Janet Cade Kelsey’s grandfather opened a small gas station and coffee shop in 1926 called “Camp De La Warr” on the Philadelphia Pike in Claymont, Delaware. Around 1930 he added a restaurant with kitchen. Five years later he acquired a liquor license and built a large log cabin next to the gas station that sponsored dances on Friday and Saturday nights. At some point, the name was changed to “Cade’s.”
Interior of Camp De La WarrFrom the mid-1930s until the mid-1940s, Janet’s father, Robert Cade, William D. White, and cronies from Arden, including writer, Victor “Vic Thaddeus, and painter and writer, Ross Santee, met at Cade’s restaurant for round table discussions. White often followed Cade home, where the two men sketched and enjoyed dinner together. Janet remembers her father giving White food to take with him and riding along as her father drove White home.
At some point, William D. White created a menu for the restaurant, pictured below.
Enjoy some of the drawings William D. White gave Janet’s father, Robert Cade.