Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

EGG CUP AND SPOON SET

Date Range From

1960

Date Range To

1990

Materials

CARDBOARD, PLASTIC, PAPER

No. Pieces

14

Description

1-6. CUPS. 4.2CM (H) X 4.7CM (D). 6 PLASTIC CUPS ARE ALL DIFFERENT SOLID COLOURS ON OUTSIDE. THEY ARE RED, ORANGE, GREEN, YELLOW, BLUE, AND PURPLE. INSIDE EACH CUP IS WHITE. ALL HAVE SLIGHTLY CONCAVE BOTTOM WITH "EMSA" WRITTEN IN SMALL BOX ON BOTTOM. CUP FLARES SLIGHTLY TO TOP. CUP IS CONCAVE INSIDE. RED CUP HAS BLACK CIRCLE STICKER WITH GOLD SCALLOPED DECORATION AND READS "EMSA" IN MIDDLE. MINOR SCRATCHING OF PLASTIC. 7-12. SPOONS. 13.4CM (L) X 2.9CM (W). 6 SPOONS MATCH CUPS, HAVE OVAL BOWL, VERY SMALL NECK AND HANDLE WIDENS TOWARDS MIDDLE AND THEN NARROWS AT ROUNDED END. MINOR SCRATCHING OF PLASTIC. 13. SPOON HOLDER: 1.8CM (H) X 13.8CM (L) X 3CM (W). PIECE OF CARDBOARD HAS FOUR SLITS THAT FOLD UP IN EACH CORNER TO HAVE RECTANGULAR BOTTOM AND FOUR RECTANGULAR SIDES. EDGES ARE SLIGHTLY WORN. 14. BOX: WHITE AND RED BOX HAS FLAPS ON OPPOSITE SIDES. CUBE HAS PLASTIC WINDOW ON TOP AND SIDE. THREE SIDES READ "EMSA 6 EIERBECHER MIT LOFFELN". TOP READS "EMSA" AND BOTTOM IS BLANK. FOURTH SIDE READS "EMSA EIERBECHER-EGG-CUPS-COQUETIERS-EIERDOPJES". HAS "WOODWARDS 6E 1.39" WHITE STICKER ON ONE SIDE. A SIDE HAS SMALL HOLE IN CARDBOARD, SOME MINOR SCRATCHES.

Subjects

FOOD SERVICE T&E

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

*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

P19950073034

Acquisition Date

1995-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail