Caviar and hot dogs on the same menu! I guess they had to cater to all tastes!
What? No Pancakes Barbara?
by Anonymous | reply 1 | March 18, 2023 7:27 AM |
I don't see Pepsi-Cola on the menu. We need to do something about that.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | March 18, 2023 7:27 AM |
Caviar for under a dollar.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | March 18, 2023 7:28 AM |
No hamburger?
by Anonymous | reply 4 | March 18, 2023 7:31 AM |
It would be about $18 today.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | March 18, 2023 7:31 AM |
^For the caviar
by Anonymous | reply 6 | March 18, 2023 7:31 AM |
Maybe hamburgers were too German.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | March 18, 2023 7:32 AM |
Southern fried chicken with corn fritters? Sign me up.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | March 18, 2023 7:34 AM |
You need to multiply all the prices by 20 to adjust for inflation.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | March 18, 2023 7:41 AM |
You could order sauerkraut juice, but the hot dogs came with "liberty cabbage."
by Anonymous | reply 10 | March 18, 2023 7:42 AM |
I'm always reaching for a refreshing glass of kraut juice!đ€ź
by Anonymous | reply 11 | March 18, 2023 7:46 AM |
I donât see âBeaver de Betteâ listed anywhere on the menu. It was had by nearly everyone at Warners on a near daily basis. I guess that since it was free, it wasnât listed on the dining menu.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | March 18, 2023 7:50 AM |
Iâll take Little Pig Sausage, Sno Sho potatoes, dark Piels beer, and a butterscotch sundae.
Iâll then burst out of my costume and get put on suspension till I slim down.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | March 18, 2023 7:59 AM |
Is this why they had to put Judy on Amphetimines?
by Anonymous | reply 14 | March 18, 2023 8:08 AM |
^^^Never mind! Judy was MGM.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | March 18, 2023 8:13 AM |
[Quote] till I slim down.
It's the sleeping cure for you.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | March 18, 2023 8:18 AM |
The half an avocado cost 45 cents.
That's not too far off what you can sometimes find avocados at retail right now. Just the other day, they were .68 a piece at the Walmart Grocery Store, and those were fairly decent size Haas (generally preferred). Back in the 40s in California they were more than likely the Fuerte type.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | March 18, 2023 8:34 AM |
That's a pretty extensive menu, especially for wartime. How did Warner Brothers get around rationing?
Manager's Special: peanut butter, baked ham, and chicken. Hmm.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | March 18, 2023 8:55 AM |
The US didn't get involved in the war until December 1941.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | March 18, 2023 8:58 AM |
Rationing came after 1941.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | March 18, 2023 9:05 AM |
.âImagine having to work with all those people who washed down their sardine sandwich lunches with kraut juice. No thanks! Just reading the menu is enough to give one terrible halitosis and a bad case of the gout.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | March 18, 2023 9:29 AM |
How delightfully working class!
And such hearty foods...
It's no wonder poor Bette's low bosom always rested on her distended belly.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | March 18, 2023 10:27 AM |
A hot chicken liver sandwich. Yum
by Anonymous | reply 23 | March 18, 2023 10:36 AM |
The chicken liver omelettes sound wonderful.
And is it my elder eyes, or was there nothing on that menu costing more than $0.95?
by Anonymous | reply 24 | March 18, 2023 10:45 AM |
What the hell is a Chop Suey ice cream sundae?
by Anonymous | reply 25 | March 18, 2023 10:49 AM |
Or a âHollywood Sandwichâ?
by Anonymous | reply 26 | March 18, 2023 10:54 AM |
The 1963 menu shows how the assortment has gone downhill.
And Pepsi is STILL not on the menu.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | March 18, 2023 11:00 AM |
I love old menus.
The 1963 menu is pared way down (maybe it was only open for lunch by '63), but it has many of the same basic foods as the 1941 menu. Still the tomato juice as an appetizer. Still offering baked ham as a main course. When was the last time you saw baked ham as a main course on a restaurant menu? Fruit salad has become "California fruit plate", but it's still there. And the hamburger choice has grown from 0 to 1. Can you imagine a comparable American restaurant today without multiple burger choices?
