September 2019
Rex Café. Last month we told you about a request for information about the Rex Café that we received from the Gin Wah family in Vancouver. The family owned the restaurant in Carman before fire destroyed the building in late November, 1976. We’re pleased to report that Carman/Dufferin MHAC Secretary Debbie Nicolajsen hit the jackpot when a friend produced a copy of a menu from the days when Gin Wah was proprietor. How many of you recall the days when you could get “Dinner for Six” for $10?
Debbie also located a couple of photos of Fournier St. SW, taken around 1970. The Rex Café sign shows the location of the restaurant on the ground floor of the old Sons of England building. On this occasion, the street is under water from the periodic flooding that Mother Nature bestowed upon Carman in the years before the Boyne River Diversion was constructed.
August 2019
Remembering the Rex Café. Does anyone happen to have a picture of the Rex Café? We received an email this past week from Margot Wilson, daughter-in-law of the Gin Ming Wah, the last proprietor of the café. She wrote: “My husband grew up in Carman Manitoba. His father Gin Ming Wah was the owner of the Rex Cafe during the 1970s and the family lived above the cafe. When the cafe burned in November of 1976 the family, parents and 4 children, lost everything. My husband remembers how generous the community was towards them. Shortly after the fire the family relocated to Vancouver. I am wondering if you might have any pictures or information on the cafe in your archives that I could share with my husband and his 3 siblings.”
The restaurant was housed in one of the town’s historic buildings. The two-story brick structure was built in 1898 by Carman’s noted architect Edmund Watson.
The Sons of England Lodge occupied the upper floor. Hemminway and Waller operated a store in the south of the main floor (later site of the Rex Café) and Loree Real Estate had offices on the north (later a bakery). The original building can be seen in this early 1900s photo of Fournier Street (1st St. SW).
The building burned to the ground on Sunday, November 27, 1976. Gin Wah and his family lived on the second floor of the building. They escaped safely but lost all their possessions in the fire. The local Dufferin Leader gave front page coverage to the fire. You can access early newspapers online through Pembina Manitou Archive >newspapers>Carman Dufferin Leader or on disks at Boyne Regional Library and Dufferin Historical Museum.
The Dufferin Leader (December 1, 1976, pp.1–2) carried photos and details of the fire. Volunteer units were brought in from Morden, Sanford and Elm Creek to help Carman’s fire brigade. The intense heat touched off an explosion that blew glass and debris across the street, shattering windows in nearby businesses. Hydro employees worked to save power lines in the back lane. In an article the following week (Dufferin Leader, Dec. 8, 1976, p.3), we learn more about the impact of the fire on the family.
Mr. and Mrs. Gin Wah and their children, aged 8 to 15, lost their business and all but the clothes on their backs. The family, along with three employees, were temporarily housed in the Ryall Hotel. The total loss of some $100,000 was only partially covered by insurance. The local Chamber of Commerce were busy raising funds to help the family re-establish their business. Meanwhile friends, local businesses and the Red Cross had managed to provide clothing for the family. Unfortunately, the new restaurant never became a reality and the family finally decided to move west. We learned from Margot Wilson’s email that Mr. Gin passed away a few years ago but, even in his final years, he remembered and talked fondly of Carman and the Rex Café.
Everyone who lived in the Carman area before 1976 also remembers the Rex. Many have a story to tell — usually with a smile. “I was young when it burned. But I recall when we went to town, if I was good, I got taken there for ice-cream.” “Gin Ming Wah was a really nice man. He gave my father some scrolls or wall hangings from China.” “The Rex Café was always busy….” Some of the Rex Café’s appeal may be accounted for by an item in the Dufferin Historical Museum’s 150 Stories of Carman and Area. The story is that, at one time, all the young ladies went to the Rex Café in hopes of getting a glimpse of Clark Gable. The film star came up to Delta Marsh to hunt. A man who lived on ‘The Island’ in Carman, kept a couple of dogs that Gable used in hunting. And, when he came to town, Clark Gable ate at the Rex Café. How is that for a story out of a small prairie town?
We’re still trying to get our hands on a good photo of the Rex Café during the time the Gin Wah family were here. Meanwhile, the search for information about the Rex Café is taking on a new life. Our C/DMHAC Treasurer, Shirley Snider, was a key player in compiling the Museum’s 150 Stories of Carman and Area booklet. She is now inspired to collect Rex Café stories for the next volume of the book. Be warned that, when you next see Shirley, her first question will likely be “What do you remember about the Rex Café?” Or you can just send us your memories through this website.
In the meantime, we’ll keep up the quest or a more recent photo of the Rex. I wonder if we’ll spot Clark Gable?
