Jingles (Gingle's) Restaurant, 70 Nathan Road, kowloon

We've had an email noting the spelling of the name was with a G, Gingles. A quick Google turns up several mentions - please let us know if you find anything interesting.

MrB

No Life Magazine, but Google Books has a few hits for "Gingles" and "Hong Kong" that you might be interested in, including one book with a caricature of the man from the prison camp years.

Tony Banham's site only records one person surnamed Gingles in Hong Kong: E.F. Gingles, a US citizen listed as interned at the Kowloon Hotel on 18th Jan 1942.

Are they the same initials as the Mr Gingles that ran the restaurant after the war? If not, that could be his brother, if yes then maybe the tale about the brother is just a story?

MrB

Frank Baillie's webpage talks about visiting the bar during his service in China in 1948-49:

We visited Jingles’ Bar on Kowloon Island where I ordered a stout, not knowing what the blazes it was.  I didn't much like it.  Jingles was a Navy Chief Cook who retired in Hong Kong. He went out to celebrate his prospective return to CONUS (continental limits of the United States) only to wake up the next morning as a bar owner.

Don't know if it is a coincidence or not but there was a Gingles's Cafe operating on Hong Kong Island prior to WWII.

The Nov 4, 1940 copy of the Hong Kong Telegraph reported that E. R. ('Red') Sammons, manager of Gingle's Cafe on Gloucester Road had been called up by the United States Naval Reserve for military service. From what has been gleaned, there were other American owners of cafes (bars) in Wanchai that were also called up during that period. One was Arthur P ('Red') Thomson, manager of the London Cafe on Lockhart Rd who went on to serve as ship's cook.

Seems like it's the same man. Gwen Dew mentions him in 'Prisoner of the Japs'. It's part of her description of 'The American Club', the nickname for one of the American-occupied buildings in the Stanley Internment Camp:

Food-preparation was immediately taken over by Gingles, an ex-navy man who had restaurants in Hong Kong for years. Because food was his hobby and he was cooking for such a small number, he could get better results with the rice, and pull tricks with the small amount of extras that were issued.

He was one of around 40 Americans that weren't repatriated on the Asama Maru, which left Stanley on 29th June 1942. (That is when Gwen Dew and most of the other Americans in Stanley Camp were able to leave).

His loss is another's gain, as he gets several mentions in the Maryknoll Diary. Reports of life in the Stanley camp repeatedly mention everyone's fixation on food, so his cooking skills were especially valued. Here are their entries for July 1942.

2 — Moving all day and getting settled, even though we have few possessions, leaves us pretty tired at night. [...] We find that we will have the use of the two small kitchens on the top floor, one being for all the Americans and the other for the use of our Sisters and us, the large Camp kitchen in the garage below,being turned over to the British. [...]

Father Meyer turns the cooking job over to Mr. Gingles. Formerly, Mr. Gingles, a retired American Navy man, had a number of restaurants in Hong Kong and a hotel in Kowloon, and while in Camp he did the cooking for the group of Americans in the American Club building. His fame as a cook spread through the Camp and now that he is living with us, he has kindly consented to do the work again. Incidentally, everybody liked Father Meyer's meals.

3—Under the new hotel management, our meal hours undergo somewhat of a change. We Maryknollers (when we have the wherewithal) have coffee, bread and cereal about 8 a.m., then Mr. Gingies gives us tiffin at 12 and dinner follows as usual at 5. Having heard a lot of our new chef's abilities, we naturally looked forward to something different, and for our first tiffin, we were not disappointed. While we had only rice and a thick soup, the soup was chicken, and very delicious. It seems there must be some community stores still extant, hence this chicken soup. For supper, he gave us fried rice and a little pork. At the present time, for 41 people, we get from 9 to 11 pounds of meat, bones and fat included, mostly beef, and probably water buffalo at that. Our present issue of green vegetables consists of a few sweet potatoes, some very poor, wormy water spinach and chives, which Mr. Gingies frowns upon and usually throws away as unfit for human consumption.

4—Rain ushered in the Fourth of July and we did not celebrate. Tiffin, again rice and a thick tomato soup (the latter not from the Japanese!) However, we had a very good supper, the Sisters adding a cake, and Father Troesch some cocoa. Mr. Gingies' kitchen is a model of cleanliness and order, and everything is absolutely shipshape. No one is allowed in the galley and he takes great pride in his work. It is easily seen he has had Navy training. His clarion call for meals is: "Come and get it or I'll throw it on the deck!" and that brings us all running with our plates and cups.

