Montreal's Chinese laundries, the whole story

  

Song Long, at the right, was city's first

   Chinese Montrealers started flowing into Montreal Town in the 1880s and started opening businesses.
   Each was forced to pay a $500 head tax, about the cost of two houses. In 1923 feds passed the Chinese Exclusion act prohibiting all new Chinese immigration, a family-dividing oppression that lasted until 1947. The ratio of Chinese men to women here was said to be 10:1 during those years and the Chinese population and birthrate dwindled. The Chinese were excluded from most work and ended up running laundries..
   It has been reported that Montreal's first Chinese laundry opened in 1887 at Jeanne Mance and St. Antoine.
   But Lovells indicates that the first Chinese laundry in Montreal was the Song Long Chinese Laundry opened in 1877 at 631 Craig.
   Following soon after in 1879 when Wah Lee Chinese California Laundry (pdf) took over a space previously occupied by Telesphore Filion's barbershop on St. Antoine, north side, about four doors east of St. Lawrence, then described as 501 Craig. It's currently a parking lot.

(Photo: Chong Sing Chinese Laundry on Notre Dame 

   By 1887 others had sprouted up: Sam Lee had a Chinese laundry a few doors east of Wah's place and Kee Sing was at 344 St. James (St. Jacques a small block and a half west of McGill) and Wah Sing was on the Main four doors south of Ontario, west side.
   Chinese laundries peaked around 1930 and died here aged around 95, in the early 80s.
   The longest-running Chinese laundry was likely that of Sam Hing which showed up at 378 Centre - now 2412 Centre - in 1894 (pdf) that's three doors west of Ropery, on the South side. It stayed until 1972 (pdf) having offered 78 years uninterrupted service.
   The last Chinese laundry in town was likely the one at 1235 Crescent. Charlie Chin opened on the east side of Crescent, a few doors south of St. Catherine in 1913 (pdf) . It supposedly disappeared after 1969 (pdf) and the spot taken over by Hair People men's hair salon which lasted a few years. In spite of its absence in the official Lovell's listings, a Chinese laundry was at a site, likely the same site, and it closed in 1982.

The Soon Lee laundry at 1181 Mackay stood from
ran from about 1930 to 1980 before becoming a variety of
bars, including a lesbian bar. It's now vacant.

   Coolopolis' august senior executives recall going there. A somewhat impatient old man - possibly Charlie Chin himself - ran the place. Lots of laundry wrapped in paper sat on shelves around the door on this basement joint, now part of Hurley's. It lasted around 69 years.
   Lovells had a separate section for Chinese laundries from 1922 to 1964 which makes it easy to see that18 other establishments managed to last in the same spot for that 42 year span and possibly beyond. They were: 1-Hea Ley at 242 Ontario E. (just west of St. Denis, South side) 2-Tom Lee 2114 St.Catherine (corner Fort south side) 3-On Lee 361 Duluth E. (est. 1913 or earlier - just West of St. Denis, north side) 4-Fong Lee (3660 St. Hubert, corner Bosquet) 5-Charlie Lee,(1914 St. Denis, just south of Cherrier) 6-Lee Brothers (1914 Centre between Shearer and Jardin) 7-Kee King (5831 Monk near Jacques Hertel) 8-Charlie Hum (1456 Notre Dame W. between Lusignan and Guy) 9-Charlie Happy (85 Pine West, corner St. Urbain - from at least 1913). 10-Lee Wong 2110 St. Catherine W. (between Chomedy and Closse) 11-Sing Lee Wing 1206 Demaisonneuve E. corner Montcalm). 12-Sam Wah (1225 Lajoie) 13-Yuen Sun (4641 Adam corner Aird - at least since 1913) 14-Wong Sing (163 Prince Arthur E. corner Debullion)
15-Hop Sing (1674 Notre Dame W. between De Courcelles and St. Remi) 16-Sam Shing (69 St. Viateur W. between Clark and St. Viateur) 17-Sanitary Laundry (208 Prince Arthur W. 18-St. Mark Laundry (1228 St. Marc near Tupper) 18-George Wong (322 Victoria corner De Maisonneuve). Here are those longest-lasting Chinese laundries mapped out.
  Total of Chinese laundries here throughout the years: 1922- 408, 1929- 405, 1939 -336, 1949- 231, 1959-192, 1964-145.
   Here's a short article listing a few of the last few remaining Chinese laundries in the mid-70s.
   These places were generally painted green outside (Milstein) and delivered laundry wrapped in paper on hand-pulled wagons. Occasionally workers dressed in traditional Chinese clothing. Canada's final Chinese laundry closed in Winnipeg in 1988, its contents sent to the National Museum in Ottawa. (Eric McLean, Montreal Gazette July 9, 1989)

Charlie Woo's joint Sherbrooke, north side, near Clifton)

   In the early years, Canada's labour movement tried to push the Chinese laundries out of business for daring to compete with Canadians theoretically willing to do such thankless low-paid work. In Vancouver some establishments were torched and in Toronto labour reps described them as a "curse." Someone named Gus Francq from Montreal spoke against them in 1906 at a Victoria BC conference. But some of the nastier legislation passed elsewhere in Canada, such as barring white women from working at these places never made it to Quebec.
   If you missed the great era of Montreal's Chinese laundries and the uncomplaining men who sacrificed their lives to clean and press white people's clothing, there's still a way to see them, or almost. Current businesses now occupying former Chinese laundries include the Miramar Travel Agency at 251 Duluth E, which was once the Sang Wen laundry, the Khyber Pass restaurant at 506 Duluth E, which once housed Sam Lee's Chinese Laundry, Relax Beauty at 5073 St. Denis was the St. Henry Laundry, the Hispano-Luso Travel Agency at 220 Rachel E which was the Leo Hing Chinese Laundry, the Blue Banana at 1137 St. Zotique East which was Wing Lee Wong Chinese Laundry. La Regalade Restaurant at 69 St. Viateur West was the Shing Sam Chinese laundry, the Hwang Kum restaurant at 5908 Sherbrooke was was Jim Woo's Chinese Laundry. Close your eyes hard, see and; smell the charcoal fires, the machines and drains in the back, the stern men pressing clothing with eight pound irons, now you're there.