Vintage RAINBOW INN Pie Tin Plate Pan 1950-1965 Afro-American Restaurant Hotel

Description

Vintage 9" pie tin from the RAINBOW INN - an  Afro-American hotel and restaurant in Petoskey, Michigan, in business from 1950-1965.  This pie tin has some history!
The first Afro-American resort hotel and restaurant in the Northern Michigan area opened in the summer of 1950.  Former Pennsylvania Railroad employee and
Afro-American businessman William Thomas West was the proprietor.  The retired railway porter-chef and his wife Gail, both of Columbus, Ohio, decided that there
would be enough business in the area to support such an endeavor.  They chose the name "Rainbow Inn" with the idea in mind that their establishment might attract
people of all color.  While mostly frequented by summer black tourists, vacationers and local Native Americans, many white hunters and fishermen would also stay
there in the spring and fall months of the year.  The Rainbow Inn was a particular favorite of the Afro-American summer chauffeurs, maids, cooks and servants.
ON MARCH 9, 1965, the Rainbow Inn was totally destroyed by a kitchen stove fire that was too far gone to be put out by arriving firemen.  Only a few months earlier the
United States Congress had passed the CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964 which outlawed Jim Crow racial discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Nice vintage condition - great patina.  Check pictures for complete condition.