 | Disappearing PlacesAn archive and collective map of places that no longer exist, at least not as they once did. |
The Chinese Laundry
Posted On Sunday May 17, 2009 By MudhooksEvery town had at least one, cities often had one or two in every neighbourhood.
The Chinese Laundry.
I can recall that this was still a working laundry when we moved to New Edinburgh, a working-class neighbourhood on the east side of Ottawa, in the mid-1960s. New Edinburgh is now an upscale enclave with a few of the original working-class families still not pushed out by the monster homes and Yuppified historic homes.
Even the Chinese Laundry has a toney new paint-job, if only barely covering its heritage facade, and is a private home. I’m not sure if the people who live there are even aware of the industrial history of their home.
The Chinese Laundry was the precursor to the dry-cleaner and the coin-operated laundromat, in the pre-electric days. Before people could afford their own washing machine, had running water piped into their homes, and after women moved out of the home and into the workplace, the Chinese laundry was the only place you could get your washing done.
Single men and women who worked took their week’s worth of wash to the laundry and it was washed, dried, ironed, pressed and starched by the end of the day.
Because of discrimination, lack of English language skills (or French, in Quebec) and lack of money it was also one of the few avenues of enterprise open to most Chinese (or any other Asians) besides the ubiquitous Chinese Chop Suey house.
Tags: chinese, laundry, ottawa