48. MEMORY FROM A CHRISTMAS CARD ENCLOSURE


Long-time friend RR enclosed this program with his Christmas card. His note suggested that we were both in attendance at this concert.

Back in 1961, I had yet to make his acquaintance.


At the time, I would have been in Mrs. Love’s grade 4 class at Maple Street School. RR must have attended a different school as he lived close to NFCVI and distant from my Chinatown home.







From what I can put together, my singing group would have attended the Tuesday performance. Going out on a Tuesday evening with Mother was a big deal: transportation a hassle.


My group had to have been “Little Swiss Misses and Little Swiss Men” with Miss Jolley as the conductor. Although I do recall her being a teacher at my school, my costume and hair for the concert are more vivid in memory.


The girls wore large white, lacy-edged paper placemats fashioned into aprons and caps fabricated of similar paper. In elementary school, I had at least shoulder-length hair but on this occasion Mother saw fit to extend its length by braiding in pieces of woollen yarn – an uncharacteristic decision on her part.


Here's why.


As I was growing up, Mother was always re-making clothes – changing their size to accommodate growth, or a new wearer – or re-purposing the fabric when the material had become too faded or thin to be worn. Sweaters she had knitted were a frequent favourite for revision. Evenings when some leisure time might be hers, she’d unravel a knitted sweater – worn, tired, and possibly outgrown – and start a fresh. As tightly as the used wool was wound into balls, the yarn retained the kinks and waves from being having been previously knit into a rib, seed, or basket pattern.


Consequently, when Mother thought it was a good idea to alter the length of my very straight hair, only new yarn would work. However, once cut into lengths, the yarn would no longer be fit for knitting.


At the time, my child eyes only saw that the yarn, although new and purpose-purchased, was brown and not black to match my own hair colour. My adult eyes now see the love of parent for child.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1. INTRODUCTION

Niagara Falls had a Chinatown? I didn't know that - a common response when I began to tell non-Chinese Niagara Falls residents about my research. Ostensibly, I had returned to Niagara Falls in June 2017 to mark Ching Ming - a time to pay respects to ancestors and tidy their graves. But inside, I wanted to know anew the place where I grew up. How does one learn: about belonging when the existence of place has been denied? about a place no longer there? when those whom you belonged to and with have passed on? Chinatown in Cantonese is called tong yan gaai ; translated literally means "Chinese people street". And so it was with the Niagara Falls Chinatown of my childhood except it was more like two streets - Park Street and Erie Avenue - rather than one. The last Chinatown buildings were demolished in 2014. My parents and brother are deceased. Only a few Chinese who knew Chinatown and/or are willing/able to talk about their experiences remain. Yet, I wa...
Read more

12. CHINESE LIVES

Neither the city directories nor census records offer much insight into the work and personal lives of Niagara Falls residents. 1911 census did record more information about work life in terms of hours worked per week, weeks employed in 1910, as well as total earnings. However, the information required for the 1921 census was less specific. Similar to the 1911 census, earnings for the preceding year were recorded; however, the number of hours, days, or weeks worked was not requested. Consequently, inferences about wages in terms of one employer paying more than another, or certain employees being treated differentially, or if room and/or board were deducted cannot be made. At the same time, entries are often illegible or omitted. Many Chinese men indicated that they were married but clearly their wives were not living with them. There was one exception gleaned from the 1911 census. HARRY CHON lived with his wife, Rebecca Chon (b.1889, imm.1908) and their daughter, ...
Read more

49. NIAGARA FALLS VISIT 2025

Image
In June 2023, I visited Niagara Falls for a couple hours. Friend Betty drove us from her Richmond Hill home to Fairview Cemetery so I could tend to my family’s grave: weeding, planting new flowers, and paying respects. Lunch with long-time family friend Robert Wong completed the visit. Now two years later, I returned once again: staying a few days. On this occasion, my daughter-in-law and granddaughter accompanied me for their first Niagara Falls experiences. We took in the majesty of the Niagara River as well as the carnival atmosphere of Clifton Hill. Present times were suffused with memories of growing up in Niagara. On Clifton Hill, I looked for any identifying remnants of the old Honeymoon Gift Shop where I had spent a couple summers reminding tourists not to smoke while perusing the fireworks for purchase. Walking towards the Falls, we entered Table Rock House. Self-serve aisles of merchandise had replaced the island counters where I, as a summer student hire, had been quizzed by...
Read more