Menu for Plantation Kitchen at Stardust Hotel
Contributed by Stephen Coles on Dec 26th, 2015. Artwork published in
circa 1960
.
Source: digital.library.unlv.edu Henri Bettoni Collection at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Library. License: All Rights Reserved.
No date on menu. “Menu cover is a reproduction of one of four paintings by Vincent [i.e., Vicente] Viudes of Spain, commissioned especially for the Plantation Room.”
A generally skillful use of two Hermann Zapf typefaces, Saphir and Palatino Italic with swash alternates, though some might object to setting the swashes in all caps.
Source: digital.library.unlv.edu Henri Bettoni Collection at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Library. License: All Rights Reserved.
4 Comments on “Menu for Plantation Kitchen at Stardust Hotel”
This is amazing.
Why was this a staff pick? I think the all cap italic-swoosh menu items are unsightly. Also, wouldn’t it have been better practice to borrow non-lining figures from another typeface instead of the full size ones? Also, also, there’s not a baseline grid. There’s a lot of issues.
Hi Logan, a staff pick is not to be misunderstood as some seal for all-around impeccable typography. It simply signifies that a staff member deemed this post noteworthy, or potentially more interesting than average. Stephen already commented on the objectionability of using all swash caps — those indeed are overkill. I don’t mind the numerals. On a menu, it’s not a bad thing if prices stand out a little. They’re shorter than the caps anyway. You have a point that the many lines could be calmed down a little by a better distribution of whitespace, be it via a grid or otherwise. Nevertheless I find this a fascinating menu, featuring two beautiful and seldomly seen typefaces.
I purchased this exact menu today, and came here trying to remember the name of the font. Can’t believe you actually featured the same menu! As an ephemera collector I love Fonts in Use so much.