What a vintage Thanksgiving menu looked like before canned cranberry sauce (1890s -1950s)

Categories: 1800s, 1900s, 1930s, 1950s, Vintage Thanksgiving

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Vintage Thanksgiving menus: What people were having for their holiday dinner from the 1890s through the 1950s

Thanksgiving has always been about the food, but when you look at a vintage Thanksgiving menu from decades past, you’ll see just how much more formal and elaborate the holiday meal used to be. Long before green bean casserole and canned cranberry sauce became common sights, Thanksgiving dinners were multi-course affairs that could rival high-end banquets. Hotel dining rooms and railroad dining cars offered menus packed with dishes that may surprise a modern audience.

The restaurant at New York City's Waldorf Hotel in 1903 — The Waldorf Restaurant. Thirty-third Street corner. Particular attention is called to the exquisite brass work and paneling.

Back in the late 1800s, Thanksgiving dinner was often a show of regional pride and culinary ambition. You might find oysters served every which way, terrapin stewed in Maryland style, or roast suckling pig with apple sauce. Turkey was certainly a staple, usually paired with rich chestnut stuffing and cranberry sauce made from scratch. But the main course was rarely the only star. Filet of beef, roast pheasant with truffle sauce, and broiled salmon with hollandaise were common companions. These meals transcended holiday tradition, showcasing the best ingredients available, prepared with a kind of grandeur you don’t often see today.

Menus from hotels in the 1890s and early 1900s often stretched to 30 or more items. The variety of vegetables alone was impressive: duchess potatoes, fried sweet potatoes, asparagus on toast, and cauliflower in cream sauce. Relishes, salads, and sauces each had their place. And dessert? That was a production in itself. Pumpkin pie and mince pie appeared on nearly every menu, but they shared space with plum pudding, fancy cakes, fruit, nuts, and even tutti frutti ice cream. Some meals closed with a demi-tasse of coffee and cheese and crackers, all served in elegant settings with formal service.

As the decades rolled on, Thanksgiving menus shifted to reflect the changing pace of American life. The 1930s brought simpler presentations but kept key traditions intact. By the 1950s, turkey still ruled the table, but hotel menus had trimmed down the options. Even so, many still offered punch, pickles, multiple kinds of pie, and ice cream. The holiday meal continued to be seen as a special occasion that called for more than a standard dinner.

Below we’ve pulled together a collection of real vintage Thanksgiving menus from the 1890s through the 1950s to show what people were actually eating during the holiday in different eras. These menus, often printed in ornate type and served in grand hotels or aboard passenger trains, give a clear look at how the Thanksgiving meal has evolved. From Victorian extravagance to those mid-century classics that are much more familiar to us today, they help tell the story of how Americans have celebrated Thanksgiving over time.

Thanksgiving Day dinner at Logan House, Altoona, Pennsylvania (1898)

BLUE POINTS
GAME, A LA ST. GEORGE – CLEAR GUMBO, CREOLE
RUSSIAN CAVIAR
QUEEN OLIVES, CELERY, SWEET PICKLES, SALTED ALMONDS
STRIPED BASS, EN BELLEVUE
POTATO MONACO, SLICED CUCUMBERS
FILET OF BEEF, AUX CHAMPIGNONS
POTATO CROQUETTE
ROAST YOUNG PIG, STUFFED, APPLE SAUCE
STEWED TOMATOES CANDIED SWEET POTATOES
STEWED TERRAPIN, MARYLAND
SARATOGA POTATOES
ROAST PHEASANT, LARDED, TRUFFLE SAUCE
FROZEN EGG NOGG
ROAST TURKEY, CHESTNUT DRESSING
CRANBERRY SAUCE, ASPARAGUS ON TOAST
LETTUCE MAYONNAISE
PLUM PUDDING, HARD AND BRANDY SAUCE
MINCE PIE, PUMPKIN PIE
NEAPOLITAN CAKE, GLACE JELLY, MACAROONS
CHAMPIGNONS, VICTORIA KISSES, ASSORTED CAKES
TUTTI FRUTTI ICE CREAM, RHINE WINE JELLY
NUTS AND RAISINS, FRUIT
CHEESE AND CRACKERS
COFFEE

Victorian Thanksgiving dinner menu from the train – Chicago and North Western Transportation Company (1899)

