# Chinese Takeout Menu (Part 3) Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-qIFb6Fpsw Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/b-qIFb6Fpsw Generated: 2025-11-10T18:40:18.48+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Fong's Graphics & Printing, established in 1985 in the San Gabriel Valley, reveals their extensive archive of old restaurant menus and printing samples, including the tri-fold paper menus they used before modern digital methods, and discusses their ongoing printing work, such as creating new menus for a local restaurant. **Key Points:** - Fong's Graphics & Printing has been operating in the San Gabriel Valley since 1985, recently celebrating its 40th anniversary. - The business maintains an archive of various old menus, including printed samples from the 1980s and 1990s, showcasing different printing styles like multi-page spiral-bound menus and tri-fold paper menus. - Daphne Fong demonstrates the evolution of menu printing, showing examples from when they hired photographers for food pictures to current methods. - The owners discuss how customers, including local restaurant owners, would order specific menu items, which were then compiled into the final print job. - The video highlights the historical context of menu creation, contrasting old techniques (like using physical samples and calligraphy) with modern digital processes. - The archive contains samples of different menu types, such as Chinese food menus, Hawaiian BBQ plates, and vegetarian options. ![Screenshot at 0:24: Doris Fong shows a close-up of the metal sign for 'Fong's Graphics & Printing Since 1985,' establishing the company's identity and long history in the printing industry.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-00-24.png) **Context:** The video documents a visit to Fong's Graphics & Printing, a long-standing printing business in the San Gabriel Valley, established by Daphne and Doris Fong in 1985. The host interviews the owners amidst shelves filled with decades of their printing work, focusing specifically on the evolution of Chinese restaurant menu design and production over the past four decades. ## Detailed Analysis The video explores the history and craft of menu printing through an interview with Daphne and Doris Fong at their business, Fong's Graphics & Printing, which has been running since 1985 in the San Gabriel Valley. The host expresses surprise at the volume of historical menus kept in their archive, which are organized on wooden shelves. Daphne Fong shows the host various menu formats they have produced over the years, including older, colorful menus featuring food photography (like the 'Family Pack' and 'General Chicken' ads seen on lightboxes) and spiral-bound books showing different cuisine sections (Hawaiian BBQ, Chinese food). They look through old samples, noting that customers used to select items based on these physical proofs. The owners explain their process, which included hiring photographers for food pictures and using calligraphy for titles, like the sample showing breakfast, lunch, dinner, beef, and seafood items written in traditional script. They contrast this with modern needs, mentioning that some older styles of printing (like single-color printing on an old machine) are no longer used. The discussion emphasizes the tangible, physical nature of their past work compared to today's digital standards, showing how they managed customer choices by having them point to desired items on the samples. ### Fong's History and Location - Fong's Graphics & Printing operates in the San Gabriel Valley - Started in 1985, celebrating 40 years - Interview takes place inside their office surrounded by archives. ### Menu Archive Exploration - Reviewing historical menus displayed on shelves - Examining tri-fold paper menus and spiral-bound books - Showing examples of Chinese food and Hawaiian BBQ plates. ### Printing Process and Evolution - Discussing the need to hire photographers for food pictures in the past - Showing calligraphy samples for menu titles like 'Beef' and 'Seafood' - Comparing old single-color printing machines to modern needs. ### Customer Interaction - Explaining how customers chose items by pointing at physical menu samples - Describing how they compiled customer selections into the final print job. ![Screenshot at 0:00: Display of various old menu cover samples laid out on a table, representing the company's archive.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-00-00.png) ![Screenshot at 0:09: A large, square box showing the QuarkXPress software packaging, symbolizing the shift in graphic design technology.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-00-09.png) ![Screenshot at 0:11: An advertisement for the Apple Macintosh Performa 475, highlighting the vintage computing hardware used in early desktop publishing.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-00-11.png) ![Screenshot at 0:24: The exterior of Fong's Graphics & Printing, showing the building facade and the business name sign.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-00-24.png) ![Screenshot at 0:27: The host \(Bong\) interacting with Daphne Fong and Doris Fong in the waiting area, introducing the owners.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-00-27.png) ![Screenshot at 0:53: Close-up on illuminated LED lightboxes displaying modern menu promotions like 'Family Pack' and 'General Chicken'.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-00-53.png) ![Screenshot at 1:04: Daphne Fong showing a green menu cover sample featuring Chinese text and a pagoda illustration from the archives.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-01-04.png) ![Screenshot at 1:33: A close-up of a printed menu page showing dishes like 'Twice Cooked Pork' and 'Chicken w/Orange Peel' with item codes.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-01-33.png) ![Screenshot at 1:55: Daphne Fong laughing while pointing at a grid of small food pictures in an old menu sample, illustrating customer selection methods.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-01-55.png) ![Screenshot at 2:57: A large, industrial printing machine in the back room, representing the physical production aspect of their work.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/b-qIFb6Fpsw/00-02-57.png)