Details
Title A Chinese laundry in Philadelphia [graphic].
Publisher London : [publisher not identified]
Publisher ENG. London. 1876
Date June 3, 1876
Physical Description 1 print : wood engraving ; sheet 25 x 17 cm (9.75 x 6.5 in.)
Description Interior view of a Chinese owned and operated laundry in Philadelphia. In the center, shows the owner of the business attired in a top hat, white collared shirt, bowtie, suit jacket, waistcoat, and pants. He sits in a wooden chair with his legs crossed and smoking a cigarette as he supervises the workers. The four Chinese men laundry workers wear queue hairstyles and are attired in tunics, pants, and slip-on, cloth shoes. In the left, two men stand behind the counter and iron, one of whom spits water from his mouth onto the laundry. In the right, the man stands facing the viewer with his hand on top of his head while a man irons from another countertop. Steam rises up from the irons. There is a storage closet with the door partially open revealing shelves with folded laundry. More stacks of folded laundry sit on the countertops. In the right foreground, there are five irons warming on a heater and two baskets of laundry. A clock hangs on the wall.
Notes Title from item.
Date and publication information from original source.
Published in the June 3, 1876 issue of the Graphic, a British weekly illustrated newspaper.
Text description of the engraving from the Graphic, p. 542: A Chinese Laundry in Philadelphia. Though not nearly so numerous as in California, where their presence has recently excited extreme hostility among the white working classes, the Chinese are to be found, though few and far between, in the Eastern States. There are several Chinese laundries in Philadelphia, and as they have only been recently introduced from California, they are almost as much objects of interest to Philadelphians as to foreigners. Our artist came across the laundry shown in our engraving unexpectedly. As soon as the Chinamen perceived him sketching it through the window, they rushed out and shouted after him, whereupon he made off, thinking it prudent to avoid a scene. The Celestial in European dress is the "boss," or master, who owns several laundries, and who attends to the customers and business arrangements. The manner of damping the clothes preparatory to ironing is peculiar, the operator fills his mouth with water, and squirts it over the linen.
Gift of Linda Kimiko August.
RVCDC
Subject Chinese.
Chinese -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Cleaning establishments -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Irons (Pressing)
Laundries -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Laundries (Rooms & spaces) -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Laundry -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Laundry workers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Men -- Chinese.
Men -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Pressing of garments.
Queue (Hairstyle)
Racialization and visual culture.
AAPI.
Geographic subject Philadelphia (Pa.)
Genre Wood engravings -- 1870-1880.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Ph Pr - 8x10 - Businesses - Chinese Laundry [P.2023.27.1]
Accession number P.2023.27.1