Midcentury North American Restaurant Placemats(casualarchivist.substack.com)
casualarchivist.substack.com
Midcentury North American Restaurant Placemats
https://casualarchivist.substack.com/p/order-up
57 comments
Really appreciate work like this, thank you.
My wife is the creator in the relationship, making a variety of apparel and decorative things for the home. She takes a huge amount of inspiration in her designs from Midcentury stuff like this, so she'll be thrilled when I share this with her.
My wife is the creator in the relationship, making a variety of apparel and decorative things for the home. She takes a huge amount of inspiration in her designs from Midcentury stuff like this, so she'll be thrilled when I share this with her.
Reminds me of this collection of Chinese menus in North America dating back to 1896:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-worlds-largest-col...
It was collected by a private collector in New York then recently sold to the university of Toronto. I first heard about it it maybe a decade ago and have been waiting for a coffee table book since.
I would also be interested in recipes to go with the historic menus. For example dishes with sweet and sour have changed a lot from more liquid and vinagery to the goopy sweet mess we get now.
It was collected by a private collector in New York then recently sold to the university of Toronto. I first heard about it it maybe a decade ago and have been waiting for a coffee table book since.
I would also be interested in recipes to go with the historic menus. For example dishes with sweet and sour have changed a lot from more liquid and vinagery to the goopy sweet mess we get now.
Very cool. I found some vintage ads at an antique shop a decade ago... and now I have over 100k in inventory. I had to limit the collecting to only major publications. There is so much vintage paper to be found. But I'd like to find some placements with local ads if such a thing exists.
Last year I started publishing full page ads from the collection, I've got about 1000 online (https://adretro.com).
Last year I started publishing full page ads from the collection, I've got about 1000 online (https://adretro.com).
This is fascinating! Would it be possible to add some explanations for some of the gay ads? I feel a little clueless but I don't really understand why some of those are targeting the gay community.
Thanks! Maybe I'll add some detail. Some of them are in the eye of the beholder, and maybe I take a little liberty :) It's not that they are targeting the gay community directly, but they may have subtle homoerotic wink and a nod... They definitely are not overt and would have gone over the heads of most people at the time.
The Ranch House (Central Pier, Atlantic City, NJ) offers a jelly omelette. A jelly omelette! Sounds mad to me but it's a thing:
https://ahundredyearsago.com/2021/10/17/old-fashioned-jelly-...
EDIT: a postcard from the Ranch House: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:x920...
https://ahundredyearsago.com/2021/10/17/old-fashioned-jelly-...
EDIT: a postcard from the Ranch House: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:x920...
I think the Cliff's mat is quite attractive actually.
However, my favorite by far, is the Greenville Lodge! Such a pretty looking graphic but if you look closely at the address/location information you see "Opposite Du Pont Plant"! That's fantastically mid-century to me. It's like a subtle joke you would've seen on Mad Men.
My first impression from that mat was that it was AI generated hah
However, my favorite by far, is the Greenville Lodge! Such a pretty looking graphic but if you look closely at the address/location information you see "Opposite Du Pont Plant"! That's fantastically mid-century to me. It's like a subtle joke you would've seen on Mad Men.
My first impression from that mat was that it was AI generated hah
These hark back to a time before franchises took over. Nowadays, anyone wanting a restaurant (and customers) is obligated to make it a McDonalds (or other well known chain). If they don't, then McBigChain comes to town and they have no customers.
What is odd about this state of affairs is that everyone wants Mom and Pop, family owned, unique diners, however, where do people go when the kids in the back want their Happy Meals? You always know what you are going to get in a chain, and that is the magic of franchising.
What is odd about this state of affairs is that everyone wants Mom and Pop, family owned, unique diners, however, where do people go when the kids in the back want their Happy Meals? You always know what you are going to get in a chain, and that is the magic of franchising.
There was a really good "chain" in the 1960s southeast US called Davis House (or Davis Brothers). It was a more upscale version of a restaurant that served mainly Kentucky Fried Chicken, although there was many other dishes.
