8/13/2019 Curiously Familiar Art and Curio Stores in Los Angeles' Chinatown http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/curiously-familiar-art-and-curio-stores-in-los-angeles-chinatown 1/18 Curiously Familiar: Art and Curio Stores in Los Angeles' Chinatown Author(s): Sojin Kim Source: Western Folklore, Vol. 58, No. 2, Built L.A.: Folklore and Place in Los Angeles (Winter, 1999), pp. 131-147 Published by: Western States Folklore Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1500163 . Accessed: 18/11/2013 13:08 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Western States Folklore Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Western Folklore. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 202.41.10.30 on Mon, 18 Nov 2013 13:08:00 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Transcript
8/13/2019 Curiously Familiar Art and Curio Stores in Los Angeles' Chinatown
Curiously Familiar: Art and Curio Stores in Los Angeles' ChinatownAuthor(s): Sojin KimSource: Western Folklore, Vol. 58, No. 2, Built L.A.: Folklore and Place in Los Angeles (Winter,1999), pp. 131-147Published by: Western States Folklore SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1500163 .
Accessed: 18/11/2013 13:08
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Western States Folklore Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Western
Folklore.
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actershangsfrom he corner f the exteriorign,which spainted nslop-ingRoman etters hatmimic hecalligraphictrokes fChinesewriting.
Like a number ftheother rtand curio stores n the twoplazas,K.G.Louie Co. and Fong's are run bytheAmerican-born hildrenof the
originalChinesebusiness ommunity.tores uch as thesehaveoperatedin LosAngeles ince at leastthe end ofthe nineteenthentury. espond-ing to particular ocial and economicexigencies, heearly toreownerscatered to popular curiosities bout "theOrient,"refractingWestern
In this rticle, reviewhedevelopmentf art nd curio tores rom heearly 900s ndhighlightheiregacyn thecontemporaryracticesfthetwo tores ntroduced bove.I explorehowthearrangementnd displayofobjectsnthese tores onstitutesymboliccologies,"whichmediate hesocial nteractionsftheproprietors.ust s subjective rinciples f nclu-sionand organizationnformhepresentationf culturenmuseums nd
ethnographies,o too have storeownerselectivelyurated versionfChi-nese and Chinese American ulture. suggest hatover timethe central
organizing rinciple f thesestoreshas shifted. his shift oughly orre-spondswith he transition fproprietorshiprom mmigrant arents otheirAmerican-bornhildren,nd it nvolves reframingf thetemporaland geographicreferents f the material nvironmentsf the stores.
DEVELOPMENTOF CHINATOWN
The representationf Chineseculturen LosAngeles'early hinatown
grew ut of a long historyfthe Orient s a subject fWesternollectingfads and ethnographic ttention. n the 1500s,European cabinets of
curiosity,hoseprecursors o naturalhistorymuseums, ften ontained
objects uchas porcelain, ooden mplements,nd clothingrom astAsia.In the1600sand 1700s,upperclassEuropeansdevelopedconnoiseurshipofdomesticallyroducedcabinets nd porcelains uggestivefan exoticOrient. n the ate 1800s,EuropeanandAmerican rt and designmove-ments ookedfor
nspirationromAsiandecorativerts
e.g.ArtNouveau,
the AestheticMovement; ypeface esigners), nd newtrade greementsbetweenAmerican, uropeanand Asian countries averise to thepopu-lar collection f"Oriental" bjects uchas fans nd cheap pottery. uringthis ameperiod, hedisplay fChinesepeople inmuseums, ircuses,ndworld's fairs stablished framework ithinwhichthegeneral publicbecame familiarwith iewing heChinese;a frameworkhathighlightedtheir xoticness roddity. hus,even beforeLos Angeleshad developed
a distinguishablereaknown s Chinatown, hineseor "Oriental" ulture
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had been domesticatedforAmericanconsumption nd wondermentinto a repertoire feasily ecognizable orms, bjects, nd styles.
The Chinesefirsthowedup in theLos Angeles ensus n 1850.Bythe1870s, herewasa recognizable rea of Chinese residential oncentration
specificallydentifieds Chinatown. ttheturn f thecentury,mericanstendedto regardChinatowns n generalwithboth condemnation nd
curiosity. hinatownsweremalignedas dirty,rime-infested,orrupt,and sinisterhettos. ut atthe sametime,Americans ere lso titillatedythe ifestylend exoticness ftheChinese, s evidenced n thepopularity
in San Franciscoof toursofalleged opiumdens. Itwasduring his imethatLos Angeles'Chinatown egana steady ecline thatwouldcontinueuntil he 1930s:discriminatoryaws nd policiesrestrictedheChinesetocertain esidentialreas and tocertain ypes foccupations; series f Chi-nese exclusion actsvirtuallyalted Chinese immigration,hwartinghe
growth f the Chinese communitynd affecting he viability f busi-nessesthatdependedon a Chineseclientele. dditionally,hecompetitionof Chinesewithmorerecentlyrrived apanesemmigrantsncertain ypesofwork utsideofChinatowneftmanyunemployed.
