Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

THREE-PIECE SUIT

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1960

Materials

WOOL, COTTON

No. Pieces

3

Length

77.7

Width

45

Description

1. NAVY BLUE WOOL SUIT JACKET WITH THIN RED AND BLUE PINSTRIPES. SILVER-BLUE RAYON LINING. TWO FRONT POCKETS WITH FLAPS AND TWO INSIDE BREAST POCKETS. RIGHT BREAST POCKET HAS LABEL WITH "WOODWARD'S MENS SHOPPE" AND TAG BELOW WITH "PURE VIRGIN WOOL". TWO BUTTONS AT FRONT CLOSURE; THREE BUTTONS AT EACH CUFF. WIDE LAPELS; SINGLE-BREASTED. 2. VEST: 61.2CM (L) X 39.5CM (W). MATCHING VEST. 6 BUTTONS AT FRONT CLOSURE. TAPERED TO A "V" AT BOTTOM OF FRONT WITH TWO POCKETS. HALF BELTED WITH ADJUSTABLE BUCKLE. RAYON TAFETTA BACKING (MATCHING JACKET LINING). 3. TROUSERS: 96CM (L) X 36CM (W). MATCHING TROUSERS. TWO FRONT POCKETS AND TWO BACK POCKETS. ZIPPER, BUTTON, AND HOOK CLOSURE AT WAIST. HEMMED AT BOTTOM AND ALTERED AT WAISTBAND TO DECREASE SIZE. WAISTBAND AND POCKETS LINED WITH GREY COTTON. WIDE STRAIGHT CUT LEGS WITH HOLE IN RIGHT KNEE AND SMALL HOLE IN RIGHT LEG HEM.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

BUSINESS

PERSONAL CARE

History

BELONGED TO DONOR'S FATHER. *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS, INCLUDING ONE DONATED AS PART OF THE ING ESTATE (P19950073023). SHE EXTRACTED THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ON THE ING FAMILY FROM PERMANENT FILE P19950073001, WHICH CONTAINS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW COLLECTIONS TECH KEVIN MACLEAN CONDUCTED WITH HAROLD ING JR., SON OF HAROLD AND MYRA, IN HIS ROOM AT THE LETHBRIDGE HOTEL IN SEPTEMBER 2005. MYRA WAS BORN IN GOLDEN B.C. TO SHIN-BOW AND CHOW TING RAH; HER FATHER ORGINALLY EMIGRATED TO CANADA TO WORK ON CANADIAN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION AND LATER BECAME A RESTAURANTEUR, WHERE MYRA DEVELOPED HER ENGLISH SKILLS AS A WAITRESS. "IN 1906 MY DAD [HAROLD ING SR.] LEFT HONG KONG FOR VANCOUVER, HE COULDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH... HE'S GOT TO BE A WAITER, A BUSBOY... AND HE LEARNED ALL THE WAY UP, IN THE MEANTIME PICKING UP ENGLISH... WENT TO WINNIPEG. THIS IS BEFORE ME. BY THEN HE KNEW THE WHOLE SYSTEM OF RESTAURANTING." MYRA AND HAROLD SR. MARRIED AND ADOPTED HAROLD JR. WHEN HE WAS BORN INTO A POOR FAMILY OF ELEVEN IN 1944, IN VANCOUVER. "ME AND MY TWIN SISTER WERE SOLD BECAUSE THERE WERE JUST TOO MANY. SO DAD, MY MOM PICKED ME AND DAD SAID YES THAT'S GOOD... I DON'T KNOW WHERE MY SISTER IS... THERE'S NO WAY OF FINDING OUT." THE ING FAMILY SETTLED IN LETHBRIDGE IN THE LATE 1940S, AND HAROLD SR. OWNS AND OPERATES THE NEW MOON CAFE AND TWO GROCERIES, WHICH ARE RUN BY THE FAMILY AND NEW CHINESE IMMIGRANTS THAT HAROLD SR. SPONSORED. "AT APPROXIMATELY FIVE YEARS OLD [MY FATHER] INTRODUCED ME TO THE NEW MOON CAFE, AND I WAS A BUSBOY AT THE AGE OF FIVE... IN 1951 HE SHOWED ME MY FIRST HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL... BECAUSE HE WAS THE OWNER... HE'D WAKE UP AT FIVE IN THE MORNING TO GO TO THE CAFE, OFF AND ON TO THE GROCERY STORE AND MIGHT BE DONE AT EIGHT AT NIGHT, SUPPER AND IMMEDIATELY TO CHINATOWN [FOR] GAMBLING, PUTTING DOWN MAH JONG." HAROLD JR. ATTENDED WESTMINISTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DURING THE DAY, AND CHINESE SCHOOL AT THE CHINESE NATIONAL LEAGUE IN THE EVENINGS - HIS FATHER WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE, AND THE ORGANIZATION RAN THE SCHOOL, CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS, FILM SCREENINGS, AND BANQUETS, FUNDED BY MEMBERSHIP FEES. HAROLD'S YOUNGER BROTHER, CALVIN, "GOT SENT TO A BOARDING SCHOOL SOMEWHERE. HE WAS GIFTED, BUT HE HAD A BYPASS SURGERY, HE HAD SOMETHING WRONG WITH HIS HEART. HE COULDN'T HANDLE PUBLIC SCHOOL, SO THEY SENT HIM TO B.C." AFTER HIGH SCHOOL AND A BRIEF STINT IN CALGARY, HAROLD JR. RAN ING'S GROCERY FOR HIS FATHER, AND IN THE LATE 1960S AND EARLY 70S ALSO WORKED AS A PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND A SALESMAN AT SEARS. BOTH HAROLD SR. AND MYRA ING PASSED AWAY IN THE 1990S, AND THE OBJECTS ENCOMPASSING DONATION P19950073001-231 WERE COLLECTED FROM THE FAMILY HOME. FOR A COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW, COPIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND WRITTEN DETAILS ON THE CHINESE NATIONAL LEAGUE, SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P19950073176