The next few days' entries continue to marvel at the quality and quantity of food that Gingles is serving. Then perhaps they get used to it, as we don't hear any more about him until August 4 1942, where he receives some good news:

4 — St. Dominic's Day. Good news—for some: the four Americans, Mr. Gingles, Dr. Molthen, Mr. Salmon and Miss Dorrer, are to leave Camp tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. [...] We naturally regret losing our genial and efficient cook, but we rejoice with him in his good fortune. We are also sorry to lose Dr. Molthen, that genial friend of all Maryknollers.

On September 12, the diary notes that all Maryknollers were able to leave the Stanley camp, and that they moved to Bethany. In October's section Gingles gets another mention: During our stay at Bethany we had a number of visitors — [...] also a few laymen, friends of Camp days, among whom was our genial chef, Mr. Gingles, with his side-kick, Dr. Molthen.

That's the last mention of him in the Maryknoll Diary. At that point it seems he is able to move about Hong Kong. Was he able to stay out of the camp, and even leave Hong Kong before the end of the war?

Turning to the book 'Hong Kong internment, 1942 to 1945', a cartoon of Gingles in the camp appears on page 80. It also gives us his full name, Edward Francis Gingles, confirming it's the same man mentioned above in Tony Banham's book. Maybe searching on his full name will help turn up some more information. Another day's job...

His name first appears in Hong Kong in the late 1930s. E. F. Gingles was the propreitor of the Palace Hotel in Kowloon and resided on the premises. The Palace Hotel used to be located at Hankow and Haiphong Roads. 

Here's some more about Ralph W. Danklefsen's memoirs that Richard mentioned above. Danklefsen is describing a visit to Cavite in the Philippines, and notes that prohibition had recently been repealed. That happened in Dec 1933, so he's probably writing about a visit in 1934:

We were scheduled for a navy yard overhaul in the Cavite Navy Yard. Cavite is in the Bay about twelve miles from Manila. There was a radio station with three high towers, a torpedo station, an ammunition dump, and the navy yard.

We entered the yard a couple of days before Thanksgiving. As soon as we were tied up, the Filipino yard workmen started working on the ship. The crew was moved to the receiving barracks and we ate in the mess hall. The food was nothing like on the Pope. The Chief Commissary Steward named Gingles was in charge. He was the CCS on the Black Hawk when I was on her. Gingles was famous throughout the Navy for his cooking and meal planning.

All the cooks that ever worked for him were told they had two strikes against them before they started—they dare not make the third.

Gingles was married to a rich Chinese woman. When he retired from the Navy, they opened a restaurant in Kaloon, China, across the Bay from Hong Kong. The restaurant was called GINGLES, and it became famous. Some years later, I read an article about it in Life magazine.

Following the thread, it begs the question of whatever happened to Mr Gingles or his family after the 50's as the restuarant seemed to have closed down.

Here's a clipping from the Thursday, June 23 1960 edition of China Mail newspaper, mentioning that he died on Monday June 20th, aged 75.

I got the approximate date from a search on Google News, which looks like it will be a useful tool in future. The US publications give his age as 77, and spell his surname as Gingle instead of Gingles.

Gingles gets a mention in one of the histories of 'Earthquake McGoon', Gingles' friend mentioned above:

Stories about [McGoon's] adventures abound. At one point, his C-46 had to make a forced landing and he was captured by the Communists. They held him for six months but, according to the story, they released him when they could no longer afford to feed him. Upon his return to the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong, a much thinner McGoon immediately made for Nathan Road and his favorite watering hole, E. T. Gingle's cafe, where he indulged himself in his favored dish, heavily buttered lima beans. "Pop" Gingle was a retired Navy chief, an Old China Hand, who had retired to the Orient and established a restaurant and saloon renowned for its chili and its friendliness to expatriate pilots. Gingle may have been the person who gave McGovern his nickname and during McGoon's captivity, had tried to ransom him.

We've also been sent this un-dated photo by reader IDJ.

Is it Gingles in the center of the photo? It also shows Sammons, who has already been mentioned above as "manager of Gingle's Cafe" in 1940, and again as one of the people attending Gingles' funeral in 1960.

