Universal Studio Club Café, Universal City 1941

In 1914, Carl Laemmele purchased the 230-acre Taylor Ranch, five miles north of Hollywood, and began construction on Universal City, the largest and most advanced filmmaking facility in the world at that time. The German American immigrant envisaged a factory-based, assembly-line mode of film production, with an annual output of some 250 films. Universal City was not only a gigantic working studio, it also had its own police force, mayor, post office, bank, school and zoo. The general public was invited to see the movie-making action for an admission fee of five cents, but these groundbreaking studio tours were discontinued around 1930 due to the advent of ‘talkies’ and stages not being sufficiently soundproofed. The studio’s trademark genre in the 1930s were horror films such as Dracula and Frankenstein (1931) The Invisible Man (1933) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and a remarkable range of film-making talent started at Universal including the actor Rudolph Valentino and director John Ford. Other famous films made there include To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) The Blues Brothers (1980) Scarface (1983) Field of Dreams (1989) and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and Jurassic Park (1993), among many others. This luncheon menu is from 1941 when B movies such as Riders of Death Valley, too Many Blondes and Bachelor Daddy were being released. The Hut-Sut special is a reference to a popular novelty song from 1940s with nonsense lyrics. It was supposedly based on a Swedish folk song and was featured in various films including From Here to Eternity and The King’s Men. The Director’s Special costing 45c was honeycomb stewed tripe - an excellent source of protein but not terribly appetizing - with creole rice. Laemmele’s dream of allowing the general public access to film-making took flight again in 1961 when Universal recommenced tours of the studio. Today, Universal Studios and its theme parks across the globe host millions of film fans every year. Gallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson archival inks. Custom printed with border for matting and framing. Each order includes a print of the interior menu. All printed in USA.