Ossiana Tepfenhart
There was once a restaurant called the “Coon Chicken Inn”
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No, this is not a joke. This was a real restaurant chain that advertised its food using cartoons of men in blackface. This chain, despite being insanely derogatory, was fairly successful from the 1920s until the 1950s.
The caricatured logo was a marketing ploy by the owners. They believed that it would make the place seem friendly to children, who would then ask their parents to take them to the restaurant. The interiors were decorated with “black memorabilia” involving minstrels, too.
This restaurant was a major embarrassment to our history, and it appears the family behind the chain agree. The grandchildren of the former owners have come forth and spoke against the business, racism, and the discrimination of the time.