Marshall, David BrianKvill, Kesia2016-09-152016-09-1520162016Kvill, K. (2016). Ordering Off Western Canada’s Menu: Public Dining in Alberta, 1880s-1920s (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27222http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3301This work examines the history of public dining and restaurants in Alberta from the late 1880s to the 1920s by using food and experiences in public dining to explore the changing and complex spectrum of Western Canadian identity. Menus, newspaper advertisements, and business directories are utilized to piece together the development of cafés, restaurants, and dining rooms in the West. These sources suggest that the public dining industry was a challenging one that was influenced heavily by the prevailing assumptions of race, class, and gender. Seen as cultural institutions, public dining establishments were part of the region’s attempts to prove its modernity, sophistication, and respectability. Ultimately, the food available on menus suggests that Western Canadians found their identity through connections with the British Empire, the rest of Canada, and their own past and through their cultural equality with their Eastern counterparts.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.HistoryHistory--CanadianFoodWestern CanadaRestaurantsDiningGenderCanadian Pacific RailwayTourismBusinessCommunityCultureIdentitymaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/27222