Manufacturer: Shenango China (also made by Mayer, Jackson, Syracuse and possibly others)
User: Purple Cow Coffee Shops, Albert Pick Hotels
Date of examples: 1957

The poem included on the menu above originally was written by Gelett Burgess and first published in The Lark as "The Purple Cow: Reflections on a Mythic Beast Who's Quite Remarkable, at Least" in 1895.

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Notes: The Purple Cow Coffee Shops were located in some of the Albert Pick Hotels found across the midwest. This was one of several purple cow designs used by the chain (see related link below).

In 1947, there were 22 chains from Pennsylvania to Kansas, and 10 of them had the coffee shop. Below is David McGrann's compiled list of "Purple Cow Coffee Shops," "Purple Cow Sandwich Shops" and one "Purple Cow Coffee Shoppe" with Hotel Red Book dates for each:

Purple Cow Coffee Shoppe:
Tan body with a purple cow in a chef's hat. Not to be confused with Elmer Borden, although it often is.

For a different Purple Cow pattern:
Purple Cow Coffee Shop 2 by Fraunfelter China