{"product_id":"the-kitten-snack-bar-hotel-beaumont-1940s","title":"The Kitten Snack Bar, Hotel Beaumont 1940s","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1901, America’s Petroleum Age was born when the Lucas Gusher on Spindletop Hill, an oil field in Beaumont, Texas, exploded with such force that it began producing 100,000 barrels a day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoon, the small lumber town of Beaumont – pop 9,000 – was overcome with speculators, jobseekers and sightseers. It’s estimated that more than 40,000 descended on the town in southern Texas in the first few weeks of the strike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDozens of oil companies were formed, restaurants and hotels and shops were overwhelmed, and a building boom began.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1919, a group of 217 investors ploughed the-then almost unimaginable sum of $1m to build the magnificent Beaumont Hotel. This eleven-story hotel on Orleans Street near Pearl Street had 250 rooms and not one but two ballrooms – the Rose Room and the Sky Room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDescribed as a ‘hotel of distinction in the center of everything’ in the town’s downtown business district, it was one of the early hotels in the region to have the modern convenience of electricity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the major investors must have had a thing for cats because the hotel’s café and snack bar was called the Kitten and the fine dining restaurant was called the Black Cat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe menus for both establishments feature wonderful illustrations of feline creatures with green eyes. Both these menus are in our collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Kitten menu cover features a friendly little cat in a chef's hat and apron, ready to serve customers at the snack bar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis historic building was used as a retirement community from 1977–2011 and is currently vacant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson Ultrachrome HD archival inks. Custom printed with border for matting and framing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003eEach order includes a print of the interior menu.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAll printed in USA.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage Menu Art","offers":[{"title":"8.5x11\" Archival Print (Unframed) $25.00","offer_id":57492021117094,"sku":"peo1790053250266","price":19.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"11x14 Archival Print (Unframed) $30.00","offer_id":57492021149862,"sku":"yku1790053250267","price":21.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"13x19 Archival Print (Unframed) $40.00","offer_id":57492021182630,"sku":"ala1790053250268","price":24.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"16x20 Archival Print (Unframed) $55.00","offer_id":57492021215398,"sku":"fig1790053250269","price":40.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20x24 Archival Print (Unframed) $85.00","offer_id":57492021248166,"sku":"srz1790053250270","price":60.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"24x36 Archival Print (Unframed) $135.00","offer_id":57492021280934,"sku":"clq1790053250271","price":102.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/9133\/8662\/files\/the-kitten-snack-bar-hotel-beaumont-1940s_1.webp?v=1790053254","url":"https:\/\/coffeetamper.shop\/products\/the-kitten-snack-bar-hotel-beaumont-1940s","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}