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Victor Sack[_1_]

Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:

> (Victor Sack) fired up random neurons and synapses to
> opine:
>
> >Railroad food, once the Pullman dining car had made its appearance, used
> >to be the glory of American dining - unmatched anywhere but at a few
> >special restaurants. It is not for nothing that the first Pullman
> >dining car was christened "Delmonico".
> >
> >According to _Eating in America_ by Waverley Root & Richard de
> >Rochemont,
> >"Dining car menus on 1870 offered seventy-five cent meals of oysters on
> >the half-shell, porterhouse steak, quail, antelope, plover, fresh trout
> >and terrapin, with second helpings on the house. There was Champagne at
> >every meal, including breakfast, and passengers ate in the splendor of
> >Turkish carpets, French mirrors, fringed portières and rare inlaid
> >woods. The Denver and Rio Grande made a specialty of mountain trout,
> >the Union Pacific was famous for its antelope steaks, the Northern
> >Pacific for its grouse and salmon."
>
> Where's a robber baron when you need him?

Who needs a robber baron? The meals cost 75¢ in 1870, an approximate
equivalent of US$12 in today's dollars, according to some historical
value tables, such as <http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/Documents/dollar/>.
It is certainly not very expensive, especially considering the foods
offered and their putative quality.

Victor