British Transport Hotels : dining room menu from the Caledonian Hotel, Edinburgh : 28 October 1958
The British Transport Commission, whose remit included British Transport Hotels and Catering, were enthusiastic users of Monotype's decorative printers flowers and borders and mucj of their publicity made use of them. In the case of this menu card they certainly made a lot of use of them! The main card would have been a 'stock' template then overprinted with the daily menu choice. Happily I've been informed that this would be the work of one of Curwen's compositors, Bertie Elias Smith (1893 - 1984) - what work!
The dining room menu for 28 October 1958 at the Caledonian Hotel, then adjacent to the working Princes Street Station in Edinburgh's West End, gives a choice from the House Dinner, the Tourists' Dinner or 'Le Diner Grand Choix'. The Caledonian Hotel, flagship of the Caledonian Railway in the capital is still with us, although it labours under some other title now. The railway hotels were an early target for sell off and privatisation from British Rail and the station itself was a victim of 1960s railway rationalisation when services were transferred to Edinburgh Waverley in 1965. The station was demolished by 1970 leaving the hotel, that had been constructed between 1899 and 1903, standing as a wing along Lothian Road.
British Transport Hotels : dining room menu from the Caledonian Hotel, Edinburgh : 28 October 1958
The British Transport Commission, whose remit included British Transport Hotels and Catering, were enthusiastic users of Monotype's decorative printers flowers and borders and mucj of their publicity made use of them. In the case of this menu card they certainly made a lot of use of them! The main card would have been a 'stock' template then overprinted with the daily menu choice. Happily I've been informed that this would be the work of one of Curwen's compositors, Bertie Elias Smith (1893 - 1984) - what work!
The dining room menu for 28 October 1958 at the Caledonian Hotel, then adjacent to the working Princes Street Station in Edinburgh's West End, gives a choice from the House Dinner, the Tourists' Dinner or 'Le Diner Grand Choix'. The Caledonian Hotel, flagship of the Caledonian Railway in the capital is still with us, although it labours under some other title now. The railway hotels were an early target for sell off and privatisation from British Rail and the station itself was a victim of 1960s railway rationalisation when services were transferred to Edinburgh Waverley in 1965. The station was demolished by 1970 leaving the hotel, that had been constructed between 1899 and 1903, standing as a wing along Lothian Road.