Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.

Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction .

Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Menu Collection, 1939-2018, Ms2024-079, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The collection was donated to Special Collection in December 2019.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Menu Collection was completed in August 2024.

Scope and Content

The Menu Collection contains 118 menus from across the world. The bulk of the menus are from the United States and Europe. Most of the menus are from the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, along with some menus dating earlier in the twentieth century. The menus contain a wide variety of cuisines. The collection also contains additional papers, including restaurant business cards, a recipe pamphlet, and exchange rate document from the Icelandic bank.

Series I: Menus organizes the menus based on the country of origin. Within that, the menus are organized by the restaurant name. This information includes the restaurant and city. Some menus also include the year of the menu. The menus illustrate cuisine throughout Europe. Some of the menus come from restaurants that are hundreds of years old. There are also some menus from Egypt, Turkey, China, Japan, and South Korea. Many of the menus come from restaurants in the United States. The cover a wide range of cuisines, such as southern, Asian fusion, French, Italian, German, Thai, Vietnamese, historical, steakhouse, seafood, New American, fine dining, sandwiches and subs, and much more.

Series II: Papers includes additional documents. There is a piece of unidentified artwork and two blank folded cards. There are business cards for two Finnish restaurants in Helsinki. There is a small recipe pamphlet from King's Arm Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. There is also a 1979 exchange rate paper from the Central Bank of Iceland that shows the rates for multiple monetary values.

Arrangement

The collection is around in two series, Menus and Papers. Series I: Menus is organized by the country of the restaurant, and each location includes a list of the menus with cities and dates, if applicable. Series II: Papers includes additional documents that are organized by document type. Everything is arranged in alphabetical order.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Cookbooks
• History of Food and Drink
• Menus

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Menu Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).