"The restaurant was originally named Johnny Reb's Chick-Chuck-'N'-Shake, and was sold in 1966 to A. T. Davis, Tubby's brother, who became a franchisee of Col. Harlan Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken."
http://www.highwayhost.org/DavisBros/davisbros1.htm
https://mistercola.com/products/vintage-placemat-davis-broth...
"The restaurant was originally named Johnny Reb's Chick-Chuck-'N'-Shake, and was sold in 1966 to A. T. Davis, Tubby's brother, who became a franchisee of Col. Harlan Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken."
http://www.highwayhost.org/DavisBros/davisbros1.htm
https://mistercola.com/products/vintage-placemat-davis-broth...
You always know what you are going to get in a chain
I agree this is one main way McDonalds won, and others like it. Yet I feel as of late, the last 5 to 10 years or so, this is gone. I see terrible service in McDonalds. A lack of cleanliness where I'd never see it before. I feel that those policing franchises have just stopped, or don't fine as much.
I used to eat there when traveling a lot, but not so much now. And I used to eat there from time to time locally, but never bother now. The food is just too inconsistent.
And that's very bizarre, and sad, and while McDonalds has seen a drop in sales due to price hikes, I think this is part of it too.
I agree this is one main way McDonalds won, and others like it. Yet I feel as of late, the last 5 to 10 years or so, this is gone. I see terrible service in McDonalds. A lack of cleanliness where I'd never see it before. I feel that those policing franchises have just stopped, or don't fine as much.
I used to eat there when traveling a lot, but not so much now. And I used to eat there from time to time locally, but never bother now. The food is just too inconsistent.
And that's very bizarre, and sad, and while McDonalds has seen a drop in sales due to price hikes, I think this is part of it too.
> however, where do people go when the kids in the back want their Happy Meals?
Where ever the parent decides to go.
Where ever the parent decides to go.
There's plenty of nice mom-and-pop diners in my town, you can get a nice breakfast for about $25 per person.
These restaurants still exist in the US, in some regions more than others. Usually the placemats are loaded with ads for local businesses now and less interesting.
Placemats have been covered in ads for local businesses since I was a kid. I’m retirement age now, it’s hardly new.
They certainly do, however, there is just a menacing progression of these chains taking over. My parents home town in the UK used to be devoid of chains but now there is KFC, Subway, McDonalds, Dominos, Starbucks and some UK specific chains such as Greggs (sticky buns, sandwiches) and Costa (coffee).
Due to the decline of the High Street, there are always independent cafes, sandwich shops and coffee shops that come and go. These take advantage of the spots that used to be where decent shops that used to be. However, few of them have enough customers to last more than a year or two.
On the surface there is more choice than ever. However, the best bakery in town closed down as they couldn't balance the books any more. There also used to be several fish and chips shops and they went too, although it has to be said that there are no longer any fish in British waters, so that is no surprise.
Retail is always in flux, however, the place is turning into a veritable 'food desert' with a choice between junk food slop and pretentious gentrified expense, with no middle ground.
America is different because you do get places in the sparsely populated West where passing trade will support a diner, gas station and general store but not a gaggle of franchised chains. If the interstate comes to town though, you know that will change.
Due to the decline of the High Street, there are always independent cafes, sandwich shops and coffee shops that come and go. These take advantage of the spots that used to be where decent shops that used to be. However, few of them have enough customers to last more than a year or two.
On the surface there is more choice than ever. However, the best bakery in town closed down as they couldn't balance the books any more. There also used to be several fish and chips shops and they went too, although it has to be said that there are no longer any fish in British waters, so that is no surprise.
Retail is always in flux, however, the place is turning into a veritable 'food desert' with a choice between junk food slop and pretentious gentrified expense, with no middle ground.
America is different because you do get places in the sparsely populated West where passing trade will support a diner, gas station and general store but not a gaggle of franchised chains. If the interstate comes to town though, you know that will change.
My favorite diner is just off an Interstate exit in Connecticut. I'm pretty sure it opened after the Interstate highway was built.
Whenever I'm in there, it seems busy. Part of the USP is that it's open 24/7 (something increasingly rare)...
