New Publication Release
Enduring Hardship. The Chinese Laundry in Canada
by Ban Seng Hoe
Mercury Series, Cultural Studies Paper 76
94 pages, 85 b&w; illustrations, 6¾ x 9½"
ISBN 0-660-19078-8
September 2003
$19.95 (paper)
Faced with systematic discrimination, early Chinese immigrants had little choice but to create their own economic niche. For a half century, a majority of Chinese immigrants were laundry workers. Although the hand laundry was not a traditional trade in China, it required little capital and could be performed even if unfamiliar with Western languages and financial systems. The hours were long, the work was physically demanding, and most lived marginal existences — as poignantly evoked in this important work.
Modern equipment and synthetics ended the hand laundry but to generations of Chinese-Canadians, it remains a symbol of sacrifice and enduring hardship.
About the Author
Dr. Ban Seng Hoe is a founding president of the Folklore Studies Association of Canada and a co-founder of Applied Anthropology of Canada, and founded the Asian and Middle Eastern programmes at the National Museum of Man. He has served as a visiting lecturer, visiting professor and scholar, and honorary research associate at numerous institutions in North America and China, and has been the curator of numerous exhibitions in Canada and the Far East. Dr. Hoe is the author of numerous other publications, including Structural Change of Two Chinese Communities in Alberta (1976), Beyond the Golden Mountain: Chinese Cultural Traditions in Canada (1989) and Semelai Communities at Tasek Bera (2001). He is currently Curator of Asian Studies of the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
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