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Menu for Plantation Kitchen at Stardust Hotel

Contributed by Stephen Coles on Dec 26th, 2015. Artwork published in
circa 1960
.
Menu for Plantation Kitchen at Stardust Hotel 1
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.

Menu for Plantation Kitchen at Stardust Hotel 2
Source: digital.library.unlv.edu Henri Bettoni Collection at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Library. License: All Rights Reserved.

Typefaces

  • Saphir
  • Palatino

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4 Comments on “Menu for Plantation Kitchen at Stardust Hotel”

  1. This is amazing.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

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