Dinner Tendered to Mr. and Mrs. H. Behrendt
[San Francisco]: 1882. Loose leaf. 6 3/4 x 4 3/4". Finely printed and mounted on heavy cardstock, with gilt edges, and an artificial flower pasted on. A lovely menu printed for the dinner hosted by Solomon Heydenfeldt (c. 1816 – 1890) and M. Friedlander on May 17th 1882, in honor of Mr. and Mrs. H. Behrendt of San Francisco. Heydenfeldt most famously served as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court from 1852 to 1857, and was an early and prominent member of the San Francisco Jewish community. Among his other endeavors was the founding of the first free public kindergarten in San Francisco, "the Silver Street Kindergarten", in 1878. In this venture he served as President of the Kindergarten Association, which included among its board of directors Mrs. H. Behrendt. She was involved in a number of other social and community organizations as well, and was the wife of the owner of the "H. Behrendt Company" which manufactured traveling trucks.
In honor of Mr. and Mrs. Behrendt's "departure for Europe", a gourmet multi-course French meal was served, with the menu including cream of asparagus soup, shrimp salad, stuffed anchovies, Halibut a la Chambord served with Parisian-style potatoes, frogs legs with chicken sauce, pigeon in compote, veal sweetbreads a la jardineiere, stuffed tomatoes, asparagus, petits pois à la Française, truffles, saddle of Lamb in mint sauce, and for desert; strawberries with whipped cream, ice cream, fruit, small pastries and assorted cheeses. An obscure and delightful piece of ephemera from California's Jewish and culinary histories.
Initial text in English, followed by the menu in French. Minor smudges and stains, with some of the gilt on the edges rubbed off. In very good condition overall. Extremely scarce. vg. Item #47965
Price: $375.00