Chinese takeout boxes aren’t Chinese

Author

Marc Angelo Alcantara
December 13, 2025

In partnership with

Morning egg rolls!

Well, we can’t just have a loose roll like that!

Put that thang in something I can carry!

Now, that’s more like it!

Funny thing about that super Chinese-looking takeout container, though?

It’s from Chicago.

Where this guy:

Has a whole bunch of leaky oysters..

So he takes a single piece of paper

And folds it into a leak-proof container!

The Paper Pail. 1894.

Bang: 

But this thing isn’t really taking off with oysters in Chicago. 

What IS taking off is a gold rush in California:

Where tons of 

…where tons of hungry miners are looking for quick meals from Chinese immigrants there

So they bring back the paper pail:

Now with stereotypical Chinese fonts:

And a…

Pagoda.

Stay Cute,
Henry & Dylan 🌈

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