From this clipping from NOV 1940 of the Liqour Licencing Board, Gingles and Tkachenkos were around prior to the Japanese Occupation. Other establishments mentioned will ring a bell with readers with fonder and

The Google / Life site turns up 46 photos of Gingles and his bar.

It looks like Gingles had quite an operation - a bar/restaurant and a farm - with many Life "celeb" pictures to boot. A search on PRO shows that "Gingles Ltd." started business in June 1941 and was closed in August 1962.  (Voluntary Liquidation of Company Agencies Files) That would be 2 years after Gingles passed away.

It looks as though he was born with the surname Gingle, though in later life was known to everyone as Gingles.

I found another reference to him in the US National Archives. He's listed under the name 'Edward F Gingle' in the 'World War II Prisoners of War Data File ', and recorded as being in the Stanley camp. It says his wife Susan, and daughter Mabel were also in the camp.

On the Stanley camp group, Brian Edgar wrote:

Gingles is in the group featured in the first photo of this album: http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=216544&l=133b2da0b9&id=727541399

Otherwise, I'm afraid I can't contribute much of historical value - my father sometimes spoke about him, usually to praise his ability to hold his alchohol. I think he claimed Gingles could drink a crate of beer before breakfast, but I'm sure either my memory is faulty or my father's was!

I also seem to remember there's a reference to Gingles' 'restaurant' being popular with soldiers in, I think, Tim Carew's book on the fall of Hong Kong.

From that suggestion, a Google Book Search for Gingles Hong Kong turns up some interesting snippets of information.

A couple more notes confirming the information above.

Carl T Smith's 'Wanchai: In Search of an Identity' has the paragraph:

In 1941, just before the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong there were eleven liquor licences issued for establishments in Wanchai. On Lockhart Road were the Hong Kong Bowling Alleys, the Embassy Bar, the London Cafe, and the Wanchai Beer Hall (Japanese); on Gloucester Road were located the Neptune Bar, Gingle's Cafe, the Luk Kwok Hotel, and the Nagasaki Joe Hotel; on Hennessy Road was the Black Dog, and on Hau Fung Lane off upper Ship Street there were two Japanese Hotels.

A search for 'gingle' in HKGRO returns three results, the Juror lists for 1938, 1939, and 1940. In each list he appears in the 'Common Jurors' section:

• Name in full: Gingle, Edward Francis
• Occupation: Proprietor, Palace Hotel
• Address: On premises.

May 24, 1954 issue, showing him leaving the memorial service for McGovern.

Been looking at the licensing board sessions in the Daily Press dated 8 Nov 1939 and in the government archves for November 1940-1941.

From the numbering system of houses on Gloucester Rd, what is interesting is that Gingles Restaurant was located on Nos 64-65 between Nagaski Joe's (62-63 Gloucester Rd) and Luk Kwok Hotel (67-77 Gloucester Rd).

In 1940, my guess is that the Gingle's Restaurant was located on the south-east junction of Gloucester and Luard Roads whereas Nagasaki Joe's was situated on the opposite and western side of the road.

E. F. Gingle was also the proprietor of the Palace Hotel located on 43-44 Haiphong Road, Kowloon prior to WWII. Between 1940-1941, a 'new' restraunt called the Gingle's Annexe appeared to operate on the G/F at 70 Nathan Rd at the same address as the one after WWII.

Received via email: 1940 Palace Hotel Calling Card

Brian thanks for the extra photos, and glad to hear you enjoy the site.

This site has a photo of Gingle's 'Club' and of a mock certificate he issued attesting to the holder's abilitity to navigate the seas of alcohol:

http://uss-la-ca135.org/40/1940ruffin.html

I've just written a piece focused on Gingle's history during the war years:

http://brianedgar.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/edward-gingle-at-war/

That's a good read - thanks Brian!

With acknowledgements to IDJ, I've written a couple of blog posts about Ernest Gann and Gingle:

http://brianedgar.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/edward-gingle-in-jerome-ganns-autobiography/

http://brianedgar.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/gingle-becomes-tweedie-ernest-ganns-soldier-of-fortune/

The Rene Lim mentioned in the blog is Rene Lym-Robertson who lives in California and has visited Hong Kong in recent years. About 3 or 4 years ago she was instantly recognised by the staff when she entered the Peninsula. She also has tales to tell of being kissed by Clark Gable during the production of the film Soldier of Fortune.

