What’s Been Left from the Menu? Savory Treats from Three World’s Fairs
In the early stages of contemplating and organizing an installation, a curator creates a checklist of all the materials that might potentially be included in the exhibit. Inevitably, this list is whittled down as certain themes are highlighted and others are dropped from consideration. Today’s post will focus on one of those dead ends, and on some of those materials excised from the What’s On the Menu? installations currently on display at The Wolfsonian museum.
Thanks to some promised gifts and loans from library supporter and board member, Vicki Gold Levi, and a wealth of materials from the Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection, I had lots of items from which to choose. Early in the curatorial process, I had identified a set of world’s fair-related menus and recipes. Ultimately, these items were not included in the installation. Still, I thought some of these menus to be visually and thematically savory enough to merit highlighting them in another venue.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
In reviewing the menu cover illustrations and other associated promotional materials produced for the 1933-34 Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago, the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair, and the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco I noticed that few, if any, relied primarily on images of food. Rather, most of the artwork focused on iconic world’s fair structures.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Vicki Gold Levi Promised Gift
The Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago became famous for showcasing spectacular aerial feats. Some fairgoers witnessed Italian aviator, Italo Balbo and his squadron of seaplanes splash down in Lake Michigan after crossing the Atlantic; others strained their necks to gape at the airplanes and airships flying restlessly overhead; still other guests ascended the towers of the Sky Ride and boarded cable cars to get their own bird’s eye view of the fairgrounds and pavilions.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Vicki Gold Levi Promised Gift
The Chicago World’s fair was also renowned for unveiling tall and sleek structures in the Art Deco and Modernist styles. The cover of a menu designed for the Gas Industries pavilion and restaurant perfectly reflects the new architecture promoted at the fair.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Vicki Gold Levi Promised Gift
A menu designed for the New York Central railway line connecting East and West Coasts pictured the main pavilions of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island on its cover.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Promised Gift
The Borden Food Corporation provided visitors to their pavilion at the 1939-40 New York World’s Fair with a booklet providing 108 recipes. While the menu includes an image of their exhibition building, it was relegated to the background while their company logo, Elsie the cow, dominated the cover, looking more like a poster child for mad cow disease!
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection
By far, the most iconic and recognizable structure built for the 1939-40 New York World’s fair was the Tryon and Perisphere; its image became so ubiquitous a promotional emblem that it served as a virtual logo of the exhibition.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Gift of Francis Xavier Luca & Clara Helena Palacio Luca
The towering obelisk and colossal sphere were prominently featured on the covers of menus ranging from those printed by restaurant facilities from the popular midway entertainment section of the fair to an exclusive dining menu commemorating a fete arranged for the commissioners of foreign pavilions.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Vicki Gold Levi Promised Gifts
Some world’s fair menu covers celebrated the cultural traditions of the foreign participants similar to the way that Epcot Center does so at the Disney World theme park. Fairgoers visiting the garden café outside the Vienna pavilion at the Chicago fair could read from a menu whose cover illustration captured the romance of a Viennese waltz.
Patrons of the New York World’s Fair (1939-40) might enter the Three Crowns Restaurant in the Swedish pavilion and choice from a menu with a cover featuring a blonde woman and children in native dress. Surprisingly, the menu offered only three traditional Swedish dishes!
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Vicki Gold Levi Promised Gift
World’s fair organizers assumed that persons attending the expositions would get thirsty as well as hungry and as U.S. Prohibition ended in 1933, concessions were granted for beer. The Old Heidelberg Inn printed a die-cut beverage menu shaped like an old-fashioned German beer stein for the 1933-1934 Chicago world’s fair.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Vicki Gold Levi Promised Gift
The Shaffer Center at the 1939 New York World’s Fair also alluded to the company’s long history of brewing beer on the cover of its beverage menu, with smiling characters from historical epochs raising their glasses in a toast.
The Wolfsonian–FIU, Vicki Gold Levi Promised Gift
While none of these items are included in the What’s On the Menu? installation, there are plenty of other beautifully illustrated menu covers and associated ephemera presently on display at The Wolfsonian that residents and visitors to South Florida can peruse in person.
Bon appétit.
Wolfsonian-FIU Library 