Petite Marmite, 1973 - 1973

This is partly an open collection which at present consists of three series. Series I contains restaurant menus collected mainly in the 1960s and 1970s by Thomas C. Murray, an educator and administrator at Essex Catholic High School. Many of the menus were preserved by Murray as souvenirs of celebrations with co-workers and friends; they often bear dates, signatures of those in attendance and sometimes of restaurant personnel, and other details of the event. Restaurants in New Jersey and New York predominate, but the series also includes menus from Florida, California, Canada and the British Isles. These were presented by Murray to the Newark Public Library in April 2008.

Series II consists principally of menus and similar items gathered from the 1970s to the 2010s by Harriet Kaley. They come from restaurants in the United States (especially New York City), Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Included are specimens of artwork by David Hockney for Ma Maison in Los Angeles and by Julian Lethbridge for Chanterelle in New York City. A chronological exception that came with Kaley's gift is a menu from the Swiss Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1939.

Series III contains a handful of menus not part of either the Thomas Murray or the Harriet Kaley donation.