It is well known that travel in the 1950s and 60s in America was highlighted by decadence. Everyone has seen the ads for airplane luxuries like cocktail lounges and sleeping sections—unfathomable to the contemporary air traveler in America—but the railroad had just as much luxury. In the AHC’s Paul Victor De Ford collection, meticulous records of rail menus have been preserved for us to look at.
It is important to note that rails hadn’t always had food on them, and in fact the creation of a food cart was such a revolution that it changed the way that rails functioned. Before meal carts, it wasn’t uncommon for passengers to stop for food during short stops (30 minutes), but it also wasn’t uncommon for them to miss the departure and be forgotten by the rails, leaving them stranded without their luggage.
The creation of the luxurious food cart can be chalked up to one man: Fred Harvey. Fred Harvey worked with the Santa Fe Railway to create a food cart that would elevate the experience of the ride. He originally pitched the idea to another railway but was turned down. His close connection to the CEO of the Santa Fe Railway also helped him get a sweetheart deal he likely wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere.
Harvey’s company hired attractive young women to run the front of the cart. These employees were called Harvey Girls, which even inspired a movie with Judy Garland in 1946. To become a Harvey Girl was to achieve high status as a young lady. Harvey Girls were often highly sought after by suitors, and the girls were paid very handsomely for their time and received free meals, housing, and even laundry.
In the De Ford collection, the average price of a morning cup of coffee (from 1946–1972) was only 32 cents. If you wanted some eggs for breakfast, you’d spend about $1.12 on average. But there were some choices that were a little more unique, like the Southern Pacific’s 40 cent stewed prunes, or the luxury Golden State liner’s kippered herring on toast, or shirred eggs with chicken liver. Safe to say there was something for everyone!
If you were looking at getting any other beverage, you were in for a treat too. You could purchase the obvious—sodas, juices, and teas—but there were also some rarer finds. One example is medication-based drinks like laxative water and Bromo seltzer, which contain aspirin for headaches and stomach issues, both for 25 cents. Cordials could range from 75 cents to $1.35. Hard liquors like whisky and gin were around the same price.
For lunch or dinner, there were some common options. Almost every meal was a protein, vegetable, and other side like a bread roll or starch. You could also get a la carte options like hot broth for 15 cents, salad for 30 cents, and crackers for 10 cents. Steak and chicken were the most common mains, with vegetables being whatever was in season. Potatoes came in many shapes and forms like lyonnaise (which is thinly sliced with butter and parsley), persillade (fried cubed potatoes in butter and herbs), Delmonico, mashed, and even french fries in the later rail rides. Cottage cheese was also a common side one could order. For pescatarians, there were imported sardines and even Beluga caviar for a steep $2.35.
Contributed by AHC Photo Intern Beck Lambert