime Rib: $19.78
> NY Steak: $27.19
> Filet Mignon:  $27.19
> 1/2 Chicken: $17.31
> Shrimp:  $16.32
> Halibut:  $12.36
> Spaghetti:  $12.36
> Caboose Club: $9.89
>
>  

Using those old vs. current prices, the average annual rate of inflation works out to 3.59%.

Thus a simple Athearn HO car kit selling then for 98 cents would today retail for $9.70. Is the HO kit the same quality now as then? Hard to compare restaurant prices, but I'm betting that Denver restaurant was a bit nicer than the typical coffee shop.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/15 21:26 by Westbound.