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The Marco Polo Scrapbooks are invaluable historical artifacts of Vancouver’s Chinatown nightlife in the 1960s and 1970s. The two books - containing photographs, menus, posters, letters, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera - catalogue the fascinating history of Vancouver’s long-shuttered Marco Polo Restaurant and Nightclub, which once hosted such venerable acts as comedians Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor, and legendary musician Nina Simone. Something especially remarkable about these books is that they and their contained artifacts were nearly lost forever: found by chance from a dealer who intended to dismantle their contents. Arranged by former owner Victor Louie and his family, their contents tell the story of this little-documented dinner theatre: an entertainment hotspot and vital part of Chinatown’s cultural history. This digital collection shares roughly 50 textual, photographic, and mixed-media records preserved in Louie’s scrapbooks. As some of the only surviving traces of the Marco Polo Restaurant and Nightclub, the scrapbooks shed light on a vital part of Chinatown’s cultural scene and historical development. Many thanks go to the scrapbooks’ present owner Tom Carter, who kindly lent these books to the project, and enabled their being shared with the general public.