Acquisition Date

1995-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail

Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

BLACK DRESS ENSEMBLE

Date Range From

1940

Date Range To

1950

Materials

NYLON, RAYON

No. Pieces

3

Height

2.5

Length

101.6

Width

38

Description

.1) UNDERDRESS. BLACK NYLON DRESS IS THREE-QUARTERS LENGTH WITH SHOULDER STRAPS AND STRAIGHT BODICE. SKIRT IS SLIGHTLY FLARED AND GATHERED AT HIPS. .2) OVERDRESS. BLACK RAYON SEMI-TRANSPARENT DRESS HAS CROSS-OVER V-NECK AND THREE-QUARTER LENGTH SLEEVES. SKIRT FLARED SLIGHTLY. .3) BELT. 86.2CM X 4.5CM BLACK NYLON BELT WITH CIRCULAR RAYON COVERED BUCKLE. BELT ALSO HAS RAYON COVER SEWN ALONG OUTER LENGTH.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

DRESS ENSEMBLE BELONGED TO DONOR'S MOTHER, LOIS NAKAYAMA, POSSIBLY BROUGHT TO ALBERTA FROM VANCOUVER. THE NAKAYAMA FAMILY WAS ORIGINALLY FROM VANCOUVER BUT MOVED TO COALDALE FOLLOWING THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN THEY WERE INTERNED AT SLOCAN CITY IN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. THE DONOR'S FATHER, REV. CANON G.G. NAKAYAMA, WAS AN ANGLICAN MINISTER IN VANCOUVER, AND THEN ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION IN COALDALE IN 1945 WHERE HE SERVED UNTIL 1970. FROM AUGUST 29 TO 31, 2011 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR, JOY KOGAWA, ABOUT HER MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC OBJECTS THAT SHE DONATED IN 1997. OF HER MOTHER'S CLOTHES, KOGAWA SAID: “ SHE SO MUCH LIKED CLOTHES,,, AND SHE HAD BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES, [BUT] SHE DIDN’T HAVE A LOT… SHE HAD ONE PAIR OF SHOES, WHICH SHE KEPT REPAIRING AND REPAIRING… [HER CLOTHING] BRINGS BACK A SADNESS FOR MY MOTHER, BECAUSE HER LIFE WAS SO HARD… TO GO FROM WHAT THEY HAD IN VANCOUVER, ALL THE DREAMS THAT THEY HAD THERE, INTO SOUTHERN ALBERTA, WHERE IT WAS SO HARSH… THAT WAS NOT A WAY TO BE TREATED IN THAT STAGE OF LIFE… MY MOTHER WAS A VERY SILENT WOMAN AND DID NOT COMPLAIN… I THINK SHE GAVE UP ON BEING PART OF THE WORLD, AND RETREATED FROM IT. AS LONG AS SHE HAD KIDS, SHE HAD TO BE IN THE WORLD, BUT I THINK THAT, BY INCLINATION, SHE WOULD HAVE JUST LEFT IT – IT WAS JUST TOO HARD FOR HER… I JUST WISH SO MUCH THAT I HAD KNOWN HER THEN THE WAY I KNOW HER NOW… I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE MADE HER HAPPY, BECAUSE SHE NEVER WAS… BUT IN SOME WAYS I THINK HER LIFE ENDED HAPPILY. I CERTAINLY DID THE BEST I COULD FOR [HER]; I TRIED REALLY HARD.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P19970041930

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail