The salt lake city restaurants name, trademarks and entrances were designed to look like a smiling blackface picture of an african american porter. It also has other menu items from dinners to deserts. The last remaining coon chicken inn location closed in 1957. The first chicken inn was opened in 1925 in sugar house, a salt lake city suburb. The restaurants, which featured fried chicken, soon expanded into seattle, washington and portland, oregon. This is a separate piece and not attached to the cigarettes. The restaurants name contains the word coon, considered an ethnic slur, and the trademarks and entrances of the restaurants were designed to look like a smiling caricature of an africanamerican porter. Fyi, we lived not too far from there on 57th and ne broadway and the later prime rib was a destination for good food and special events. The first coon chicken inn opened in 1925 after the grahams bought and renovated a small building in the sugar house neighborhood of salt lake city.
See more ideas about black history, african american history and american history. The entrance was shaped like the head of an african american porter with exaggerated features. The coon chicken inn and institutions like it were normal at a time in history. The coon caricature antiblack imagery jim crow museum. Nowadays we would not allow such blatant disrespect an ethnic group in this way. Its presentday fame, more accurately its notoriety, is based on its objectionable name and use of a grotesque racist image on. A grinning, grotesque head of a bald black man with a porters cap and winking eye formed a restaurants entryway. Coon chicken inn small menu apr 21, 2015 paige auction. New coon chicken inn decorations are being applied to restaurant china with confusing back stamps. May 30, 2010 you can access coon chicken inn online they were in three cities.
I believe that was a bit of an exaggeration then but it might be true now. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. In keeping with the older minstrel image of blacks, coon songs often featured watermelon and chicken loving rural buffoons. For example, the facial expression is slightly different, and there is a bowtie at the neck. In keeping with the older minstrel image of blacks, coon songs often featured watermelon. Guide to the coon chicken inn records and graham family papers.
Coon chicken inn cigarettes with attached 7up matches. If you do not already know, the entrance was through the gap toothed mouth of a black railroad porter billboard. In american pop culture an african american male is the ever childlike brute with a strong body and a big warm smile. Local haunts like ivars acres of clams, the dog house, andys diner, clarks restaurants, coon chicken inn, frederick and nelsons tea room, the wharf, vons, the purple pup, and the jolly roger are just a few of the restaurants featured within. The coon chicken inn restaurants were especially notable for their entrances. Its namesake was the large grinning face of a black man that formed the establishments entrance. Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. On that projects website there is a webpage devoted to the coon chicken inn, titled the coon chicken inn.
The name itself, an abbreviation of raccoon, is dehumanizing. The british governments new ad campaign has kicked up dust around an old, racist cliche. Cigarette pack is full with the attached 7up matches. Coon chicken inn was founded in salt lake city, utah, by maxon lester graham and his wife adelaide burt graham. I thought the coon chicken inn ad poster was a bit, well, offensive, as did some people in the movie, which is why it was a key plot point. The history of coon chicken inn antiblack imagery jim. In some cases, the new decorations have been applied to genuinely old objects.
I can remember having pancakes at various sambos restaurants, back before it was realized that sambos was a bit. The coon chicken inn was a highly successful restaurant chain from the late 1920s through the 1950s. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the solidarity strike that launched modern seattle, the weeklong celebration includes a new film labor wars an exciting live performance labor will feed the people a visually rich exhibit of archival material at uw library, a book reading, general strike bus tour, and on saturday feb 9, a full. Mar 09, 2008 commercial from the movie confederate states of america.
