New West Baden Springs Hotel, West Baden, Ind. Dinner Menu for President McKinley's Birthday. West Baden, Indiana: West Baden Springs Hotel, 1903. First Edition. [12541]
Four pages on thick stock, cream cord tie with tassel, steel-engraved portrait of McKinley with facsimile signature on front, printed dinner menu within. 8 x 6 inches, light soil and a small ink stroke to the wrappers. Printed in gold on white background. The engraver is Laughead & Co. of Philadelphia. Good. Pamphlet.
The date for the banquet is McKinley's birthday, January 29th.
The hotel had burned down in a fire (June 14, 1901) and recently reopened; McKinley had stayed at this hotel before his assassination.
It was the first "National Carnation Day," a remembrance of McKinley's custom of wearing a red carnation, which the guests did at this event.
This is a scarce, high-quality menu made by one of the best engraving firms of the time. It commemorates both President McKinley's birthday and the short period (September 15, 1902-April 16, 1903) before the grand re-opening of the historic New West Baden Springs Hotel.
