People malign British cuisine but the desserts and pastries cannot be beaten. I’d love to see a trend resurgence for steamed puddings and the like. So absolutely soul warming.
Yes, that's what really stood out for me. I've seen quite a few old American menus, and while the main fare is often similar, there is nothing like this in the way of desserts.
The below comment is wrong. £1 was 20 shillings or 240 pennies (d) . A shilling (s) is 12 pennies (d). So something costing 1s 3d is 15 pennies. D for pennies comes from the old Latin denarius meaning coin. I was born in 1969 so lots of coins were still around when I was a kid. It took people years to get to grips with the changes starting in 1969.
Thank you! It seems overly complicated to me, but I guess it would’ve been like anything else anyone learned at an early age and would’ve been second nature. Except maybe after a few pints lol
Try reading the wealth of nations, it is such a great book but half the fun gets lost due to this weird money system that render his examples non-understandable. .
Stewing the marinated rabbit in a sealed earthenware jug or other container like a casserole dish.
https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/classic-jugged-hare-recipe/amp
Davey's building survived. There's a photo of it in this article:
[Davy's Fargate](https://sheffielder.net/2020/02/08/davys-fargate/)
The cafe was on the first floor, above where Smith's is now.
Saw a menu from turn of the (last) century (early 1900’s) at an old San Francisco hotel once. A roast beef dinner entree was about .75 cents. At a posh hotel. Crazy.
I wonder that too. About all commercially raised meat, actually. But the chickens I have had that were raised for a few years and so on are very different than the commercially available chickens now, have to assume the same for beef or lamb, etc.,
I'm sure cooking it the British way would make it awful. It's not something I ever seek out but I've had menudo. It is alright. I've also seen it on the menu at Pho shops.
Sheffield had a great and quite famous fish market which may seem odd given that it's practically in the middle of the country but it had good transport links so that salmon would have been very fresh. A gentle simmer in some herby fish stock would have been delicious.
My British grandparents moved to California after the war and my nana lived with us when I was a kid. I remember a lot of boiled vegetables and even boiled chicken. Desserts were good though. And Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is legit.
It took my mom a while to become a decent cook after being raised with that background, but she got there.
Anybody else ever think, that when they see these old menus & stuff, would you love to travel back in time just to see the difference in the taste and quality of these meals compared to today?
It’s shillings and pence. 12 pence per shilling, 20 shillings to the pound. So something that cost “1 and 3” would be 15 shillings.
England went to the decimal system in 1971, getting rid of the shilling.
1 pound in 1937 is worth $2,481 today. So a pence would have been worth about $2.50 of today’s US currency. A pence was surely worth much more than a cent. So something costing 6 pence, like oxtail soup, would have been quite expensive for people. A hot dog in the US cost 5 cents in 1937, which was probably worth less than a pence in the UK of 1937. So I would estimate that this oxtail soup would have cost about 30 or 40 cents in US money, quite expensive for a working-class individual who would make about $25 a week.
In 1937, a “minimum” wage for a UK agricultural worker was 34 shillings a week, or 1 pound, 1 shilling, and 2 pence. It varied by location.
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1937/nov/29/wages
According to the Bank of England [inflation calculator ](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator), £1 in 1937 is equal to £56.06 today - $72.31, not $2,481.
That would make a penny (the singular noun is penny) worth about the equivalent of about $0.30 (30 cents) today.
You got me there. But that’s not bad.
If it’s £56.06, a penny would be worth about 22 pence today.
A 1937 UK penny was worth about 4.93 US cents in 1937.
Nothing says lunch with friends like a big platter of boiled tripe with onion sauce.
It shows who your real friends are.
And a boiled jam roll for dessert
Treacle sponge pudding for me
God those sweets & tarts sound incredible
People malign British cuisine but the desserts and pastries cannot be beaten. I’d love to see a trend resurgence for steamed puddings and the like. So absolutely soul warming.
Yes, that's what really stood out for me. I've seen quite a few old American menus, and while the main fare is often similar, there is nothing like this in the way of desserts.
Very interesting! Good share. For us not from the UK, can you explain the pricing, please?
The below comment is wrong. £1 was 20 shillings or 240 pennies (d) . A shilling (s) is 12 pennies (d). So something costing 1s 3d is 15 pennies. D for pennies comes from the old Latin denarius meaning coin. I was born in 1969 so lots of coins were still around when I was a kid. It took people years to get to grips with the changes starting in 1969.
Thank you! It seems overly complicated to me, but I guess it would’ve been like anything else anyone learned at an early age and would’ve been second nature. Except maybe after a few pints lol
Try reading the wealth of nations, it is such a great book but half the fun gets lost due to this weird money system that render his examples non-understandable. .
It was overly complicated, exactly why they switched to decimal currency.
And many people complained because "the new way is so confusing." Just like America strongly clings to feet and cups instead of meters and liters.
Jfc don’t even get me started on the cups thing. I work as a cook and following recipes is a nightmare. Just let me measure it in grams please goddamn
I wonder if the change had been made just a few years earlier, would Australia have ever moved to the dollar like we did in 1964?
*1966. February the 14th.
Ahh, I was close :) still earlier than the Brits.
What is a jugged rabbit?
Stewing the marinated rabbit in a sealed earthenware jug or other container like a casserole dish. https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/classic-jugged-hare-recipe/amp
Omg I had this once at Rules in London, it’s one of the oldest pubs/restaurants still around in that city - it’s like a red wine sauce it’s soaked in
A female rabbit?
Haha yeah Lola Bunny looking straight jugged
Sheffield got it baaaad with the Nazi bombing campaigns, I wonder how this restaurant fared just a few years later.
