Menus: the ephemeral prints and the research in Food History

ABSTRACT Do menu collections reveal the food practices and the political networks of public figures? This article addresses such question by looking at the Washington Luís Pereira de Souza Collection, which make up the archive of the “Convenção de Itu” Republican Museum, at the University of São Paulo. Altogether, the fifty-seven menus gathered by the former president of the Republic, the photographs depicting celebrations around the dining table, as well as the newspaper commentaries reveal meal choices, sitting arrangements, the motivations behind these gatherings, and the attendees - either through autographs on the menus, or through the guest lists disclosed in issues of newspapers of the time. These documents enable us to apprehend important aspects regarding sociability, food practices, and the political network during the Brazilian Republic (1899-1930).