Overall, the choices on both menus are mostly basic and old-fashioned, but reasonably healthy. If people still ate like this, there wouldn't be so much obesity. I'll bet the portions were smaller than you'd get in a restaurant today, too.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | March 18, 2023 11:25 AM |
R25, Chop Suey was a slang term for a mixture of chopped ingredients. A sundae would have had different nuts, sweets, fruit and other toppings.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | March 18, 2023 11:25 AM |
Never heard of Fig Juice before.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | March 18, 2023 11:32 AM |
Interesting that the Smoked Turkey under coldcuts is more expensive than the Tenderloin, NY, and T-bone steaks.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | March 18, 2023 11:36 AM |
"You need to multiply all the prices by 20 to adjust for inflation."
I don't think you understand how an inflation calculator works.
They factor in everything money can buy and then average it out.
So new technological advances today are extremely cheap compared to then new technology of the past.
Meanwhile food and housing have become way more expensive. You think you can just multiply the price of a New York apartment in the 40s by 20 and get what it goes for today?
Not to mention since it was a company cafeteria, the company probably considered subsidizing the cost as an employee perk.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | March 18, 2023 11:44 AM |
R32 chicken and turkey were both much more expensive prior to the post-war period.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | March 18, 2023 11:50 AM |
I love old menus, not just for the prices but what was actually on offer. Iâm old enough to remember tomato juice as a starter when you went to dine.
Manager Special (Peanut Butter. Baked Ham, and Chicken on Toast)!?!?
by Anonymous | reply 35 | March 18, 2023 11:52 AM |
R25, what this meant is that those three sandwiches were all offered at the same reduced price that day - not that those ingredients were combined. Although it's worth pointing out that peanut butter was not the sweet, gluey crap most of it is today - and would be considered a vegetarian protein.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | March 18, 2023 11:55 AM |
I wish I could eat every workday at a restaurant with this menu, and all the food was whole, not today's frankenfood, and prepared freshly in house. Yes I supposed the string beans were canned. I wonder about the asparagus. The juices were likely canned or jarred. Did they have frozen juices then? Perhaps in a stretch the citrus was fresh squeezed. The peaches and pears were probably canned. But that's kind of quaint. But I bet most of the entree items are whole foods, except the hot dog.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | March 18, 2023 12:01 PM |
What the hell are shirred eggs?
by Anonymous | reply 38 | March 18, 2023 12:50 PM |
âSecretaryâs Light Lunchâ
by Anonymous | reply 40 | March 18, 2023 1:10 PM |
Greg(02116) would likely help with that shirred egoâŠegg
by Anonymous | reply 41 | March 18, 2023 1:14 PM |
Various pictures of shirred eggs (since Wikipedia has a stupid one)
by Anonymous | reply 42 | March 18, 2023 1:19 PM |
R9- 21 times
by Anonymous | reply 43 | March 18, 2023 1:19 PM |
Yes, I make shirred eggs sometimes.
But I prefer Ćufs en cocotte, which are similar but are cooked in a bain-marie.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | March 18, 2023 1:36 PM |
Greg- I've come to the conclusion that you're EXTREMELY pretentious.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | March 18, 2023 1:38 PM |
Yeah? Well this wonât help, R45.
I have a set of these egg coddlers for when I prepare Ćufs en cocotte. Different design on mine, however.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | March 18, 2023 1:43 PM |
Greg- Are you related to Frasier Crane?
by Anonymous | reply 47 | March 18, 2023 1:48 PM |
Yes, R45.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | March 18, 2023 1:51 PM |
Only in Hollywood is a studio dining room called a Commissary.
The employees lunch room at 30 Rock is the En Be Ce Cafeteria.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | March 18, 2023 1:56 PM |
R49- During WW 2 they called a dining room a Canteen.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | March 18, 2023 1:57 PM |
Not according to West Egg, R43.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | March 18, 2023 2:18 PM |
The old menu lovers probably already know this, but just in case, there is a great subreddit devoted to the topic.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | March 18, 2023 2:40 PM |
I have a wonderful collection of old airline menus. A now-deceased relative worked for an airline and for some reason, he saved a collection of the menus.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | March 18, 2023 3:13 PM |
R28 "Is it true wash your hair in clam broth?"
by Anonymous | reply 54 | March 18, 2023 3:51 PM |
{quote]Yes I supposed the string beans were canned. I wonder about the asparagus.