Coon chicken inn records and graham family papers nmah. Coon chicken inn portland, oregon nationally famous serv. The coon differed from the sambo in subtle but important ways. To grasp the severity of the logos use, one must understand the racist history behind the coon caricature. Chicken and watermelon imagery was prevalent in the our gang comedies of hal roach, and in cartoons produced well into the 1940s. While the creation of coon chicken inn is perhaps the most blatant example of this attitude, it is not an isolated example. The story of the coon chicken inn lessons from history. The seattle branch part of a larger chain founded by maxon lester graham 18971977 in salt lake city, utah in 1925 opened its doors in august 1930. As with sambo, the coon was portrayed as a lazy, easily frightened, chronically idle, inarticulate, buffoon. Guide to the coon chicken inn records and graham family. The coon chicken inn was a friedchicken restaurant chain located on the old bothell highway on the outskirts of the seattle city limits, in what is today the lake city neighborhood of seattle. Dec 07, 2016 election night, november 8, 1932 advertising from the salt lake tribune. Coon chicken inn menu black americana history seattle. The coon caricature is one of the most insulting of all antiblack caricatures.
Aug, 2006 one of the book s more generous sources is roy hawkins, a former head waiter at the coon chicken inn, who offers a rare look inside the workings of the restaurant and in the process exposes some. No thats not a typo, there was a restaurant called the coon chicken inn and the neon sign in the photo is an accurate replica of their logo. Unlike the actual chain, the restaurant chain in the film changed its name to cooks chicken to hide its racially insensitive past, and was still in business in modern times. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the happygolucky darky on the plantation or the dandified coon. Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from wikipedia or other free sources online. On the back it shows all the locations in the united states. Produced by johns hopkins university press in collaboration with the sheridan libraries. Coon chicken inn was an american chain of four restaurants founded by maxon lester graham and adelaide burt in 1925, which prospered until the late 1950s. The coon chicken inn was a small but successful restaurant chain in the american west from the late 1920s through the 1950s. Uncle tom, blackface, black brute, coon song, criminal black man stereotype, angelfood mcspade, rastus, coon chicken inn, black american princess, house negro, colored peoples time, how rastus gets his turkey, jim crow museum of racist memorabilia. Texas restaurant under scrutiny for racist coon chicken inn. One of the films most memorable settings is seymours place of work, cooks chicken, which was once. Texas restaurant under scrutiny for racist coon chicken. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the happygolucky darky on the plantation or.
Seattle was a segregated city for most of the 20th century, and the popularity of the coon chicken inn must be understood in this context. Vintage black americana coon chicken inn black americana famous chicken inn restaurant menu. Their take on southern fried chicken was a hit and by 1930 they opened two additional sites in washington and oregon. The longgone coon chicken inn restaurant chain claimed in its advertising that it was nationally famous. African americans were used as waiters, waitresses, and cooks but blacks werent always invited to frequent as customers. Seattle civil rights and labor history project posts facebook. In our contemporary american society the problem is not to be a racist bigot. Coon chicken inn ownerss grandson scotts page, explaining his fathers reasoning, while remaining anonymous, and rejecting jim crow altogether. The coon face is constructed differently in other pictures. The seattle civil rights and labor history project is a multimedia web site based at the university of washington. Coon chicken inn records and graham family papers sova. The coon chicken inn sold southern fried coon chicken sandwiches, and items like the baby coon chicken special. Coon songs almost always aimed to be funny and incorporated the syncopated rhythms of ragtime music.
T he c oon c hicken i nn was founded in 1925 in salt lake city, utah, by maxon and adelaide graham. T he derogatory significance of the coon chicken inn cci logo is rooted in a coon caricature that emerged in the 1830s. The salt lake city restaurant s name, trademarks and entrances were designed to look like a smiling blackface picture of an african american porter. A coon songs defining characteristic, however, was its caricature of african americans. Several notable slapstick coon shorts were produced in 19101911, including how rastus got his turkey wharton, 1910 he stole it. May 11, 2014 the longgone coon chicken inn restaurant chain claimed in its advertising that it was nationally famous. The name and logo, which derived from racist caricatures of african americans, was a galling reminder of segregation and discrimination for black seattleites. Dec 21, 2017 no thats not a typo, there was a restaurant called the coon chicken inn and the neon sign in the photo is an accurate replica of their logo. You can access coon chicken inn online they were in three cities. Jan 25, 2017 the coon chicken inn and institutions like it were normal at a time in history.
