Van's Cafe, Brainerd, Minnesota - 1933 Remodeling

WORLD'S FAIR INSPIRES DESIGN OF CAFE

NEWLY REMODELED ENLARGED VAN'S
  CAFE MODELED AFTER MODERNISTIC
    MOTIF OF WORLD'S FAIR STRUCTURES

The cashier's desk is at the front, meeting both sides of the service accommodations.

The interior walls are colorfully depicted in tiffany, blended in drapes at the windows of red with the customary shades of kindred hue.

Standing nearly 4 feet high, is a strip of paneling. The paneling and wainscoting are of birch, carried out in artistic and modernistic style.

Expressive lighting effects are found throughout and ceiling fans add comfort for the summer patron. Etched mirrors also are found at the door.

Another feature of comfort and convenience is the washed air cooling system which changes the air in the interior at regular intervals insuring crisp, fresh air at all times.

Second Floor Modernistic

With the cafe occupying the entire ground floor, a look into the upstairs finds eight bed rooms, a living room and two bathrooms. The second floor, likewise, is carried out in modernistic vogue, emphasized in the trim of the interior walls, lighting fixtures and other appointments.

Electrical devices are stressed in other commodious equipment. Four large compressors generate refrig­eration for the large vegetable storage vault, the beer and soda fountains and the all service refrigerator. All are powered by electricity.

Even before the world's fair in Chicago had officially opened but when the modernistic motif began to take shape in the early construction stages of the international exposition, the inspiration had been provided for the remodeling and enlargement of Van's cafe, now completed in its every detail and open for public inspection.

Patterned after the world's fair structures, in modernistic design throughout, the newly enlarged cafe carries out the architectural theme throughout.

Finished in Cream

Its exterior, transcending from the semi-gabled roof with cupolas, to the cornice and side walls, is of the latest design in architecture, modernistic in vogue and application.

Finished in a cream stucco, the building rises in prominence by virtue of its design. It has an asbestos roof of colored and ornamental shingles transcending down to the cornice that folds into the walls.

Five metal strips, dressed in duco finish, surround the building to emphasize the modernistic touch. The five are approximately six inches in width and are finished in black.

To complete the color effect, a two foot black vitriolite strip appears at the base. The color is harmonious and welcome, carrying out the theme in appealing design.

Adding to the exterior signifi­cance are sand-blasted windows of modernistic design with horizontal windows in the side walls.

Ornamental awnings complete the exterior design.

The windows are decorated with chromium, adding to the attractive­ness.

Interior in Tiffany

Nearly doubling the seating capacity on the interior, the foyer opens on a clever arrangement of tables at the left. If you choose, booths are available to your right. It is a sort of horseshoe shape with a half partition separating booths from the tables and lunch counter. In the middle, the service counter finds at its back the beer and soda fountain and equipment for handling pastries, etc.

OWNER DEVELOPS CAFE FROM SMALL
  LUNCH COUNTER TO ONE OF FINEST
    EATING PLACES IN NORTHWEST AREA

Since 1924, the cafe has gradually outgrown its size, winning a high class clientele by virtue of its fine foods and excellent service. He expanded the place in recent years until expansion was inevitable. He then purchased the real estate and immediately began plans for the development that now is being heralded as the finest in the Northwest.

Mr. Van Essen is married and has three children. Mrs. Van Essen was the former Miss Clare DeRocher, who married in January 1917.

In developing Van's cafe to a point where it has become known throughout the United States, being a popular eating place for tourists as well as for an established local clientele, C. C. Van Essen has stressed service and congeniality.

Mr. Van Essen assumed ownership of the cafe, then a small lunch room of about one-fourth the present size and boasting of only a lunch counter, in 1924. Since that time he has gradually expanded the business until it had outlived its size and development was necessary to take care of the fast growing throngs that frequented Van's cafe for their meals.

It was in 1916 that Mr. Van Essen first came to Brainerd. He was sent here as manager of the F. W. Woolworth store. He remained here for one year and then was transferred to F. W. Woolworth Co. at Kenosha, Wis., where he remained until 1921.

Then it was that he entered the restaurant business, becoming associated with his father-in-law, M. DeRocher, in the operation of the lunch counter. In 1924, Mr. Van Essen purchased the business and immediately expanded it, adding new fixtures and otherwise modernizing it.