Seen here :-

Fascinating reading thanks to all contributors. My memory of Gingles is pretty slim but I do remember the red and white checker table cloths and the ad offering a 32 oz steak (maybe it was bigger) and if you could eat the whole thing there would be no charge. Interesting history.

Here's an excerpt from an article called "Hong Kong hangs on" in the February 1954 issue of the National Geographic Magazine:

Perhaps my biggest gustatory thrill came, however, when we discovered in Kowloon an eating place run by a retired chief petty officer of Uncle Sam's Navy. Its menu read like any American diner's, and a chrome and neon jukebox played tunes from tin-pan alley. After five months in the Far East, I never tasted anything better than the hamburger and milkshake I ordered there for lunch one day.

No names are mentioned, but surely this must be Gingles!

Gloucester Road

More of Gingles here

With my limited experience, one thing I do remember in the early fifties was seeing a sign at his restaurant that offered no charge for fully consuming a 32 oz. steak, including the usual garnishings.  Once started, if you give up, you pay! Wow, that was a mouthful. 

Interesting account of the man. See here

Some very interesting articles here on Gingle. Does anybody know what happened to Sunnybrook Farm, near Sheung Shui? Presumably the land has been built over by now.

Only dropped by once, c.1956, because it was one of things a nwcomer  did. I only stayed for a single beer and all I remember was the rattan furniture which I was told was used because it bounced well without breaking if a fight broke out. I do not remember the exact address but I think  it was  where Chungking Mansions were built in c.1960. 

I watched 'Soldier of Fortune' on TV a few nights ago and I am sure the bar Susan Hayward walked into searching for her husband  was styled on Gingles. 

Nick

That must have been a very old photo with gobs lining the balcony rail. I thought the USN were limited to the HK side and Kowloon was left to the British Army to roam. Seemed a very sensible policy particularly after the Vietnam War started in earnest in the mid 60s. As a merchant seaman we had no such restrictions placed on us though  it seemed we kept to Tsimshatsui and were not tempted to visit Wanchai.

Nick

Wow!  this name Gingles brings back happy memories from many years ago...in fact, from 1949 until 1952....when I served here in Hong Kong as a very young soldier.with my Regiment "The Kings Shropshire Light Infantry.".....in a tented camp up in Sek Kong......and we were allowed in to Kowloon some weekends, and we used Gingles restaurant very often trying to finish one of his MASSIVE steaks...but never made it.

I used to drink Carlsberg beer then and one evening just before leaving Gingles, some character devised and put on my head, a paper crown for me, from a Carlsberg advert...AND as we left, 'Mr Gingles', who was always sitting in a massive big chair by the door,  patted me on the back and said, "Wow KING CARLSBERG, bye for now....see you again soon"......

and after this, I was always known as KING CARLSBERG for quite a few years, even after we had returned to England.

Thank you GWULO for bringing back wonderful memories, and thank you Mr Gingles for making this possible, even though this was 68 years ago....( I am now 88 years old...not quite as sprightly as those days} but I still love a bottle of Carlsberg.....AND, a SMALL steak.

Bill Griffiths ( now in HK for a holiday, ..what a pity Gingles is not there any more......THOSE were the days...AND Nights..)

I served here in Hong Kong from 1949 until 1950 then was sent to Korea for seventeen months, but I cant remember ever being restricted to where we went...although we WERE advised NOT to go to Wanchai....but we did, because we used the China Fleet Club, which was in Wanchai...

Those were the days....AND nights??? when we used to experiment with all the cocktails served up in the China Fleet Club Bar...WOW...had a few headaches???

Bill

More about Gingles here

I remember Old-Man Gingles and his farm in the New Territories and various visits in the 1950s. He was an old friend of my parents Bob and Irene Jones (nee Stevens) from their internment in Stanley Camp. I was just 5 or 6 at the time so I never had the opportunity to visit his bar or other establishments! He prepared a most succulent Pineapple Ham amongst other things. I believe the former was one of his signature dishes which I thoroughly enjoyed before returning to further explore his rambling, heavily overgrown property in the N.T.

Robert Jones  

Gingle's Restaurant was in Nathan Road near Humphreys Road. I have a few photos of it but don't know how to insert here.

Gingle's slideshow

As the restaurant was named Gingle's and not Gingles', his correct last name was likely Gingle and not Gingles.

Noted an advertisment in the China Mail dated 14 June 1961 of the opening of the Sunnybrook Farm's Kowloon store at 55 Kimberley Road the following day.