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Title: South China Restaurant
Description: Clipping from a serial advertising the South China Restaurant located at 913 Race Street, Philadelphia and containing typography and pictorial elements. Includes Chinese characters and text promoting lunch and dinner at the restaurant. A black border surrounds the text., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Text printed on recto: Authentic Delicious Oriental Dishes, Luncheon 35¢ Dinner 50¢, Facilities for Parties; Modern and Pleasant. Phone--Mar. 9140., Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
Date: [ca. 1939]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - advertisements - South [P.2023.27.5]

Title: Gantz, Jones & Co.'s sea foam
Description: Series of trade cards containing captioned scenes in silhouette and profile, including racist imagery, that promote and portray the use of the New York firm's baking powder in cooking. "The First Lesson in Cooking" shows a matron-like figure (in the right) holding out a can of "Sea Foam" baking powder to three young woman standing in a row (in the left). The older woman is attired in a long-sleeved dress with a tiered skirt and bustle, spectacles, and an adornment in her hair. The young women wear long-sleeved dresses with tiered skirts and bustles and hair ornaments that resemble pointed caps. The woman closest to the matron also holds a parasol in her right hand and the woman in the far left also wears a long braid that runs down her back. The women look at and lean toward the baking powder can with interest. "Mine is the Best" shows a woman home cook and a professional male cook facing off. In the right, the man, holds his right hand in a fist, and points behind himself to a table on which a can of "Sea Foam" and a bowl rest. In the left, the woman points at him with her left hand and with her right hand points behind herself at a table on which a bowl and two canisters rest. The man wears a mustache, baker's hat, long smock, and pants. The woman wears a long-sleeved dress with an apron. "Missus, We'll Nebber Use Any Odder!" shows an African American man, portrayed with exaggerated features, and holding an extra-large "Sea Foam" can, walking toward a stove at which a woman is kneeled and placing something in the oven. A pot and tea kettle rest atop of the stove across from the stove pipe. The woman wears her hair down and is attired in a long-sleeved dress with ruffles at the bodice and a skirt with bustle., Gantz, Jones, & Co. was originally established as a chemical business in 1849 by Thomas Andrews. George W. Gantz joined the firm in 1853. About 1869 Andrews retired and in 1877 Walter H. Gantz and F. B. Jones joined the business as partners. In 1884 the firm's New York warehouse was heavily damaged by fire and in 1890 the partnership dissolved. Following the 1856 patent of the first modern baking powder, several later 19th-century chemical firms, including Gantz, Jones & Co. attempted to capitalize on the new, very profitable baking powder industry. Baking powder significantly lessened leaving times for baking and cooking, and multiple companies began to market either cream of tartar or alum based powders that required no combining at home. The "Baking Powder Wars" mired in propaganda about the pure and safe properties of various firms' products ended in the early 20th century with alum baking powder companies Clabber Girl and Calumet dominating the American industry., Title from items., Date inferred from attire of figures portrayed and format of advertisements., Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.1, "The First Lesson in Cooking": It is a first-class article, and will do more than it claims to do, and never fails to do its work well. Good health makes labor of all kinds easier and prolongs life. Sea foam is warranted to make better, lighter, healthier, sweeter, more toothsome and more [in italics] digestive [in italics] and nutritious bread, biscuits, cakes, puddings, etc., than can be made in any other way. Those who use it say: "We prefer it over all others." "It is A No. 1." "Gives universal satisfaction.", Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.2,"Mine is the Best": SEA FOAM BAKING POWDER IS PERFECTLY PURE. Those who have used it once will never use any other. The BEST in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Without an equal. It is the perfection of science in cookery. Your cookery will be always good. You will always have a good cook. It makes every cook a good one. Your bread will never be sour. Light, well-raised bread, biscuits, and cakes digest easily and conduce to good health., Advertising text printed on verso of P.2018.6.3.3, "Missus, We'll Nebber Use any Odder!": Bread is always good. Cannot be beaten. Champion Yeast Powder of America. Every body likes it. Sells like hot cakes. The best customers ask for it. It is A No. 1. The ladies never get tired of telling each other about it. All first-class stores keep it. Gantz's Sea Foam is perfectly pure. Without an equal [in italics]. It is an entirely new invention. Never fails to make light bread. To avoid dyspepsia, use Sea Foam. One can is worth three of any other., Captions printed in all capitals., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Gantz, Jones & Co. [P.2018.6.3.1-3]

