At the end of almost every residential block or alley, there was always a Chinese laundry. In New York, perhaps seven out of ten Chinese survived by working in Chinese Hand Laundries. On the door of every Chinese laundry were these two big words in red paint, "Hand Laundry," meaning all ironing was done by hand. According to a first hand account:Ĭhinese laundrymen relied on their hands. New York City and the formation of the CHLA Īt the beginning of the Great Depression, New York City had approximately 3,550 Chinese laundries. There were few other occupations available to Chinese. For the majority of the Chinese, then, the daily routine was almost solely working, eating, and sleeping. Workers in laundries and groceries received the going wage of twenty-five dollars per month, and despite long hours the work-week was seven days. Laundry work was especially wearisome, because it meant the soaking, scrubbing, and ironing of clothing solely by hand moreover, prompt and high quality service was necessary to keep customers satisfied. Conditions were hard and a typical launderer worked for ten to sixteen hours a day. Around the turn of the 20th century, one in four ethnic Chinese men in the United States worked in a laundry. In the United States and Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the occupation of laundry worker was heavily identified with Chinese Americans to the extent that it became "the stereotypical occupation of a whole ethnic group." Racial discrimination, lack of English language skills, and a deficit of economic capital kept most Chinese Americans out of more desirable careers. This 1881 image of a Chinese laundry in San Francisco shows "the stereotypical occupation of a whole ethnic group which led to the 1933 formation of Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance in New York City.
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