Whenever I'm in there, it seems busy. Part of the USP is that it's open 24/7 (something increasingly rare)...
Tell me it's Blue Colony, because that's also one of my favorites. Packed at all times, but the food is perfect for a road trip break.
Got it in one!
My small New England town has McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, KFC, Chick-fil-a, Applebee's... and yet the independent diners are still always packed. The big box retailers have certainly driven off a lot of the local retail, but I don't think New Englanders are anywhere near ready yet to give up the local diner.
I don't know how the town I live in can some how support two Greggs, a Starbucks, two Caffe Neros (Caffes Nero?), a Pret A Manger, and a Costa Coffee all with in a few hundred meters of each other, but the local bakery that opened a second location in the train station (basically on the high street) couldn't keep it open. At least the bakery still exists, just not in the center of town, and not where I'm getting on a train.
> not in the center of town
The rent is likely set assuming deep pocketed chains will be the only tenants. No surprise when they end up as the only tenants.
The rent is likely set assuming deep pocketed chains will be the only tenants. No surprise when they end up as the only tenants.
I'm sure you're right.
It's just meant there isn't a coffee shop at the train station for six months. Greggs doesn't want to open a third branch there sadly.
It's just meant there isn't a coffee shop at the train station for six months. Greggs doesn't want to open a third branch there sadly.
> Usually the placemats are loaded with ads
Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that is a thing in America.
Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that is a thing in America.
I've seen this in Europe since I was pretty young as well. Usually they were little entries on the edge of the placemats that looked like classifieds. Advertising hotels, museums, and maybe shops? I can't fully picture them but I'm pretty sure I've seen something like this in french, italian, english, dutch, and maybe danish or german? It might have something to do with where we stayed or ate but in general my travel has been business focused and we have been in smaller towns.
Some very sensitive Americans must have downvoted that (rather factual) post!
Call it a comment on capitalism or what you will.
Call it a comment on capitalism or what you will.
The IHOP one is great, almost looks like a poster for a midcentury film, like John Ford or something.
These are cool to remember. I recently sat down at a diner counter with my young daughter for one of her first experiences and the Florida placemat provided some multi-generational continuity that I appreciated. You can get them by the thousand: https://cibowares.com/products/florida-design-placemats-pack...
Until this point I didn't know Big Tex was real and not just something in King of the Hill. And I've been to Texas!
Guess it's time to go back.
Guess it's time to go back.
Very real. It burned up a few years ago and they rebuilt it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Tex
Also the Alamo (as in "Remember The") still exists. It's now a museum in downtown San Antonio.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Mission
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Tex
Also the Alamo (as in "Remember The") still exists. It's now a museum in downtown San Antonio.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Mission
Seeing the Texas maps without interstates was interesting too, they make up so much of our driving these days.
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/ Has tons and tons of those-find some near your location!
The Amazon CloudFront distribution is configured to block access from your country.
Which is what Internet Archive has as their latest scrape too.
The previous scrape worked: https://web.archive.org/web/20250906155345/https://www.roads...
Which is what Internet Archive has as their latest scrape too.
The previous scrape worked: https://web.archive.org/web/20250906155345/https://www.roads...
The location of the Big Potato is a secret of national import!
In related news please note that the Big Potato in Robertson Australia has been painted and is now the Big Babe in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the making of Babe the movie.
https://robertson.nsw.au/bigpotato.html
https://robertson.nsw.au/bigpotato.html
Couple years ago I was in a thrift shop and came across one of these for a steak restaurant - and there was my family cattle brand! Was done to highlight that their meat came from area ranchers, and now will make lovely wall art at my home. No idea if anyone older in the family recalled these placemats or when they were printed.
The cleanest one caught my eye, and then I read that it was a restaurant, Cy's, that was in Moncton, NB, about half an hour's drive from where I grew up. Although I never ate there, seeing that brought back fond childhood memories of the grownups talking about crossing the border to eat there.
I was wondering why Cy's had so much whitespace. Perhaps it was cheaper to print? Room for the kids to use their crayons? The waitress wrote your order on it and it got used as your receipt?
Or of course, they just liked it like that.