Isn't there a huge Farmer's Market right down the road? It was probably there at the time too.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | March 18, 2023 3:54 PM |
^wait, what?
You mean The Farmerâs Market by Fairfax? Warner Bros. Lot was and is in BurbankâŠmany miles away.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | March 18, 2023 4:01 PM |
[quote]R40 âSecretaryâs Light Lunchâ
Move yer ass, Millie. Jack has a meeting at 1:00.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | March 18, 2023 4:27 PM |
That's a very meat heavy menu, but you can still eat healthily from it though people back then, except for the starlets, didn't. Folks didn't yet know much about nutrition, cholesterol, etc. So many actors from the era died in their 50s and early 60s. Now we comment about their longevity or when they die sometimes think they were already dead (e.g. Robert Blake, Gene Hackmn.)
by Anonymous | reply 59 | March 18, 2023 4:41 PM |
No, not THE Farmers Market, r56.
A farmers market.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | March 18, 2023 4:52 PM |
R36 - if they were separate sandwiches wouldn't it have said "peanut butter, baked ham, OR chicken?" not with "and?"
Funny, they cut out all the vegetable options except lima beans in '63.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | March 18, 2023 4:54 PM |
Looks healthy. A good mix of protein, vegetables and low carb. I love vintage menus. Thank you
by Anonymous | reply 62 | March 18, 2023 5:00 PM |
[quote] all the food was whole, not today's frankenfood, and prepared freshly in house. Yes I supposed the string beans were canned. I wonder about the asparagus. The juices were likely canned or jarred. Did they have frozen juices then? Perhaps in a stretch the citrus was fresh squeezed. The peaches and pears were probably canned. But that's kind of quaint. But I bet most of the entree items are whole foods, except the hot dog.
The lettuce was probably iceberg. The quality of the beef? I don't know. The seafood selection is surprising. I think the fruits weren't the only foods coming from cans. I think this is a romantic view of that menu. It does seem like a fun place for kids to go with their parents, like a diner with a surprisingly extensive seafood menu.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | March 18, 2023 7:34 PM |
R60 Thsnksâto which 1941 local market in Burbank were you referrring to? Iâm all ears.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | March 18, 2023 7:36 PM |
The Gap playlist guy has found a new fixation?
by Anonymous | reply 65 | March 18, 2023 7:52 PM |
I thought Gap troll is the TV Freak. Well, that didn't catch on, did it.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | March 18, 2023 9:20 PM |
TV GUIDE freak I should type.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | March 18, 2023 9:20 PM |
Heâs not a âfreak,â heâs neurodivergent, R66.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | March 18, 2023 9:29 PM |
R63, iceberg lettuce is great - crisp and tasty. The modern affectation of disdaining iceberg is just that - affectation.
The beef was probably fairly tough by the standards of an upscale steakhouse (then or now), but that's still true. Never order steak in a restaurant that isn't devoted to beef unless you want to give your jaws a workout.
Otherwise and in general, the food was probably better than you'd get in a comparably priced (taking inflation into account) restaurant today but nothing special. If you went there for lunch with a Warner Bros. employee, you'd want to ask what was good, and he'd probably steer to a relatively few things on that vast menu.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | March 20, 2023 12:16 AM |
[quote]o which 1941 local market in Burbank were you referrring to? Iâm all ears.
