Shangai Chop Suey Restaurant Menu

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This restaurant menu contrasts stereotypical brand identities of Chinese-American restaurants at the time through its typography. Often, Chinese-American restaurants would use what have come to be known as “Chop Suey” typefaces to appear more “exotic.” These typefaces mimic the strokes and contrast of Mandarin characters while actually forming latin characters. Shanghai instead uses typography reminiscent of diners, with the only typographic element indicating the Chinese-American cuisine being the Mandarin characters. The cuisine, though, is further evidenced through the crane and curved, ornate border around the image on the menu's font page. Notably, Shanghai was a beloved, authentic Chinese-American restaurant, and it did not need to use Chop Suey fonts to show this.

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Source: archive.org
This menu shows typographic and compositional choices of the Shanghai Chop Suey Restaurant.