Distinctly Montana Magazine

www.DistinctlyMontana.com 49 S ome of us were born looking backward—dyed-in- the-wool nostalgists, always convinced that the grass used to be greener. I'm one; maybe you are too. Time, as far as we can tell, only goes forward. But memory, like a train driven by the powerful engine of nostalgia, can take us backward. Personally, I find old advertisements to be potent nerve cen- ters of wistful sentimentality. Ads of the 1950s and early 1960s have none of the ironic distance affected by so many of their latter-day counterparts. Vintage ads can feel almost heartbreak- ingly earnest. An ad from 1957 rapturously praises the Great Northern's "tempo of... progress in providing the ultimate in fast, com- fortable passenger service across the scenic top of the nation." The ad pays special attention to GNR's new Great Dome Cars, not the first in the country but regarded as the most beautiful, with four full-length dome cars adding 150 passenger seats to the Empire Builder. Three of them were coach seating, and the fourth Great Dome was a lounge car with seating on the top and bottom levels. There, as the train wound through the mountains and wilds of Montana on its way to Chicago, thirsty travelers could drink in the view. And, of course, the booze. At the appointed time, passengers would convene in the din- ing car, where "noise is banished and comfort built in." Glass panels in the car featured representations of, among other things, the Cascade Mountains and Douglas firs. According to a brochure, the tables had shelves for purses but, in some arcane feat of engineering, "no awkward legs to straddle." Travelers selected from a menu, wrote down their order and had it delivered to them as in a restaurant. With all due respect to the culinary capabilities of today's Amtrak, this was on a whole different level. Diners on the 1962 Empire Builder could choose from items like "Saute Rocky Mountain Trout [with] lemon butter," "roast young turkey," complete with dressing and cranberry sauce, and "breaded veal cutlet" served with "Italienne sauce." Any of those entrees came with the choice of candied sweet or whipped potatoes, buttered corn, corn muffins, salad, chicken okra soup, and, for dessert, pie, cheese and saltines, or ice cream. The most expensive entree was the Empire Builder Special, which includ- ed a New York cut sirloin steak at $4.95. If that weren't enough, you could add "iced celery and green olives" for 40 cents, herring in wine sauce for 75 cents, or a Pacific crab meat cocktail for 90 cents. Fascinatingly, children didn't fare as well on this car; one of the menu's sole concessions to "little folks," as the menu refers to them, is that they offered "popular brand sieved vegetables and fruits," "prune juice," and "jello." To be fair, they did offer a pea- nut butter and jelly sandwich to diners of any age for 65 cents. The dining room may have been more elegant, but the Ranch car probably had more character. Described as the "happiest cor- ral on rails," this less formal, cowboy-themed car was designed to look like an old Western cookhouse, serving lighter fare such as by SHERMAN CAHILL FOR CHILDREN, THE DINING CAR OFFERED "POPULAR BRAND SIEVED VEGETABLES AND FRUITS," "PRUNE JUICE," AND "JELLO."

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