Wah Kiu Wet Wash Co. collection

Collection

Identifier: 2004.091

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection mostly contains administrative and business records of Wah Kiu Wet Wash Co., such as bills, insurance documents, laundry tickets, ledgers, operating licenses, and payroll records. In addition, there are photographs of the salvaging day of one of the laundromats and a few objects, including a clip, stapler, and various pins. Most of the documents are from the 1970s-1990s, but some of the ledgers date back to 1949. Objects are also searchable via PastPerfect Online System at http://mocanyc.pastperfectonline.com/randomimages.

Dates

Majority of material found within 1949-2001

Language of Materials

Some materials in Chinese.

Conditions Governing Access

Some of the material in the first series, business documents, is restricted due to sensitive financial information.

Conditions Governing Use

For reference use only; not for reproduction, distribution, or deposit in another collection. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Director of Collections. If publishing, cite: Wah Kiu Wet Wash Co. Collection, Museum of Chinese in America.

Biographical / Historical

Wah Kiu Wet Wash Co. operated about twenty different laundry services in New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens) and New Jersey. The headquarters were located at 14-47 28th Avenue in Long Island City, New York. A payroll register is labelled with the name "Lin Hop Co.," which may have been the name of the business which ran all of the laundries. Based on the operating licenses in the collection, the business appeared to have started around 1967 and ended in 2001.