University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
5515 (Accession No. 5515-001)
Chan family Panama
Cafe collection
circa 1936-1948,
1976-1998
.45 cubic feet (1 box and 1 oversize folder)
Collection materials are in
Englishand
Chinese
Collection of
menus and papers pertaining to the Panama Cafe (Victoria, B.C.) and other
restaurants in Canada during the World War II years
Chan Dun landed in Victoria, B.C., in the 1880s, making the Chan
family one of the oldest Chinese families in the city. With the help of eight
sons and four daughters, the Chans owned and operated several restaurants in
Victoria, ending with the Panama Cafe. This western-style eatery on Government
Street served the working class of the city through the depression and the war
years. Despite several sons leaving for military service, the Panama Cafe
remained in operation from around 1930 until 1967. In 1996, grandson Anthony B.
Chan directed a documentary about the Panama Cafe called
The Panama.
Arranged into three series:
- Menus and pamphlets
- Wartime papers
- Chinese-Canadian association convention programs and
papers
The Chan Family Panama Cafe Collection contains menus, papers and
records pertaining to the Panama Cafe and other contemporary restaurants of
Victoria and Vancouver, B.C. Menus include those of Chinese cafes, Canadian
Pacific hotel restaurants such as The Empress, and the B.C. Coast Steamship
"SS. Princess Maquinna" (circa 1936-1946). Pamphlets, newspaper issues, and
fliers of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board provide information about food,
labor, and price regulations in Canada during World War II (1938-1948). Also
included are souvenir programs of the National Convention of Hoy Sun
Association of Canada and papers of the Chin Wing Chun Tong Society of Canada
(1976-1998).
The collection includes three compact discs provided by the donor with
scanned images of the menus.
Open to all users.
Request at UW
Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of
Washington Libraries.
Source: Anthony B. Chan, 4/21/2007
Partially processed in 2008
Chan family
Chan, Dun
Panama Cafe (Victoria, B.C.)
Victoria (B.C.)
Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
Chinese Americans
City and town life
Retail trade
Businesses and Corporations
Menus and pamphlets
circa 1936-1946
1/1
Breakfast menu
undated
1/2
Canton Tea Garden Cafe menu
undated
1/3
Central Cafe menu
undated
1/4
Hollywood Cafe (Vancouver, B.C.) menu
undated
1/5
Liberty Cafe menus
1935
1/6
Model Cafe menu
1934
1/7
New England Cafe menu
undated
1/8
O.K. Cafe menu
undated
1/9
On Lok Yuen Co. price list
undated
1/10
Panama Cafe menus and papers
1939-1946
1/11
Poodle Dog Cafe menu
undated
1/12
Province Cafe menu
1943
1/13
Hotel Strathcona Cafe menu
undated
1/14
Virginia Cafe menu
undated
1/15
Empress Hotel menus
1936-1938
1/16
Empress Hotel banquet menu
1938
1/17
Hotel Vancouver's "Spanish Grill" menu for SS. Princess
Maquinna
undated
1/18
SS. Princess Maquinna menus
undated
1/19
Vancouver Island Hotels pamphlet
undated
1/26
Compact discs of digitized images of menus in this
collection
Wartime papers
1938-1948
1/20
Canadian wartime papers
1941-1942
1/21
Panama Cafe wartime papers
1939-1944
1/22
Panama Cafe financial records
1939-1948
Folder
Army and Navy Times, Victoria,
B.C.
May 31, 1940
June 14, 1940
January 27, 1941
Folder
The Labor Leader, Toronto,
Canada
March 25, 1938
Folder
Wartime Prices and Trade Board Food Bulletin, Ottawa, Canada
April 15, 1943
April 26, 1943
Folder
Wartime Prices and Trade Board Retailer's Bulletin, Ottawa, Canada
October 19, 1942
December 8, 1942
Chinese-Canadian association convention programs and
papers
1976, 1989-1998
1/23
5th National Convention of Hoy Sun Association of Canada
program
1989
1/24
6th National Convention of Hoy Sun Association of Canada
progam
1992
1/25
Chin Wing Chun Tong Society of Canada papers
1976, 1998