Obsessives: Menus

Published on Monday, July 21, 2008, by Meredith Arthur and Eric Slatkin / Edit Post

Obsessives: Menus

By Meredith Arthur and Eric Slatkin

Rebecca Federman—librarian, blogger, and menu aficionado—takes CHOW into the bowels of the New York Public Library, sharing stories about the library’s menu collection and its founder, Miss Frank E. Buttolph. (All menus courtesy of the Rare Book Division of the New York Public Library.)

This is a regular series called Obsessives, in which CHOW explores the worlds of singularly focused food-industry figures. These are the people with the dirty hands, answering detailed questions about the work they do.

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  • really cool. i am a menu collector also . i have many framed and hanging on my walls. chef billy.

  • Ninfa's!

  • She didn't mention that most of the collection is on-line at:

    http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?col_id=159

  • I wonder if Mark Kurlansky was the author who came in looking for the fish references. Just thinking about his Cod book and the Big Oyster too.

  • I think Rebecca Federman should have her own food show!

  • This is a great piece! Chow, totally love it.

  • Fascinating piece. I would love to see these exhibited. What a story menus tell!

  • Bravo! The NYPL is an incredible resource, always full of surprises.

  • I had no idea a historical menu collection existed in the NYPL! This is full of truly amazing information, not to mention a beautifully arranged and put together Obsessive piece. The visuals in the video bring the information to life and make me want to go browse the collection in person. Well done.

  • the combinations of foods....is an art .

  • awesome... I'm blowing a kiss to Miss Buttolph.