Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1960

Materials

TIN, STEEL, PLASTIC, GLASS

No. Pieces

4

Description

1. LUNCH BOX: 21CM X 18CM X 9CM RECTANGULAR TIN LUNCH BOX PAINTED RED WITH CARTOON FIGURE ON FRONT. LUNCH BOX HAS ROUNDED CORNERS AND HINGED LID. LID HAS STEEL CLASP HUB AT TOP AND TOP EDGE OF CASE HAS STEEL CLASP AT MIDDLE AS WELL AT MIDDLE OF TOP OF CASE IS STEEL HANDLE ON WIRE HINGES WHICH ARE HELD IN BRACKETS STAKED TO CASE. ON LID IS CARTOON DECAL. HAS YELLOW BACKGROUND WITH A COWBOY HOLDING TWO REVOLVERS IN A DESERT SCENE. IN RED ACROSS BOTTOM IS "HOPALONG CASSIDY". BENEATH THAT IN SMALL BLACK PRINT IS COPYRIGHT SYMBOL WITH "WILLIAM BOYD, LTD" AND "ALADDIN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED - NASHVILLE, TENN.,U. S ??". BOTTOM RIGHT PORTION OF DECAL IS WORN OFF. ON INSIDE OF BOX IS STEEL PLATE DIVIDER SOLDERED DOWN MIDDLE TO CREATE TWO HALVES. THE THERMOS FITS INTO THE LEFT HALF. PAINT IS BUBBLED AND PEELING ON INSIDE BOTTOM OF BOX AND METAL BENEATH IS MODERATELY RUSTED. OUTSIDE OF BODY HAS NUMEROUS CHIPS AND SCRATCHES PARTICULARLY ALONG EDGES. 2. THERMOS: 16.6CM (L) X 8CM (D) STEEL THERMOS WITH GLASS INSULATOR. SIDE OF THERMOS IS YELLOW STEEL CASING WITH PAINTED CARTOON SCENE OF A COWBOY IN BLACK AND A WHITE HORSE WITH DESERT BEHIND HIM. ABOVE CARTOON IS "HOPALONG CASSIDY" IN RED LETTERS. BENEATH CARTOON IN SMALL BLACK LETTERS IS "COPYRIGHT WILLIAM BOYD 1950" AND "ALADDIN INDUSTRIES, INCORPORATED - TORONTO, CANADA". ON BACK ARE TWO MORE CARTOON SCENES, ONE OF COWBOY IN BLACK HIDING BEHIND A ROCK WITH A REVOLVER IN EACH HAND. THE OTHER SCENE IS OF COWBOY ON HORSE THROWING A LASSO. TOP OF THERMOS HAS ALUMINUM CASE WITH RAISED THREADS ON IT FOR YELLOW PLASTIC CUP LID WHICH SCREWS ON. PLASTIC CUP HAS "S" SHAPED CURVES MOLDED INTO OUTER SURFACE. INSIDE OF THERMOS HAS GLASS INSULATOR. RAISED ON BOTTOM OF THERMOS IS " `HY-LO' TRADE MARK VACUUM BOTTLE MADE IN CANADA" IN CENTER OF DOUBLE BORDER. INSIDE BORDER IS "ALADDIN INDUSTRIES, INC., TORONTO. CANADA" AND "7 OZ NO 1". BOTTOM EDGE OF THERMOS AND VERTICAL SEAL ALONG SIDE ARE COVERED WITH WHITE SILICONE. THERMOS HAS MANY SMALL SCRATCHES AND A FEW SMALL RUST SPOTS. THERMOS COMES WITH CYLINDRICAL PLUG THAT HAS GREY RUBBER SEAL WITH FLUTED EDGE. HAS STEEL TOP COVER WITH ROTATING ARM WHICH ACTS TO SEAL THERMOS. ETCHED INTO COVER PLATE IS "SNAP-TITE" AND "MOELLER MFG. CO. (CANADA) LTD. NIAGRA FALLS, ONT.". "PATENT" AND "PRESS HERE" IS STAMPED INTO HANDLE. CAP ON THURMOS IS STUCK.

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

P19950073040

Acquisition Date

1995-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail