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Running a hand laundry was a popular occupation for early Chinese migrants to North America due to the low start-up costs. It was so common that the sterotype of the “Chinese laundryman” became prevalent in North American popular culture.

A program tonight on CBC Radio One’s Ideas, promises to go beyond the sterotypes by exploring what it was like to grow up in a Chinese laundry. Tune in at 9 pm (9:30 in Newfoundland).

In the Chung Collection, try searching for keywords such as “laundry” or “laundryman” to see items related to laundries.

Happy birthday Vancouver! Today, April 6 2011, marks the 125^th anniversary of the incorporation of the City of Vancouver.

Another birthday celebration in Vancouver’s past was the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1936.  The local Chinese Canadian community was very spirited, creating a “Chinese village” with a big, beautifully constructed bamboo arch, located at the corner of Pender and Carrell.  The Chinese village was accompanied by a souvenir pamphlet produced by Quene Yip (son of the “unofficial mayor” of Chinatown Yip Sang) called “Vancouver Chinatown.” These were concerted efforts on the part of Chinese Canadians to “open up” their community to the rest of the city and to tourists, trying to break down the barriers of fear and misunderstanding that existed in the early years of Vancouver.  A letter from his sister Susan Yip praised Quene’s efforts:

“It was an excellent idea to have composed such a booklet, giving the foreign visitors an insight into “Vancouver Chinatown”… for the right kind of publicity is very necessary for the Chinese and China nowadays in this world of international relationship!”

Search the Chung Collection for the keywords “Golden Jubilee” or “Chinese Village” for records of these events.

Vancouver 125 links:

Our friends at the City of Vancouver Archives have summarized the activities of the Golden Jubilee Society in 1936.

The Vancouver Sun has excellent coverage today of Vancouver 125 events.

Don’t forget to vote for the places in Vancouver that matter to you with the Vancouver Heritage Foundation (voting closes at midnight tonight!).

And of course, check out the City of Vancouver anniversary site for complete listings of events and activities.

A favourite stop in the Chung Collection exhibition is always the photograph of the Cantonese Opera troupe in case 5. It is a beautifully detailed photograph, taken by Cecil B. Wand in 1923.

Those who are looking for more on Cantonese Opera must also stop at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, where they have a collection of over 400 Cantonese opera costumes, props and instruments. For reasons unknown, travelling troupes sometimes left costumes and other items behind in Vancouver with the Jin Wah Sing Musical Association, who stored the costumes until they were acquired by the Museum of Anthropology.

Do not despair if you cannot make it to campus- through the MOA website you can view high quality photographs of all of these objects. Visit the MOA Collection Online and type “Cantonese opera” as your search terms and this is what you will see:

You can click on each item and zoom  in to see the amazing detail that went into these costumes:

Information on visiting MOA is available on their website. It’s definitely worth a trip!