Steak or pasta under a dollar at Italian Gardens? See vintage Kansas City ads from 1934
Editor’s Note: Retro Retail Review is a new video feature that publishes weekly on kansascity.com. Join us for a lighthearted look back with The Star’s Randy Mason as he shares his takes on the advertisements that filled the paper’s pages all the way back to its earliest days.
When we think of the Great Depression, we picture bread lines and soup kitchens. And while times were unquestionably tough, the ads in the Star on June 10, 1934 were anything but bleak.
Mehornay Furniture in downtown Kansas City had plenty of deals on vacuum cleaners and washing machines--the new-fangled electric kind.
Striking art-deco patterns were cleverly woven into the dresses for sale at Race-Myers.
A new restaurant on Baltimore Avenue named Italian Gardens featured pasta and steaks on the menu, with prices topping out at one dollar!
Dentists like the ominously named Dr. Rust talked about teeth, talking pores pleaded their case for better skin care and a “Hindu psychic” who could tell you everything you needed to know was back at the Egyptian Tea Room.
Only a few years earlier, FDR said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Or missing out on bargains like these!
Watch the video to see the ads.
This story was originally published November 1, 2023 at 5:30 AM.