Chinese Laundry | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Chinese Laundry

Chinese Laundry
Submitted by pauline

Can anyone tell me more about these Chinese laundries please?  Is it possible to identify where this one was,  and do any still exist.

Regards,  Pauline.

 

Date picture taken (may be approximate): 
Friday, January 1, 1954
Gallery: 
1950s Pauline's Photos
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Comments

Submitted by David on Mon, 2012-02-20 16:40.

Hi Pauline,

It might mean 'laundry that is Chinese', rather than 'A Chinese laundry'.

It looks like a squatter village on the hillside, where washing has been spread out on the rocks to dry.

Though looking at it again, there does seem to be a lot of washing for one family. Does anyone know if there were commercial laundries like this up in the squatter villages?

Was this photo near to the one of the Tiger Pagoda in the album? Other photos of the Tiger Balm Gardens show squatter huts on the hillsides around the gardens, so your husband may have taken both photos on the same outing.

Regards, David

Submitted by IDJ on Mon, 2012-02-20 19:52.

In the 1960s/70s there used to be a laundry on the side of and just above Tai Hang Road in a squatter village area above Tiger Balm Gardens which had a large sign proclaiming it was the "The Hong Kong Electric Laundry". This was somewhat ironic as just above it on Jardine's Lookout was Hong Kong Electric's senior staff quarters at Cavendish Heights. Somehow I don't think there was a connection between them. I have a picture of the laundry's sign somewhere

Submitted by pauline on Mon, 2012-02-20 23:00.

Thank you both.

Yes David this photo is on the same page as the Tiger Pagoda so it could possibly have been taken on the same day but there are others such as the one of the steps,  posted earlier, one of the Star Ferry,  also posted earlier, two of the China Bank and one which reads underneath Shau Ki Wan.  There is also one taken from the top of the Pagoda.

I agree that there does seem to be an awful lot of washing spread out so it seems more likely that it was a commercial enterprise to me, but maybe that is how things were in squatter camps.  Perhaps more photos of similar scenes will turn up which will give us more of an idea.  My husband obviously thought it was a laundry, but that may have been based on the sheer volume of washing spread out to dry!!

Regards,  Pauline.

Submitted by moddsey on Tue, 2012-02-21 04:40.

Perhaps taken from the Tiger Balm Gardens with a view of the squatter village on the hillside below the Gardens.

1950s Tiger Balm Gardens