Or of course, they just liked it like that.
That Florida one looks so familiar, that I'm sure I've visited someplace that used it. Or perhaps I'm just thinking of the maps of Italy that used to be popular on the placemats of Italian restaurants.
Mighty Taco used to have some pretty good placemats: https://www.mightytaco.com/AdVault (most of the way down on the page).
Very nice, I got a chuckle from the one that said "How do you want your eggs".
In the 80s where I worked, we had a large project to enhance the systems to our plant in Ireland. So for a couple of months a team from Ireland came here to the US to work with us.
The question "How do you want your eggs" at a breakfast place confused them to no end. Seems at the time in Ireland, eggs only were cooked one way, kind of like pouched. I do not know if that is now still true.
In the 80s where I worked, we had a large project to enhance the systems to our plant in Ireland. So for a couple of months a team from Ireland came here to the US to work with us.
The question "How do you want your eggs" at a breakfast place confused them to no end. Seems at the time in Ireland, eggs only were cooked one way, kind of like pouched. I do not know if that is now still true.
(Brit here). When I used to travel to the US for work / holidays I was always amazed at how many breakfast options were available compared with UK ‘greasy spoon’ cafes. I used to make it a game to try to order breakfast specifying all the choices I wanted without the waiter having to ask me any questions.
Coming from France, the first time I was asked how I would like my eggs in the US I was incredibly confused. In France the menu would list the different cooking style the kitchen is offering explicitly. Many times they don't tell, it's whatever the kitchen chef decided was appropriate for the dish. In France it is also uncommon for the kitchen to customize the menu to your preference.
I'd just like to add to this little subthread that short-order cooking had a lot to do with this - it's the intermediate step we went through between family restaurants and fast food. When I think of a single person standing at his station making 100 customized meals for people over the space of a couple of hours, that's my idea of "socialism" working.
Incredibly hard to find real documentation on how short-order cooks work, but the best resource I've found (though brief) is Fast Foods and Short Order Cooking, by Pepper, Pratt and Winnick (1984). I've been dreaming about writing a manual for years, but I'd have to find some shifu to teach me. I was a grill cook (as a young person), but never had to handle the entire thing.
Incredibly hard to find real documentation on how short-order cooks work, but the best resource I've found (though brief) is Fast Foods and Short Order Cooking, by Pepper, Pratt and Winnick (1984). I've been dreaming about writing a manual for years, but I'd have to find some shifu to teach me. I was a grill cook (as a young person), but never had to handle the entire thing.
Certainly not as precise nor as thorough as proper documentation, but you may be interested in this 2005 New Yorker piece: "The Egg Men: How breakfast gets served at the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/09/05/the-egg-men
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/09/05/the-egg-men
My cousin owned a dinner years ago. Finding a good short order cook was the hardest thing for her to do.
He son eventually took over and developed that skill quite well.
He son eventually took over and developed that skill quite well.
Had a similar experience when i first went to the US. Apparently "fried" was not an adequate answer, because there are numerous ways to do that.
As someone who grew up in the 80s/90s, this brings back memories because these types of placemats were still being used in a lot of places. And it's funny because today we talk about "iPad kids" and I'm reminded that staring at a mid-century designed map on a placement was basically the entirety of "entertainment" provided on the very rare occasion we went out to eat somewhere.
This is a great collection. I'd love to print up a custom one for hosting purposes. Anyone know a supplier who makes these off the shelf? Or will I have to work with a local print shop.
Depends on how realistic you want it to be. Even a Kinko’s or whatever they call it now can print on a large piece of paper and you can get a tool to cut the edges and curled ways. But if you really want that quasi-white newspaper feel- you’re gonna have to find a supplier who can get you the paper.
I've seen some interesting modern ones in rural Oklahoma.
These are beautiful. Love the character and level of detail put into them. Really glad this was shared.
Love this! Menu design has really lost a lot of it's art, especially with online ordering.
Will they archive the "James Huang" placemats here in Southern California?
Each focuses on a specific highway and list motel and diner stops.
[1] Example: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F...
I should have it done and posted to archive.org this Fall sometime.