What should I collect is a common question that every collector has asked at some time in their collecting lives. The most common answer is collect what you like, always with the add on, and what you can afford. The good news with collecting restaurant menus is that they are reasonably priced.

Many collectors start off as generalists, collecting just about anything that they can find. Usually after a while they develope a sense of what specific types of menus they enjoy and want to acquire.
What types of menus are there?

First we must recognize that each menu has multiple characteristics. For Example: A menu may be from a New York City Steak House that is no longer in business. The menu may have multiple pages, come in a leather menu cover that is embossed in gold and includes a wine list . The restaurant was owned by a celebrity and is autographed by the waiter. The restaurant was located in an historic building and there is a photo of the building in the menu with a description of the building and it's history. The menu is dated and is from a holiday. This menu has many characteristics that would appeal to a variety of collectors. One collector might collect only Steak Houses, another wants only New York Restaurants or closed New York Restaurants and a third collector only wants menus from restaurants owned by celebrities. You get the possibilities.

The decision on what type of menus to collect is personal. Another factor in the decision is what are you going to do with the menus? Are you going to display them? Save them in a box or a drawer? Use them for research? Are you interested in them for their historical significance? Only you can decide.

In future postings we will discuus the many types of menus. It will take us many postings to try to describe the many types of menus that exist.