The 'A Co.' Misunderstanding
A linguistic confusion at a Seattle restaurant leads to a partnership change and a new sign.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
For the satisfaction of a number of inquiring friends, an INTELLIGENCER reporter took the trouble to ascertain the meaning of the words 'Ham Gum,' at the end of Prof. Leas & Co.'s restaurant sign in front of Tester's Hall. It appears that a colored man and a Chinaman formed a partnership in the restaurant business, and the former had the sign painted 'Prof. Leas & Co.' The Chinaman, who could read English a little, looked the sign over and exclaimed: 'What you callem A Co?' The professor explained that the 'A Co' meant the Chinaman portion of the firm. John did not see the point, and remonstrated as follows: 'My name no A Co, my name Ham Gum,' and he did not let up until his name appeared in full on the firm sign. The whole matter is very simple when once explained.
“My name no 'A Co,' my name 'Ham Gum.'”
This 1880 anecdote captures the casual, often dehumanizing nature of ethnic relations in 19th-century Seattle, where a business partnership was simultaneously a site of cross-cultural negotiation and institutional racism. It serves as a reminder that Seattle's commercial history is built on the labor and agency of immigrant communities whose names were often treated as 'oddities' by the dominant press.
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