H990.277 - Opium Pipe Bowls in Crate:
Opium was a drug used by many Chinese in early British Columbia. Merchants legally cooked and sold the drug until 1908 when opium's manufacture and sale were banned in Canada. The bowls seen here were sold in packages of two and are made of ceramic (pottery). Heated opium was placed in a small hole in the top of the pipe bowl and smoked. The bowl sat part way down a bamboo stem through which the smoke was inhaled.
H990.277.3 - Scribbler
This scribbler was used by Lee Sam for spelling practice in Chinese and English. Chinese is written in vertical columns and read from right to left. Notice how the book has been turned sideways to write in -- the book's horizontal columns are now vertical. The scribbler or exercise book is a good example of how Western goods were modified and used by Chinese Canadians in Vancouver.
H990.277.4 - Wing Sang Sign
This sign of hand-painted Chinese characters and numbers reads: "CPR Co./Agent Yip Sang Co." The yellow characters were painted directly onto the glass and outlined in gold and black. The sign is backed with textured paper and stamped with the Wing Sang Company mark.
H990.277.5 + 6 - Box of CPR Luggage Tags
These paper luggage tags are printed with bold colours. There is a picture of Canadian steamship liners at the top of each tag, and on the back, text advertising the places to which the liners travel. The tags had space to write the luggage owner's name as well as information about the trip including the ship's name, departure date, passenger's cabin number, and the luggage's final destination. Porters ensured the tags were tied by twine to the luggage.
H990.277.21a - Woodbury's Granular Tooth Powder Box
The Wing Sang Company sold many different products to its Chinese Canadian customers. Tooth powder, an alternative to toothpaste, may have been one such product. Old boxes and printed advertisements were often machine printed with few colours, and their papers had a matte finish.
H990.277.24 - PACKED IN CANADA Stencil
When Yip Sang exported goods back to China, he had to ensure that his shipments were marked with their place of origin. The brass stencil was used to label crates or large boxes with the phrase "PACKED IN CANADA."
H990.277.35 - Boy Scout Manual
The Boy Scouts were started in 1908 in England by Lord Baden-Powell, and the organization's popularity spread quickly to North America. The manual was issued to meet the standards of the "Canadian General Council of the Boy Scouts Association" as suggested by the subtitle, "Policies, Organization and Rules for Canada". The Boy Scout Manual seen here dates from 1926 and is inscribed with the name of Yip Sang's grandson, Gibb Yip's name. Yip family manuscripts in the City of Vancouver Archives include a photograph of a Chinese Canadian Boy Scout troop.
H990.277.40 - Fan
This multi-coloured accordion-folded paper fan has an array of colours arranged like a rainbow. The fan is a good example of the colourful decorations used for festive occasions. The fan may have been used to decorate the third floor school room of the Wing Sang Company where special festivities and birthday celebrations were held.
H990.277.43 a+b - Junior Arithmetic, Grade Five (Woodward's Cover)
This grade five arithmetic book was used by Yip Sang's granddaughter, Sue Yip. Many of Yip Sang's grandchildren lived in the Wing Sang building complex or nearby in Chinatown. The book is written in English and was probably used for public school lessons. The book was published in 1948 in Toronto and has a cover advertising Woodward's Department Store in downtown Vancouver. The paper cover protected the book and was provided free of charge to school students.
H990.277.47 - British Columbia Educational Series: History of Canada
The text book entitled "British Columbia Series" shows that, as today, education was the responsibility of the provincial government. The book follows the history of Canada from the 1600s to the 1900s. A Yip Sang household member has written Chinese annotations in the book's margins. The notes are Chinese translations of the English text. Whoever used this book could read and write both English and Chinese. Chinese was probably their first language.
H990.277.60 - Labels
These labels are written in Chinese and were meant to be applied to bottles containing cough medicine. The printing reads: "Western Medicine Yip Kew Ghim Clinic / 531 Main Street Vancouver, B.C. / Each four hours half a Chinese spoon four times daily / Medicine for coughs $1.50." Yip Kew Ghim was well known for practicing both Chinese and Western style medicine.
Photo, top: Detail, Wing Sang Building with Yip Sang and Family, c. 1905. Vancouver City Archives, CVA689-9.
Unless stated otherwise, all photos are from the collection of the Vancouver Museum.
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H990.277 - Opium Pipe Bowls in Crate:
