I posted this 'throwback' photo ten years ago. I came across an article in the forward.com that expands on this Sign. Here is an excerpt:
Chinese people didn’t look down on Jews as being less American in terms of Westernness because Jews were a lot closer to being perceived that way than they were,” Lee said. “It was also very exotic and cosmopolitan and a way to impress girls when you go on dates. And it tastes good!”
A Forverts advertisement from Dec. 2, 1922 speaks to this social phenomenon.
Image by The Forward Archives/Chan...
An ad that ran in a December 1922 issue of the Forverts.
“YOU MUST eat and dance with us, where you’ll feel at home,” reads an ad from Tangerine Gardens on Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street. Another 1922 ad from the restaurant boasts of nightly entertainment from 5-9 PM, a huge dance floor and seating that banquet accommodations for up to 600 guests.
While many of today’s Chinese bistros are less extravagant, they still serve a festive function. Around Christmas, American Jews can feel alienated, and so the communal aspect of eating out proves essential to surviving the season.