According to Google Maps the Toluca Lake Farmers Market is a mile away
by Anonymous | reply 71 | March 20, 2023 4:49 PM |
[quote] According to Google Maps the Toluca Lake Farmers Market is a mile away
You mean the one thatâs only been there since 2017 and is only open on Sundays?
by Anonymous | reply 72 | March 20, 2023 4:54 PM |
How about a Brown Derby menu? I want to know what Fred, Ethel and Lucy could have really eaten.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | March 20, 2023 5:09 PM |
I'm not sure if it's ever been discussed on DL before but was wine not a popular beverage with meals back then? Champagne was for special occasions and most people seemed to have cocktails but I rarely saw wine or beer in old movies or TV. They drank coffee with meals a lot though.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | March 20, 2023 5:29 PM |
r74 Such an extensive menu! They were like the Cheesecake Factory of their day!
by Anonymous | reply 77 | March 20, 2023 5:44 PM |
Beluga caviar $2 an ounce!
by Anonymous | reply 78 | March 20, 2023 5:45 PM |
Lunch, spring 1960.
I did not have the Connie Stevens Special.
Why? My grandmother made those for us at home.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | March 20, 2023 6:35 PM |
I want to taste it all!
by Anonymous | reply 80 | March 20, 2023 6:52 PM |
Three dollars for the Porterhouse steak and potato. Ricky Ricardo must have been made of money
by Anonymous | reply 81 | March 20, 2023 6:53 PM |
For comparison here's an MGM menu from the late 50s.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | March 20, 2023 7:40 PM |
$1 in 1941 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $20.47 today.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | March 20, 2023 7:43 PM |
$1 in 1960 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $10.16 today.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | March 20, 2023 7:44 PM |
The hor d'ouvres and canapes sound good and thats......about it
by Anonymous | reply 85 | March 20, 2023 8:25 PM |
[quote] hor d'ouvres
Oh, DEAR.
by Anonymous | reply 86 | March 20, 2023 8:47 PM |
MGM had limited hot choices, mostly deli fare.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | March 20, 2023 10:19 PM |
Do you think they limited which studio employees could eat in the Warner and MGM commissarys? Wasn't it only for actors, directors, writers? Were the gals who stitched in the wardrobe department allowed in, for example? Or maybe there was a separate lunch place for them?
by Anonymous | reply 88 | March 20, 2023 10:36 PM |
MGM. good question R88. I like the ceiling lustres
by Anonymous | reply 89 | March 20, 2023 10:39 PM |
Well, Carole and Clark look like they're sharing counterspace with a stage carpenter and Miss Phoebe Dinsmore of the Diction Department, so perhaps that answers my question.
by Anonymous | reply 92 | March 20, 2023 10:43 PM |
Watermelon, cigarettes, Venetian blinds, bentwood chairs.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | March 20, 2023 10:57 PM |
Working at a studio seems like a permanent college campus experience in many ways.
by Anonymous | reply 94 | March 20, 2023 10:58 PM |
I could be THIN again if I worked there!
by Anonymous | reply 95 | March 20, 2023 11:33 PM |
r93 "Who do I have to fuck to get a vodka & Pepsi around here?"
by Anonymous | reply 96 | March 20, 2023 11:49 PM |
Boy did they like their anchovies.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | March 21, 2023 12:11 AM |
What a time warp. I don't think anyone in Hollywood has eaten meat in decades. A menu today for actors and actresses would be all Paleo/plant-based etc.
by Anonymous | reply 101 | March 21, 2023 12:45 AM |
The tomato yogurt Bob Hope cocktail sounds disgusting!
I'm glad it's not English kippers and eggs a la Charles Laughton!
by Anonymous | reply 102 | March 21, 2023 12:50 AM |
Did the stars go to the commissary? Werenât they served in their studio dressing room?
by Anonymous | reply 103 | March 21, 2023 12:50 AM |
No matter what Judy Garland ordered it was always chicken broth!
by Anonymous | reply 104 | March 21, 2023 12:52 AM |
Well Blazing Saddles was just a damn lie . . . where is Yankee Bean Soup?
by Anonymous | reply 105 | March 21, 2023 12:53 AM |
In R98 âs photo, there in the back, you see see the new produce just arrived the Toluca Lake Farmerâs marketâŠonly a mile away
by Anonymous | reply 106 | March 21, 2023 12:55 AM |
Over at MGM I got rice cakes and water.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | March 21, 2023 1:03 AM |
[quote]Werenât they served in their studio dressing room?