ALSO SEE Pumpkin pie with molasses: 5 old-fashioned & delicious recipes

Thanksgiving dinner menu from the Majestic Hotel (1899)

Antique Victorian Thanksgiving dinner menu from the Plaza Hotel (1899)

Antique Victorian Thanksgiving dinner menu on a train car (1900)

Dining car service on the Philadelphia & Reading Railway, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad, and the Central Railroad of New Jersey

Thanksgiving day dinner at Hotel Roanoke, Virginia (1895)

CONSOMME DESLIGNAC GREEN TURTLE Au QUEENELLE
SPANISH OLIVES KALAMAZOO CELERY
BOILED PENOBSCOT SALMON MONTMORENCY
POTATOES DUCHESS
BOILED SMITHFIELD HAM SAUCE MADEIRA
PHILADELPHIA CAPON TRUFFLE SAUCE
PRIMERIBS OF NEW YORK BEEF
TURKEY STUFFED WITH CHESTNUTS CRANBERRY SAUCE
SUCKLING PIG WITH APPLE SAUCE
DIAMOND BACK TERRAPIN MARYLAND STYLE
SWEETBREADS PIQUE CHAMPIGNON QUEEN FRITTERS AU VANILLA
MASHED POTATOES CAULIFLOWER CREAM SAUCE
ASPARAGUS ON TOAST FRIED SWEET POTATOES
FRENCH PEAS
CHICKEN SALAD LETTUCE MAYONNAISE
SORBET A LA ROMAINE

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Thanksgiving day dinner at Great Southern Fireproof Hotel in Columbus, Ohio (1898)

Thanksgiving menu from City Hotel in Worcester Mass (1898)

OYSTER COCKTAILS
TOMATO WITH TOAST CONSOMME OF CHICKEN
BOILED PENOBSCOT SALMON—Hollandaise Sauce, Green Peas
BOILED FRESH BEEF–Horseradish Sauce, Brussel’s Sprouts
ROAST YOUNG VERMONT TURKEY—Cranberry Sauce
SADDLE OF VENISON—Currant Jelly
BARON OF BEEF with Fresh Mushrooms
BAKED CHICKEN PIE—New England Style
PINE APPLE FRITTERS—Maderia Sauce
VEGETABLES: Celery, Mashed Turnips, Mashed Potatoes, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Squash, Green Peas
RELISHES: Worcestershire Sauce, Grape Catsup, Tomato Catsup
Mrs Kessel’s Pumpkin Pie Apple Pie Mince Pie
ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING—Brandy Sauce
Young America Cheese – Water Crackers
Tea, Coffee, Milk, New Sweet Cider
Oranges, Bananas, Layer Raisins, California Grapes

ALSO SEE Want old-fashioned plum pudding? Try 3 rich & delicious classic recipes

Occidental Hotel – San Francisco 1891

Savoy Hotel Thanksgiving Menu – Philadelphia (1900)

Park Avenue Hotel – Thanksgiving menu 1900

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Thanksgiving dinner held by The New Yorker at Terrace Restaurant — New York 1930

Eaton’s Thanksgiving dinner $1 menu (1937)

Hotel Duane Thanksgiving dinner menu (1941)

Thanksgiving dinner at Savoy Plaza, New York (c1950)

Waldorf-Astoria hotel holiday menu (1956)

ALSO SEE Take a trip back to New York's original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in 1903 & see inside this famously luxurious old hotel

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Thanksgiving dinner menu from Knott Hotels (1924)

CELERY SALTED ALMONDS OLIVES
LYNNHAVENS
CREAM OF CORN, CLEAR CONSOMME
BOILED SALMON, HOLLANDAISE
FILET MIGNON
ROAST VERMONT TURKEY
CRANBERRY SAUCE, CHESTNUT STUFFING
MASHED OR BOILED POTATOES, CANDIED SWEET POTATOES
BOILED WHITE ONIONS, NEW SPINACH
THANKSGIVING PUNCH
FLORIDA SALAD
FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM, ASSORTED CAKES
MINCE PIE, HOT OR COLD PUMPKIN PIE
NUTS AND RAISINS, CHEESE AND CRACKERS
DEMI-TASSE

Vintage Thanksgiving dinner menu – Hotel Gramercy Park NYC (1955)

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