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![]() The Kitchen at Poland Spring (Pamphlet, Poland Spring and About There, 1903)
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The Cuisine is,
we feel free to say, because of the unvarying terms of praise accorded it, without a
peer." "The kitchen is very commodious, well
lighted and perfectly ventilated - a model of its kind - and guests are invited to apply
at the Office at any hour of the day for a guide to conduct them through this
department." In the inspection of the kitchen at the busy
diner hour, the military precision and absence of confusion among the waiters and the
kitchen help, suggested the the chef possesses the qualities of the general in an eminent
degree. The ladies of the party confirmed the impressions of those members who have
a bacteriological twist that the kitchen of the Poland Spring House is no place to hunt
for a microbe." "The original homestead, which occupied
about 350 acres, has now been increased to over ten times that area, whereon the farms and
gardens, the model barns, the fancy herds of thoroughbred Jerseys, Guernseys and
Ayrshires, and the Dairy maintained at the highest possible standards to provide the
tables at the Poland Spring House and Mansion House. Through their excellence of service,
the cuisines of these hotels have attained an enviable reputation." "The corps of [kitchen]
employees is under the active personal attention of Mr. Alvan B. Ricker, and guests are at
liberty to enter at all times and watch the ever-interesting process of preparing and
serving an elaborate menu." "A 500-acre farm and a 125-acre
kitchen garden supplied produce to the hotel. Peas alone occupied 5 acres, and the farm
and garden also had 3,000 tomato plants and grew cucumbers, cabbage, beets, lettuce, Swiss
chard, and radishes by the ton. A hotel dairy farm kept 100 milk cows as well as other
herds. Additionally, the hotel purchased produce from Shaker farms in the vicinity. The
Shakers kept Rhode Island Red hens, which supplied eggs and poultry, and they also raised
250 hogs for the hotel." |
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![]() Poland Spring House Menu Cover Sunday, Sept. 28, 1884 Look Inside |
Meals at the Poland Spring House were a lavish affair,
comprised of numerous courses as was the custom of the day. The menu for Sunday, September
28, 1884 offers the following choices: 3 Soups, Fish, 3 Boiled Meats, 5 Roasts, 4 Cold
Dishes, 4 Entrees, 10 Vegetables, 11 Relishes, 4 Pastries, 12 Desserts, plus Tea and
Coffee. (!) Meals were served as a "Table-d'Hote", a set menu at
a set price. Breakfast was served from 7:00 to 9:00, Dinner from 1:00 to 2:30, and Tea
from 6:00 to 8:00. Children and servants were served Breakfast at 8:30, Dinner at 12:00,
and Tea at 5:30. Sundays were evidently more leisurely at Poland Spring, with Breakfast
from 8:00 to 9:30 and Dinner from 1:30 to 3:00. |
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" Mr. Ricker also purchases the supplies for [the kitchen] department, and nothing reaches even the first stage of preparation without first passing his personal inspection; in the markets of New York and Boston, where supplies are purchased, the name Ricker is never associated except with the VERY BEST of everything. To give some slight idea of what an enormous amount of the finest quality of table supplies is necessary, what an amount of time is involved, and what a large force of cooks, carvers, etc., are required, we append the exact quantity of the principal foods consumed in a single average summer's week :
(Poland Water Book, ca. 1905) "Guests having friends to dinner will please give notice at the office." "Meals, Lunches, and Fruit sent to rooms, charged extra." (Menu, Sunday, September 28, 1884) |
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"The Poland
Spring House dining room offered a grand setting for the lovely gowns in the early 1900's.
The Ricker family table was the first one on the right of the entrance. This
gave...a fine view of the gowns of silk, taffeta, |
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Meals were served on custom-made ironstone china sporting
the Poland Spring name and the Ricker Family crest. This china was made in a dizzying
variety of sizes and shapes ranging from tiny demitasse cups and saucers, to large round
and oval plates for meat and fish courses. Five different sizes of round plates (5",
6", 7", 8" and 9") were used. Over the years, more china was needed, presumably to replace broken items or simply to serve the growing numbers of visitors to the hotel. Several different manufacturers were called upon to produce the china, including Syracuse China, Morris Gordon & Sons, Inc, and McNichol China. The silverware was Reed & Barton Triplex silver plate, with "Poland
Spring" engraved on each piece. Coffee was served in silver-plated pots with
matching sugar bowls and creamers, and the ubiquitous Poland Water was served from bottles
in specially designed holders. |
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![]() Luncheon Menu September 14, 1929 |
"Before the
Moses bottle was used for the Poland Spring Water, [Nettie Ricker] designed a
triangular, etched glass carafe for serving the water in |
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"The help
ate in a separate dining room, and records from the era show two food standards, according
to historian George Ricker's wife Rose. 'There (Down East Magazine, 1992 "Many of the waitresses were students
from Bates College...Bates, Bowdoin, and Brown college men...were bell boys." "Maine was a dry state in those days and
so was the Poland Spring House, but records show purchases of brandy (at fifty cents a
gallon), sherry, and wine, presumably for cooking purposes. The management's attitude
toward guests who brought their potables with them from wet states was not (Down East Magazine, 1992) On holidays and other special occasions, elaborately printed menus added to the festivity the meals. "Dining service in those days was
exceptional, and a formal inspection opened the meal times, as the waitresses passed in
review (to music) before |
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![]() Poland Spring House Dinner Menu Saturday, Sept. 11, 1954 |
Little had changed even as late as the 1950's,
when the menu was even more extensive, offering both hot and cold service. Highlights of
the hot choices included Cream of Asparagus Soup, Baked Filet of Whitefish Creole
en Ramequin, Fresh Maine Lobster a la Newburg en Casserole, and Breast of
Vermont Turkey Supreme. One wonders how many guests availed themselves of the Pickled
Lamb's Tongue on the cold service. Here's a selection of other menus through the years: |
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![]() Holiday Dinner Menu Mansion House Sunday, July. 4, 1926 |
Poland
Spring House Poland Spring House Poland Spring House Poland Spring House Poland Spring House |
Poland Spring House The Mansion House The Mansion House The Mansion House The Mansion House |
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Brian Harris 01-Feb-2004 |