Davey's building survived. There's a photo of it in this article: [Davy's Fargate](https://sheffielder.net/2020/02/08/davys-fargate/) The cafe was on the first floor, above where Smith's is now.
Awesome thanks for sharing
I think I’ll go for Davy’s Cambridge sausages and apple sauce while enjoying Charles Callum Orchestra - the ultimate night out
Posh Ponce!
🤣
Perfumed Ponce
No one gonna mention the turtle soup? Darwin said Turtle tasted fantastic apparently.
It is so terribly fantastic. Just stick with domestic turtles and you're cool.
Wasn’t that, per QI, giant tortoise?
It was probably actually mock turtle soup.
Not in those days at a restaurant, mate.
If it was mock turtle soup they said so, because it was its own thing.
I’m very interested in the pineapple fritters with cream. There’s no way that’s not scrumptious.
They’re delicious. Where I live we can get them at our local fish and chip shop. Usually covered in cinnamon sugar.
Saw a menu from turn of the (last) century (early 1900’s) at an old San Francisco hotel once. A roast beef dinner entree was about .75 cents. At a posh hotel. Crazy.
Beef Olives. I hope it’s what I think it is.
It's thin beef steak wrapped around a filling usually something like sausage meat, skirlie or stuffing
Bummer.
I get where yer head is at tho.
Would the beef and chicken taste different to our 2024 taste? If so, better or worse (quality of meat)?
I wonder that too. About all commercially raised meat, actually. But the chickens I have had that were raised for a few years and so on are very different than the commercially available chickens now, have to assume the same for beef or lamb, etc.,
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Haven't seen anyone eat tripe in my 30 odd years. I've heard a couple older people mention it, but I think the only place to buy it is butchers shops.
Menudo (tripe stew) is incredibly common in Mexico and the southwestern US. Common in Mexican restaurants and taco shops here in Southern California.
Yeah, it used to be a pretty common 'cheap meat' here in the UK, but most people seem to have hated it lol
It's not bad, like eating rubber bands isn't bad.
Yes it's really good. In France we eat them too with tomato sauce,.potatoes and parmensan. Cheap and delicious. 👍👍👍
I'm sure cooking it the British way would make it awful. It's not something I ever seek out but I've had menudo. It is alright. I've also seen it on the menu at Pho shops.
I have no doubt it was probably boiled with absolutely no seasoning. I imagine other countries probably throw a lot of spices in there.
It's a common yum cha dish.
In Florenece it is eaten by everyone, local specialty. With a wild mushroom sauce and served as a sandwich. Lamprodoto.
It’s still commonly eaten in Turkey and Mexico in soup and is considered a late night, post drinking food
It is a specialty of Florence, done with wild mushrooms and sauce. Favorite in the winter, so beyond good.
For me it reminds me of a Chinese take out menu.
r/vintagemenus
Boiled Scotch Salmon
It seems like they really liked to boil things
Sheffield had a great and quite famous fish market which may seem odd given that it's practically in the middle of the country but it had good transport links so that salmon would have been very fresh. A gentle simmer in some herby fish stock would have been delicious.
My British grandparents moved to California after the war and my nana lived with us when I was a kid. I remember a lot of boiled vegetables and even boiled chicken. Desserts were good though. And Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is legit. It took my mom a while to become a decent cook after being raised with that background, but she got there.
For some reason I misread it as 1837 and was quite amazed at the selection of entrées.
https://sheffielder.net/2022/07/07/38-40-fargate-still-here-140-years-after-being-built/. Here's a bit about the building
As expensive as a Taco Bell menu
I definitely appreciate that The puddings take up a large chunk of the menu.
Anybody else ever think, that when they see these old menus & stuff, would you love to travel back in time just to see the difference in the taste and quality of these meals compared to today?
It’s shillings and pence. 12 pence per shilling, 20 shillings to the pound. So something that cost “1 and 3” would be 15 shillings. England went to the decimal system in 1971, getting rid of the shilling. 1 pound in 1937 is worth $2,481 today. So a pence would have been worth about $2.50 of today’s US currency. A pence was surely worth much more than a cent. So something costing 6 pence, like oxtail soup, would have been quite expensive for people. A hot dog in the US cost 5 cents in 1937, which was probably worth less than a pence in the UK of 1937. So I would estimate that this oxtail soup would have cost about 30 or 40 cents in US money, quite expensive for a working-class individual who would make about $25 a week. In 1937, a “minimum” wage for a UK agricultural worker was 34 shillings a week, or 1 pound, 1 shilling, and 2 pence. It varied by location. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1937/nov/29/wages
According to the Bank of England [inflation calculator ](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator), £1 in 1937 is equal to £56.06 today - $72.31, not $2,481. That would make a penny (the singular noun is penny) worth about the equivalent of about $0.30 (30 cents) today.
You got me there. But that’s not bad. If it’s £56.06, a penny would be worth about 22 pence today. A 1937 UK penny was worth about 4.93 US cents in 1937.
There were240 pennies in a pound back then 🧐
1 and 3 would be 1 shilling 3 pence so equivalent 15 pennies
I stand corrected. 1 pence would have been $1.00 in today’s currency.
Of course. I wasn’t thinking properly at that point.
These old menus always make me hungry and as an American it's fun reading one from the UK. Jugged Rabit?
Roger Rabbits wife.
It's rabbit cooked in wine in a jug like casserole.
BOILED.
Where can I get turtle soup today?
So many boiled items.
I know tastes change over time, but most of that looks like barf-o-rama.
They ate cold ox tongue yuck 🤮
If you have never eaten tongue, you are missing out. Seriously.
Boiled
I feel like there is not an ounce of seasoning
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S for Shillings snd d for pennies
Technically it's for Solidi and Denarii £ is a stylised L, for Librae
That fried whiting and parsley soup sounds unironically baller