Title: “The Far East” Chinese Restaurant, Yuen Doon Low, 907 Race St. Phila, Pa. A refined first class restaurant
Description: Menu depicting an exterior view of the Far East Chinese Restaurant at 907-909 Race Street, Philadelphia built after the designs of Thomas Ustick Walter in ca. 1827 and later altered with 907 raised one story and 909 raised two stories. There are Chinese architectural details on the balcony and awning which reads, 907 Far East Chinese Cafe. The balconies are decorated with lanterns and plants. Two American flags and a Chinese Republic National Flag are on flagpoles on the restaurant. The cover has a border of bamboo plants. The menu is in English and organized with numbered dishes from 1 to 106 and “to avoid mistakes patrons are requested to order by number.” Categories are: “Soups”; “Chicken Specialties”; “Chop Suey”; “Boiled Soft Noodles”; “Beef Specialties”; “Pork Specialties”; “Chow Main”; “Omelettes and Eggs”; “Fried Rice”; “Sandwiches”; “Miscellaneous”; “Preserves, Cakes and Candies”; “Teas”; “Special Dishes”; and a prix fixe “Table d’Hote” with five different options and prices from 85 cents to $3 dollars per person. Menu notes that dining on the third floor incurs “an additional charge of five cents.” The menu also includes the hours of service and telephone number. The Far East Chinese Restaurant operated from circa 1906 to 1952., Title from item., Date inferred from content and active dates of the publisher., Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
Date: [ca. 1920]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *ephemera - Menus - F [P.2023.27.4]

Title: Chinatown. Looking north on Hutchinson Street which dead ends into Race Street
Description: View from Hutchinson Street towards the 900 block of Race Street, Philadelphia. Shows in the foreground a partial view of a car and the buildings flanking Hutchinson Street. In the center, depicts an exterior view of the four-story building at 919-921 and the three-story building at 923 Race Street. Part of the sign for the Shanghai Garden Restaurant at 919 is visible. The neighboring business has a storefront glass window which reads, "Hong Tai & [Co.] 921 Chinese Good[s]" with a display of merchandise. The adjacent building reads, "Fook Lee Co. 923" on the storefront glass window, and a seated man is visible inside., Title and date from label on verso., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso: Photo by Phila. Inquirer, Oct. 2, 1955., Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
Creator: Irving, William, photographer
Date: Oct. 2, 1955
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Irving (Phila Inquirer) [P.2023.27.6]

Title: Catha y Tea Garden, 1221-23-25 Chestnut St., Philadelphia
Description: Menu for the Cathay Tea Garden located at 1221-1225 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. The green and gold menu cover depicts a Chinese woman, attired in a dress and high-heeled shoes, raising her left hand to her chin as she faces the viewer. She stands on a balcony or bridge overlooking a landscape of trees and mountains under a moonlit sky. The menu is in English and organized by number in sections for “Wines and Liquors” (#1-167); “Chinese Menu” (#1-179); and “American Menu” (#181-383). The Chinese menu includes categories for chop suey, chow mein, Chinese omelettes, and a prix fixe “Table d’Hote” with three different options and prices from $1.25 to $2.50. The American menu includes categories for sea food, steaks, salads, and sandwiches. The restaurant advertises music, broadcasting, and dancing from 12 to 2:00 P.M., 6 to 8 P.M., and 10 to 1 A.M. with a note that “our patrons are requested to dance only with their escorts. This rule is for the protection of both you and us.” A one sheet insertion, decorated with a red border of bamboo, promotes three Table D’Hote dinners for Tuesday, August 17th for 85 cents, $1.10, and $1.35. The Cathay Tea Garden, also called the Cathay Restaurant, was a Chinese restaurant that had a large dance floor where musicians and bands played. They also broadcasted a live radio show. The restaurant closed in 1973., Title from item., Date inferred from content and active dates of business., Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
Date: [ca. 1930]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *ephemera - Menus - C [P.2023.43.7]

Title: Washington Relics - U.S. Government Building.
Description: Display of military items, including a tattered American flag backdrop, clothing, pots and pans, desk, chair, bellows and trunks. Titles on labels: Washington relics, Govt. B.; and Taken expressly for Harper's Weekly.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: *Centennial - photos [P.9844.51]

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