Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1950

Date Range To

1960

Materials

RAYON

No. Pieces

2

Length

103

Width

57.5

Description

BLUE-GREY EMBOSSED RAYON DRESS WITH FINE BLACK TREE BRANCH AND LEAF PRINT. MANDARIN STYLE STANDING BAND COLLAR AND SHOULDER-CUT SLEEVES. EMPIRE WAISTLINE WITH DARTS IN BODICE. BLACK FROG AT NECK WITH SINGLE METAL HOOK AND EYE CLOSURE BENEATH. COLLAR AND HEMLINE TRIMMED WITH METALLIC THREAD BRAID WITH GEOMETRIC PATTERN (BLACK AND SILVER ON WHITE). SKIRT PORTION LINED WITH GREY RAYON SLIP BODICE UNLINED. C/W BELT OF SAME MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS TO BE EITHER MADE FROM KIT OR PREVIOUS BELT REFINISHED (STAMPED "18" ON BACK). DRESS IS HANDMADE. DISCOLORING SLIGHTLY IN AREAS. SIDE ZIPPER.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

PERSONAL CARE

History

OWNED AND PROBABLY HANDMADE BY DONOR'S MOTHER. HANDMADE (PORTION OF MATERIAL IN COLLAR IS SAME AS THAT USED TO MAKE P19950073152/3-GA). *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

P19950073159

Acquisition Date

1995-11

Collection

Museum

Less detail