A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from March 24, 2005
Children’s Menu; Oscar’s Sauce (from the Waldorf)
"Oscar of the Waldorf" got much publicity in the early 1920s for offering a "children's menu." The first establishment to offer a "children's menu" is probably lost to history.

Oscar Tschirky was famous for the "Waldorf Salad" (see separate entry) and "Oscar's sauce."

http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/information.jhtml?ctyhocn=NYCWAHH&key=FAQ_dining

Q: Do you have children's dining options?

A: Cocktail Terrace offers a Children's Tea every Saturday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Children will practice the art of proper tea service and learn something about the history of this time-honored tradition while tasting savory treats like warm scones and peach fruit, chocolate mint or apricot teas, along with the finger sandwich favorites such as peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese or tuna salad.

In Oscar's, children are treated to their own special menus and a Waldorf-Astoria coloring book.

July 1922, The Hotel Industry, pg. 11:
Make the Menu Attractive
(...)

"Oscar" Features Children's Menu at Waldorf
(Photo of Oscar & friends with the caption: "The Children's Menu Introduced by Oscar at the Waldorf Met with Instant Favor")

(Pg. 12, col. 2 - ed.)

Lately some of our best hotels have awakened to the fact that a bill of fare suitable for children is a good thing to have and no less a culinary authority than "Oscar of the Waldorf" has compiled such an attractive children's menu, that the daily papers all over the country have commented upon it, so unusual is it for anything to be done at attractive menu making, especially for children.

http://shop.vendio.com/Vintageads4U/item/557792998/index.html
1914 Beech Nut Oscar Sauce Waldorf Astoria Ad
An original, dated advertisement for Beech-Nut Packing Company.

Ad title: "Beech~Nut Oscar's Sauce"
Ad features the Waldorf Astoria's famous chef Oscar.
Source: December 19, 1914 Saturday Evening Post (journal title and date can be found on upper margin).

12 June 1938, Los Angeles Times, pg. A6:
Oscar's Sauce
By "Oscar of the Waldorf." Delicious on hot or cold meats. ALso makes a fine Russian dressing: mix 2 parts mayonnaise and 1 part Oscar sauce.
9 oz. jar 20c

8 November 1950, New York Times, pg. 28:
OSCAR OF WALDORF
DEAD AT AGE OF 84

Maitre d'Hotel From Opening
of Famous Hostelry Until '43

Concocted Many Delicacies

BEGAN AS BUS BOY IN 1883

Knack at Creating Rare Dishes
Led to Rapid Rise in Field-

Notables Sought His Services

NEW PALTZ, N. Y., Nov. 7 - Oscar Tschirky, the famed Oscar of the Waldorf in New York, died last night at his home here are the age of 84.
(...)
He was born Sept. 28, 1866, at Locle, Canton de Neuchatel, in Switzerland.
(...)
That delicacy of apples, walnuts, lettuce and celery, copiously drenched in mayonnaise, which is known as Waldorf salad, was reputedly his invention. So is "Oscar sauce," still widely served in hotel restaurants of both low and high degree.

Posted by Barry Popik
Food/Drink • Thursday, March 24, 2005 • Permalink


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