Dutch Pantry, Pennsylvania 1958
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This 1958 menu illustration for the Dutch Pantry restaurant chain features vibrant motifs, hearts, birds, vine patterns and geometric borders, all symbolizing good luck, happiness and harmony.
These traditional folk-art expressions were brought to southeastern Pennsylvania by German-speaking immigrants who settled in the US in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and who came to be known as the Pennsylvania Dutch.
The hex signs, barn stars, flora and borders were adopted in 1945 by Lottie Kemberling and her son Jess when they opened their first restaurant along U.S. Route 11 near Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Previously, they had been selling fresh food from their farm.
The chain grew through franchising and came to have 52 locations across twelve states.
These family-friendly dining destinations were popular in the 60s and 70s with American families who could not afford to fly anywhere on vacation and went on road trips instead.
Dutch Pantry came to be owned by Standard Oil and then by the prominent real estate and hotel billionaire couple Harry and Leona Helmsley.
By the late 1980s, the chain imploded because of financial problems. Most restaurants were closed, demolished, or converted into other local diners and businesses.
There is only one Dutch Pantry location open today in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, and we’re happy to note that it remains a well-loved and popular destination.
Each order includes a print of the interior menu.
All printed in USA.
