Treasures, page 13-- Chinese laundry

Almost every town had its Chinese laundry. This makes it difficult to understand why more collectibles don't exist. There are plenty of silk irons around and perhaps they used commonly available sad irons that were not uniquely Chinese. I am always hoping to find a Chinese steam iron. Most of these items are shown on other pages but I have gathered them all here on this page---

Advertising and rate blotters were given out at many laundries.

The New Chinese Hand Laundry, Johnstown, Pa:



The George Sam Hand Laundry, Brooklyn NY:



Here is a laundry receipt from 1889-- "Feng Chung Washee":




A laundry card from Wong Sing First Class Laundry, Montreal, front and back:




This is a silk iron. Coals were put in the dish part and that heated the bottom to smooth out dampened silk items. This one lacks a handle but was used in a BC laundry, whereas the origin of most of those commonly available (with handles) on Ebay is unknown.


The top of this large iron tilts back to permit putting hot coals inside. Notice the air vents on the sides. This iron came from a ranch in Texas.


This is a watering can used to dampen cloth before ironing. It was held at an angle to allow a small stream of water to escape the tiny nozzel. The user blew into the open horn and that created a spray of water to dampen the cloth.


This is a very large laundry basket. It is 29" high by 2 feet across the top. It had a Chinese tag on a string when I found it at an old junk store.


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