What they wrote

I was hoping that people sending postcards of restaurants would have mentioned the food they ate in those places. That rarely happened. What was far more likely was that they would say when they were returning from their trips.

What had put the idea about mentions of food into my mind was the message on the back of one of the linen postcards from my last post. That was the card from Burdick’s Drive-In Restaurant that pictured French-fried shrimp on a plate seemingly floating in the sky over the building. As shown above, the message on the back was far from flattering.

But that was not the average kind of message. When visitors did write something about a place’s food, it tended to be quite positive. In other cases, they did not mention food at all but enthused about other aspects of eating places.

Reuben’s, New York City, 1941 – “Your mother ate all of her sandwich – Believe it or not – P.S. I ate two”

Clifton’s Brookdale, Los Angeles, 1946 – “A very odd restaurant where we had lunch today.”

Cocoanut Grove, Los Angeles, 1930s – “Helped close this place up lat night. Movie stars all over the place.”

Old Castle Inn, Miami, 1945 – “Ate here this noon. Very good. They had Milles Knackwurst on the menu – but we didn’t have that.”

The Steak House, Chicago, 1947 – ‘Had a wonderful feed. Cracker & milk. Believe it or not. 18 in the party, nice fun.

Oltz House, eight miles west of St. Louis, 1942 – “Dennis Boy – How you would love the chow here. Boy, is it good and the quantity likewise is something.”

Don’s Sea Food, Seattle, 1936 – “Am lunching or dining at this place. High powered.”

Town and Country Restaurant Sirloin Room, Dallas, 1956 – “Ate here before theatre. What a wonderful place! Robby and I both had the Sirloin Steak dinner for two. 2½” thick!!!”

Di Maggio’s, San Francisco, 1951 – We ate here at Joe Di Maggio’s place it’s beautiful. The best fish I ever ate.”

The Victor Hugo Restaurant, Beverly Hills, California, 1939: “Just finished having lunch at Victor Hugo’s. It really takes your breath away. This is a grand country.

Gibby’s, Chicago, 1949 – “We’re waiting here to have our dinner! It’s 11:45 P.M. and we’ve ordered Fillet Mignon.”