On the bottom left of the Warner Brothers menu, it says outside tray service is 25 cents extra, 50 cents at lunchtime.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | March 21, 2023 1:32 AM |
No Steak Tartare?
by Anonymous | reply 109 | March 21, 2023 1:34 AM |
I had sausage delivered straight to my dressing room!
by Anonymous | reply 110 | March 21, 2023 1:37 AM |
The most expensive item on the menu is $1.00
by Anonymous | reply 111 | March 21, 2023 1:39 AM |
You'll note the Paramount Commissary has no dishes named after Betty Hutton or Veronica lake.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | March 21, 2023 2:00 AM |
Over at Columbia, Ann Miller was having her usual. 5 cups of hot black coffee and half an egg salad sandwich. She'd stand the whole time with one leg kicked up on the counter.
by Anonymous | reply 113 | March 21, 2023 2:52 AM |
Her farts must have sent people running from the commissary.
by Anonymous | reply 114 | March 21, 2023 2:55 AM |
R112: Betty Hutton and Veronica Lake were considered difficult during their time at Paramount and neither were popular with their crews (and both had extensive mental/emotional problems which may have explained this, i.e. bipolarism and schizophrenia).
Dorothy Lamour (who had been one of Polly Adlerâs girls back in New York) was much-loved, easy-going, hard-working and professional â and she sold a lot of war bonds.
by Anonymous | reply 115 | March 21, 2023 3:13 AM |
I don't think Dorothy Lamour has ever had her own DL thread, but I loved watching her movies on TV when I was a kid. The Crosby/Hope Road pictures, where she always seemed like a great sport, and also those tropical sarong movies like The Hurricane.
by Anonymous | reply 116 | March 21, 2023 3:16 AM |
I once saw mother and Gene Tierney viciously fight over the last bottle of rum. It was frightening.
by Anonymous | reply 118 | March 21, 2023 4:15 AM |
What did Lassie eat?
by Anonymous | reply 119 | March 21, 2023 4:19 AM |
June
by Anonymous | reply 120 | March 21, 2023 4:45 AM |
[quote]R103 Did the stars go to the commissary? Werenât they served in their studio dressing room?
[italic]Tray service 25 cents!
by Anonymous | reply 121 | March 21, 2023 6:22 AM |
[quote]Did the stars go to the commissary? Werenât they served in their studio dressing room?
Out in the real world they were movie stars. At the studio they were just employees and they hung out and hob nobbed with the crews
by Anonymous | reply 122 | March 21, 2023 11:25 AM |
At Disney a full lunch with Prime Rib was 60 cents. All the menus featured Buttermilk. Yikes!
by Anonymous | reply 123 | March 21, 2023 11:27 AM |
Folks, is it really that hard to spell hors d'oeuvres? I mean really. It's almost always misspelled.
by Anonymous | reply 124 | March 21, 2023 1:15 PM |
Whores Devours.
by Anonymous | reply 125 | March 21, 2023 1:48 PM |
Aw derves
by Anonymous | reply 126 | March 21, 2023 1:52 PM |
The Elizabeth Taylor Salad becomes a Lauren Bacall if you find a cigarette butt in it.
by Anonymous | reply 127 | March 21, 2023 2:30 PM |
And Pancakes Barbara becomes Pancakes Judy if you order it with a side of amphetamines.
by Anonymous | reply 128 | March 21, 2023 4:57 PM |
[quote]It's no wonder poor Bette's low bosom always rested on her distended belly. âMrs. Alfred N. Steele
I DID NOT HAVE A LOW BOSOM YOU RANCID COW!
I had flap-jack tits. Entirely different.
by Anonymous | reply 129 | March 21, 2023 5:04 PM |
Pabst Blue Ribbon in a bottle or can, whichever you prefer.
by Anonymous | reply 130 | March 21, 2023 5:08 PM |
Itâs strange they encouraged people to drink at work.
by Anonymous | reply 131 | March 21, 2023 5:23 PM |
^^
(but I say this as a recovering alcoholic who never drank just 1 beerâŠ)
by Anonymous | reply 132 | March 21, 2023 5:25 PM |