Menu Design in America, 1850–1985 (VARIA)
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Graphic Design
Menu Design in America, 1850–1985 (VARIA) Details
Review "Menu design: a must have for any foodie. Just hot off the press is this great book by TASCHEN: Hundred Years of Menu Designs…We love it!" Read more About the Author Steven Heller is the co-chair of the School of Visual Arts MFA Designer as Author Program. For 33 years he was an art director for The New York Times, and currently writes the “Visuals” column for The New York Times Book Review. He is the author of 120 books on graphic design, illustration, and satiric art.John Mariani is food and travel columnist for Esquire Magazine, wine columnist for Bloomberg International News, and author of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, America Eats Out, The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink, and How Italian Food Conquered the World.Jim Heimann is the Executive Editor for TASCHEN America. A cultural anthropologist, historian, and an avid collector, he has authored numerous titles on architecture, pop culture, and the history of Los Angeles and Hollywood, including TASCHEN’S Surfing, Los Angeles. Portrait of a City, and the best-selling All American Ads series. Read more
Reviews
Students of graphic design, fans of Americana, and anyone appreciative of cultural history will find this tome invaluable.An outstanding reference covering the period from the mid-1850s thru the early 1980s - a full century of changing tastes, technical advancements, and even social maturation; revealing our love of and history with dining out.The coverage is surprisingly deep, with menus representing the most elite haute cuisine to what we now call the 'Three Ds' - diners, drive-ins and dives; providing a fascinating look into the past, glimpsing concepts and ideas about the meals and beverages that were offered from culinary trained chefs to roadhouse slingers.As usual, some of the most compelling aspects for me personally was discovering food options that are no longer mainstream. A couple of examples: Having to look up the term "Shirred Eggs", which made regular appearances during the early part of the twentieth-century. And "Tongue Sandwich", a common working person's lunch and breakfast item of the period which is, in my opinion, self explanatory as to its current exclusion from menus today.My only criticism would be that, while I absolutely loved the massive full-color images, there was something to be said about the lack of editorial content. Simply: There just wasn't enough of it. Primarily due to the fact that space for the written word was gobbled up by the application of three different languages for each comment, wiping out the potential for additional insight. Unfortunate, as I would've loved more background - both factual and anecdotal - for many of the menus on display.The sad thin of layer of insightful text was the only serious flaw to what is easily one of, if not, the best collections I've ever encountered on this subject.A very strong four stars.Notes:- While this is representative of Taschen's typical excellence, whose printed volumes showcase high quality and exceptional content for any number of specialty markets, I suspect had Chronicle Publishing handled the book design aspect, I would've given this an across the board five pointer rating.- This is a physically large and very heavy book. One I would estimate weighs between 4-5lbs. It's not something one can easily manage for some light nighttime reading prior to sleep.Recommendation:- Check out "May I Take Your Order: American Menu Design 1920-1960" from the aforementioned Chronicle Publishing to get a sense of where this production could have seen some improvement.
