A 1940s Montana Menu Shows Just How Cheap Dining Used to Be
I was perusing the interwebs and came across a blast from Montana's past, if you will. It It was an image of a luncheon menu from the Rainbow Hotel in Great Falls in the 1940s. The image comes from a Reddit page called "Artefact Porn," which, yes, sounds pretty jarring and inappropriate, but they love their artifacts, and they love spelling it in the British version.
Don't make it weird.
Luncheon menu from the Rainbow Hotel in Great Falls, Montana, c. 1943-1946. [3166x4322]
byu/chubachus inArtefactPorn
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The menu was re-posted on the Missoula Reddit page.
Look at the prices on this ancient menu. You can get a crab, mayo, and potato chips for 85 cents. Nowadays, you can't even get a packet of mayo for 85 cents.
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Salmon for less than a dollar, a roast shoulder of lamb for less than a dollar, and a Denver sandwich for 60 cents. These prices are insane.
What is the Rainbow Hotel?
The Rainbow Hotel opened in 1911, "for the Great Falls Townsite Company, per the Montana Historical Society. The makers anticipated Great Falls to turn into a larger city than it is today; thus, the Rainbow Hotel was born. It was "the most expensive establishment in the state" at the time of building. It cost $400,000.
In present-day Great Falls, the building is now an assisted living and retirement community.
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I doubt you can get a slab of salmon for under $1, but it's still neat to look back on prices in the 1940s.
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Gallery Credit: Chris Wolfe