Newspaper ad, Nov. 25, 1925 (Courtesy State Journal-Register)
Cream of oyster soup and Lobster Newburg joined Vermont turkey on the Oriental Café’s holiday menu for Thanksgiving Day 1925. The price? $1.25.
The Lum family served Chinese and American dishes at the Oriental, “Springfield’s finest café,” from 1924 to 1955. The restaurant occupied the entire second floor at 424-26 E. Monroe St.
The Oriental received its widest media attention in 1939, when founder Jack Lum underwent an experimental “frozen sleep” treatment for lung cancer. The treatment was unsuccessful.
Read SangamonLink’s 2016 entry on the Oriental Café here.
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Adjusted for inflation, $1.25 in 1925 is $22.56 in 2025.