Chinese Restaurants in New York City (1939)

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THE CHINESE RESTAURANTS
IN NEW YORK CITY
by Louis H. Chu
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at New York University
February 1939

(This was spotted by NYU's George Thompson--ed.)

Pg. 1:
   One version as to how _chop suey_ was oringinated in (Pg. 2--ed.) the United States is the following one.  Li Hung Chang, famous Viceroy of China, visited the United States in 1895 after having visited Germany, France, and England.  While Li was visiting these European countries he had acquired a dislike for foreign foods.  His voyage from England to the United States unfortunately deepend his dislike for any other food except Chinese.  He was seasick.  He blamed the foods for his stomach troubles.  When he arrived in New york he told his friends that the Chinese meals were the best because they alone agreed with his stomach.  The Viceroy was invited to many dinners but he declined all invitations.  Instead, the Chinese statesman invited his American friends to dinner.  After dinner the guests asked Li what they had been eating.  The statesman, for want of a better name, answered "_chop suey_".  Hence the beginning of _chop suey_.
(1895!  See the ADS-L archives, where I'd antedated "chop suey" to 1885!...Actually, the dish began at the Polo Grounds in 1900, by a cartoonist who couldn't spell Lhapso Apso--ed.)

MENU BEFORE PAGE 48 (Figure 16)
Chicken Chow Mein...
Pepper Steak...
Pork Chop Suey...
Roast Pork Fried Rice...
Fried Egg Rolls...
Subgum Chop Suey With Water Chestnut...
(OED has 1951 for "pepper steak"--ed.)

MENU BEFORE PAGE 66
Chicken Egg Soup...
Wonton Soup...
Subgum Chicken Chow Mein...
Almond Chicken...
Egg Rolls...
(OED has 1948 for "wonton soup."  M-W has 1934 for "wonton," but I don't know about the soup.  "Egg roll" is in OED from 1938--ed.)

Pg. 68:
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:  Because of the absence of literature on the subject of Chinese restaurants, almost all of the materials presented in this report are first hand information.  The references mentioned below are writings which I used indirectly in connection with the discussion of these restaurants.  None of these writings deal directly with the topic of Chinese restaurants.