Tuesday, April 27, 2010

New York, 1964: Schrafft’s



From Harold H. Hart’s Hart’s Guide to New York City (New York: Hart Publishing, 1964).

The New York Public Library Digital Gallery has had a Schrafft’s luncheon menu from 1959 — close enough. Liverwurst? Pineapple fritters? Anyone? You can still find the menu here.

The photograph below predates Hart’s Guide by many years, though it does show a “feminine contingent.” Note too the dumbwaiter at the far left and the knickknacks topping the display cases:



[“Schrafft’s.” Photograph by Cornell Capa, 1948. Via the Life photo archive, where there’s a larger view.]

That empty chair awaits the plucky time-traveler.

[This post is for my mom and dad, who sometimes met for lunch at Schrafft’s. They once had a star as their waiter.]

Also from Harold Hart’s Guide
Chock full o’Nuts
Greenwich Village and coffee house
Mayflower Coffee Shop(pe)
Minetta Tavern, Monkey Bar
Record stores

comments: 2

Elaine said...

Before they got so smart, we gave our kids Braunschweiger sandwiches...which they took to mean Brown Tiger sandwiches. Mmmmmm...but sooner or later the little guys always catch on, or something, and begin rejecting parental offerings. Alas, it was ever thus. And now we are not supposed to have raw onions, or organ meats, or bread... leaving absolutely nothing but the name...Braunschweiger.

Michael Leddy said...

I still buy liverwurst and make sandwiches a couple of times a year. I know what the stuff’s made of, and I don’t care. Liverwurst is like madeleines for me.

What’s wrong with raw onions?