Hotels Splendide - Royal - Excelsior, Aix-les-Bains, France 1939

The Hotels Splendide, Royal and Excelsior stood next to each other in Aix-Les-Bains, a French spa town in the foothills of the Alps where wealthy people from all over the world would come to rest and “take the waters.” In August 1939, when the world was teetering on the edge of the Second World War, there must have been a feeling that these glamorous days were about to end.

This vintage menu cover, with its depiction of beautifully attired men and women at leisure, was created for a dinner to mark “the last creations” of a famous family-owned company of furriers and perfumers called Fourrures Weil.

Run by three brothers, they were about to close their factory in Paris and move to the United States. This event would turn out to be one of the last displays of the company's furs and perfumes. The factory was seized by the Nazis in the 1940s. After the war, the factory returned to the family’s ownership.

Courtesy The Culinary Institute of America Menu Collection.

Each print is accompanied by a copy of the interior menu where available.

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