The coon chicken inn was a fried chicken restaurant chain located on the old bothell highway on the outskirts of the seattle city limits, in what is today the lake city neighborhood of seattle. A coon chicken inn advertisement is a plot device in ghost world, a 2001 american comedydrama film directed by terry zwigoff. This was a restaurant chain on the late 1920s to late 1950s this is an interactive site people will be able to ask questions and post pictures thank you. A the confederate states of america, a movie that presented an.
Aug 03, 2012 the coon chicken inn ad poster played a key plot point in the ghost world movie. The coon chicken inn was founded in salt lake city, ut in 1925 by maxon lester graham. The coon chicken inn restaurant chain was founded by maxon lester graham in the salt lake city area around 1924. The coon chicken inn was a popular roadside restaurant just beyond seattle city limits from 19301949. Its hard to believe a place with a name like the coon chicken inn would ever have existed in polite, politically correct seattle. Coon chicken inn in antiblack restaurants then and now. I assumed something as offensive as the coon chicken inn ad poster was just a movie fabrication. Coon chicken inn portland, oregon nationally famous. The worst restaurant chain in history uhoh, we now see the shameful side of seattles otherwise awesome culinary history. Jul 10, 2015 of course, fried chicken is a particularly racially charged dish. Its presentday fame, more accurately its notoriety, is based on its objectionable name and use of a grotesque racist image on buildings, delivery. A commerical for coon chicken inn was featured in the 2004 mockumentary c.
Coon chicken inn records and graham family papers, archives center, national museum of american history, smithsonian. The term grew in early america as a shortening of raccoon and. One of the book s more generous sources is roy hawkins, a former head waiter at the coon chicken inn, who offers a rare look inside the workings of. Beginning of a dialog window, including tabbed navigation to register an account or sign in to an existing account. Heres a little history from the coon chicken inn website all three sites were booming and a cabaret and orchestra were added in seattle and salt lake with a larger dining room and the addition of delivery trucks for outside catering. Graham was already an established businessman, having secured the ownership of a metz automobile dealership in 19.
The same image was plastered on everything from the menu, to advertisements, silverware, and takeout containers see more coon chicken inn imagery below. The inn served a fairly pedestrian menu including oysters, ham and eggs, burgers, chili, sandwiches, and desserts, but its signature dish was coon fried chicken, which came in. Serving deliciously different southern fried coon chicken worlds largest poultry operating its own bakeries and poultry farms. Election night, november 8, 1932 advertising from the salt lake tribune. The coon chicken inn left behind artifacts, popularly called black memorabilia, that serve as reminders that this particular part of history must never, and will never be repeated. After opening restaurants in salt lake city in 1925 and seattle in 1929, maxon graham opened a third location in portland in 1930, serving its. The first cinematic coon appeared in wooing and wedding of a coon selig, 1905, a stupendously racist portrayal of two dimwitted and stuttering buffoons. A the confederate states of america, a movie that presented an alternate history where the confederacy won the. It shows menu prices where you could get a chicken pie back then for 25 cents. The term came into prominence during 19thcentury minstrel shows through a character named zip coon. North seattles beacon of bigotry by catherine roth. Dec 16, 2017 a commerical for coon chicken inn was featured in the 2004 mockumentary c.
Sep 5, 2015 collectibles, photos and literature from the infamous 1920s30s restaurant on seattles lake city way. The coon chicken inn at 8500 bothell way, seattle, washington. Seattles historic restaurants by robin shannon arcadia. Size is about 3 inches tall x 2 inches wide x 1 inch deep. The chicken loving coon archetype in the logo helped to spread the stereotype of black folks and chicken. Seattle civil rights and labor history project posts. Of course, fried chicken is a particularly racially charged dish. Wickipedias coon chicken inn website with overall history.