88
Popular Culture Review
In decorating the room the inevitable gay Chinese lanterns
must be abundantly in evidence. The walls may be covered
with Chinese scrolls; the paper ones are ridiculously cheap,
bright and decorative. Swinging gongs and glass wind bells
m ay be hung from the ceiling. These last will rattle musically
at the slightest motion. If the odor of incense is desired to lend
to the occasion a real Chinese flavor the ordinary punk sticks
will do. These are cheap—five cents a bundle—and odorous.
Any dark, polished wood tables will do, though, of course,
Chinese bamboo tables would be suitable for the occasion.
(113)
These decorating tips recall earlier ones for Japanese tea parties and luncheons,
given in every American community that aspired to be cosmopolitan. One of
many articles on the subject, published in an 1892 issue of Ladies' Home
Journal, recommended the placement of chrysanthemums, when in season, “in
conjunction with anything Japanese that you may have—vases, screens or fans”
(Battles 3). Bosse and Eaton hoped that China, too, had finally reached the point
of becoming fashionable. Although Birchall calls the decorating advice in
Bosse’s articles “hokum” (109), her grandmother clearly took it seriously.
Surprisingly, the subject of decorating with Asian objects does not appear in the
cookbook; Eaton is content to romanticize the dishes by recommending an
artistic presentation. Chinese artichokes could be made to resemble water lilies
by filling the centers with hard-boiled egg yolks whipped with olive oil, and the
noodles of tori shim (Japanese chicken soup) cut in the shape of
chrysanthemums. Beautiful Moon Tarts should be decorated with tiny moons
cut from candied orange peel or drawn with fruit coloring. And Chinese flower
custards, made in flower-shaped molds, should be decorated with actual “leaves
suitable to the flower represented” (61). She further envelopes the foods in
Onoto-Watanna-style romance by confiding that the Chinese recipes were
“handed down” from Vo Lin, head cook of the highest mandarin of Shanghai,
and that certain of the Japanese dishes are served regularly to the Emperor (5).
Chinese-Japanese Cook Book demonstrates Eaton’s hope, despite
mounting evidence of increasing prejudice against Asians, that Americans could
yet be persuaded to experience and admire both Chinese and Japanese cultures.
Although her participation in the “Japanese fad” has been interpreted as a
betrayal of her Chinese heritage, her attempt her to extend American enthusiasm
for Japan to China demonstrates her belief that the phenomenon provided a
means of opposing racist attitudes. Unlike another of her sisters, Sui Sin Far,
whose stories depict the suffering of Chinese people in America, she had
concluded that average Americans would be charmed into giving up their
prejudices long before they would respond to lectures.
University of Nevada, Reno
Ellen Dupree