Help Assemble a History of Food
Maybe growing up you heard some elders gripe, “We remember when you could buy a sandwich for thirty-five cents!” and you weren’t sure if they were full of bologna (the elders or the sandwiches). Well, the New York Public Library is building a tremendous database of historical menus called “What’s on the Menu?” where you will be able to find the answers to both. But if you want to know the price of Blue Point oysters in Cleveland in 1900 (25 cents a dozen) then they could use your help.
Their impressive collection contains about 40,000 menus from the 1840s to now and about 10 thousand of those are already scanned. But in order to make the database truly useful, they need the specific dishes and prices listed on the menus cataloged by anyone willing to participate in the project. Then people can finally settle a bet with the dude named Barry who’s always at the bar down the street as to whether there was ever a restaurant called Pabst Blue Ribbon. There was, and they served “Boneless Pig’s Feet, a la Vinaigrette” for 30 cents. I guess I owe you five bucks, Barry.
Find out more about the project and how you can participate at the What’s on the Menu? website.
(Photo: Handwritten menu from Nippon Yusen Kaisha, September 13, 1900)