This gorgeous menu cover in jewel colours features characters from a Venetian masked ball, and we believe it is dated during the 1920s. It comes from The Midland Hotel, Birmingham, and features cocktails in fashion during that era – many of which we have never heard of. There is Palace Favourite, Bosom Caresser, Prince of Wales, Duke of York and a President Lincoln. Absinthe, the hallucinogenic drink that was known by its nickname Green Fairy, is also on the menu.

The Midland Hotel, an example of Palladian-style architecture, was built in 1874 and had coal-fired steam engines to generate its power supply. As the property expanded and was modernised during the following century, it took on a Victorian façade.

Among the famous guests who patronised The Back Bar were comedians Laurel and Hardy and actors Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole who played at the nearby Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.

The Anglo-Italian conductor and composer Annunzio Mantovani started his career here with a string quartet in 1924 and British politician Enoch Powell gave his infamous “rivers of blood” speech at the hotel in 1968.

In 1996 the hotel was further upgraded and its name changed to the Burlington Hotel. It is still in operation today.

Courtesy Private Collection.

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

We make our prints with archival-quality fine art paper, using professional pigment inks. Properly framed or stored, our prints will last 70+ years without fading or discolouring.

All our prints up to A2 size are made in-house in the UK. For larger prints, we work with the best commercial giclée printers in the UK. Learn more about our printing process, borders and custom orders here.