The Coon Chicken Inn

The Coon Chicken Inn


Portland, Oregon (OR), US
Coon Chicken Inn was an American chain of three restaurants founded by Maxon Lester Graham and Adelaide Burt in 1925, which prospered until the late 1950s. The restaurant's name (which uses an ethnic slur), trademarks, and entrances of the restaurants were designed to look like a smiling blackface caricature of an African-American porter. The smiling capped porter head also appeared on menus, dishes, and promotional items.

The first Coon Chicken Inn was opened in suburban Salt Lake City, Utah in 1925. In 1929, another restaurant was opened in then-suburban Lake City near Seattle, Washington, and a third was opened in the Hollywood District of Portland, Oregon, in 1931. Later, a cabaret, orchestra, and catering were added to the Seattle and Salt Lake restaurants.

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As you can see from the post card images here: http://hollywood.pdx.edu/html/coon_chicken_inn.html, the same building exists today, although obviously it's a different restaurant now.
Coon Chicken Inn was an American chain of three restaurants founded by Maxon Lester Graham and Adelaide Burt in 1925, which prospered until the late 1950s. The restaurant's name (which uses an ethnic slur), trademarks, and entrances of the restaurants were designed to look like a smiling blackface caricature of an African-American porter. The smiling capped porter head also appeared on menus, dishes, and promotional items.

The first Coon Chicken Inn was opened in suburban Salt Lake City, Utah in 1925. In 1929, another restaurant was opened in then-suburban Lake City near Seattle, Washington, and a third was opened in the Hollywood District of Portland, Oregon, in 1931. Later, a cabaret, orchestra, and catering were added to the Seattle and Salt Lake restaurants.

As you can see from the post card images here: http://hollywood.pdx.edu/html/coon_chicken_inn.html, the same building exists today, although obviously it's a different restaurant now.
View in Google Earth Roadside Attractions, Historical
Links: en.wikipedia.org
By: jbottero

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