"Above, we have the menu for an 1899 Thanks­giv­ing din­ner at the Plaza Hotel in New York. If you were a turkey, you had it rel­a­tive­ly easy. But the ducks? Not so much. On the menu, you'll find Mal­lard duck and Rud­dy duck. But also Red-head duck, Long Island duck­ling, Teal duck and Can­vas-back duck, too. A duck in NYC was not a good place to be."
"And, oh, those prices! Not one item above a few dol­lars. But let's account for infla­tion, shall we? In 2021, one Red­di­tor not­ed: "I found a cal­cu­la­tor and it turns out that $.30 in 1899 equals $10.00 now. The Fried oys­ter crabs would be $24.99 now and a Philadel­phia chick­en would be $66.65. So, the cheap­est thing on the menu is Sweet but­ter­milk for $.10, but today would be $3.33.""
The 1899 Plaza Hotel Thanksgiving dinner menu in New York offered numerous duck preparations, including mallard, ruddy, red-head, Long Island duckling, teal, and canvas-back. Turkeys were comparatively spared. Menu prices were uniformly low, with no item above a few dollars. A 2021 Reddit calculation converted historical prices to modern values: $.30 in 1899 becomes $10.00 today, making fried oyster crabs about $24.99 and a Philadelphia chicken about $66.65 in today's dollars. The cheapest item, sweet buttermilk at $.10, would equal approximately $3.33 today. The menu reflects both culinary variety and historical price differences.
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