All of these conditionsmade it necessary orChinese businessesto
develop an economic niche thatwas not reliant on the patronageofotherChinese. The emergenceof artand curiostores,whichboomed inthe1920s,reflects hedevelopment f such a niche and marks hedelib-erateattempt ytheChinese mmigrantommunityouse theirmaterialculture s a means ofgeneratingncomeandmediatingheirnteractions
withnon-AsianAmericans. he Chinese Chamber ofCommerce n LosAngeles n 1924addressed his ssue nthefollowingesolution:"Whereas,Chinatownhasbeen made to suffern thepastbecause ofthe bad name
generallyppliedtothis istrict,hesamebeingno fault ftheChineseres-idents; e itresolved: irst,hatwe,themerchantsfChinatown,seeveryopportunityo inducewhitepeople ofthecity nd tourists ovisitChi-natown;and that we extend to visitors verycourtesy n visiting ur
whenconstructioneganon thedowntown rain tation n 1933.Twopro-jectsdeveloped oncurrentlyoaccommodate heuprootedbusinesses ndresidents. uilt n close proximityoone another nd openingthe same
year, 938,thetwoprojects, hinaCity nd NewChinatown, ifferednsome mportantespects. hinaCitywaspurely commercialpace. t wasinitiated ya groupofnon-ChineseAmericans ed byChristine terling,
who had earlieroverseen the creationof a Mexican tourist ttraction,
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OlveraStreetlocatedusta block outh romhe site fChinaCity).China
Citywas builttofeaturemall,picturesque,winding treets, ickshaw ri-vers,and a replica of the set fromthe movie TheGoodEarth. n her
openingannouncement, hristineterling mphasizedhervision opre-serve"oldChina": "Sincethedaysof MarcoPolo...theworldhasheard ofthewonders nd beauty fCathay,tsold civilizationnd itscontributionofculture o theWesternworld.With hisbackground,he ChinesecameintoCalifornian thegold rush of 49, and became a partofour PacificCoast tradition.
heyhelpedtobuild theCentral
acific,urfirstailroad;and themerchantsndMandarins rought rom hina,rareworks fChi-nese artand literaturend so-because, all of thismustnotbe lostorfor-
gotten n theprogress f moderntimes-ChinaCitywascreated." Louie1988,1)
In contrast, ewChinatownwasfoundedby groupof ChineseAmer-ican business eaders. twasdesignedforemost obe modern, oremedythesubstandardonditions fOld Chinatown.WhileChristineterling as
preservingnd representing hineseculture ut ofa nostalgic nd sen-timentalmpulse,NewChinatown asmotivatedypracticalonsiderationsandconcerns. majorobjective as topreventuturexploitationndmis-treatmentf theChinesebyestablishingheir wnershipverthe and onwhichtheyivedandworked.Both ChinaCity nd NewChinatown, ev-ertheless, ereprojectshatweretobe sustained ytourism,nd thereforebothdisplayedChineseculturen sucha way s toappeal to thepopular
existingmaginationfChina as
old, exotic,nd curious.Architectural
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Visitorsto China Cityand New Chinatownwere attractedby theintriguefexperiencingndcomingncontactwith eopleand thingshat
represented foreign nd ancientplace. In herfamily istory, n GoldMountain: heOne-Hundredear dysseyf Chinese-Americanamily1995),Lisa See describeshergreat-grandfathernd confirmshe deliberatewayinwhich toreownersapitalized n these xpectations.ee's great-grand-father, ong See, immigratedo Sacramento n the late 1800swhere he
sold underwearto brothelsfromhis store,Curiosity azaar. It was aEuropeanAmerican riend,he owner f aJapaneseBazaar,who convincedhimof thepotential rofitabilityfselling urios uch as baskets,ans, nd
cheapporcelains.n 1897,Fongmovedto LosAngeles ndopened a newstorehe advertised s a 'Japanesebazaar."Manyof thethings e stocked,
begantomaketrips oChina himself opurchase tems;he alsobegantoseek out more "unusual"things uch as the shoes crafted orwomenwithbound feet.He and his familywould use asphaltto "age"baskets,coins, ndbeads;they lsomadethingsmorecolorful y ddingtassels. n
keepingwith heemphasis n oddity tilized ndisplaysf Chineseculture
bycircuses, orld's airs,nd cabinets fcuriosity,ongSee evendisplayedinhisstore,monghisantiques, mermaid a taxidermyf a monkeynd
fishsewntogether).Fong See operated stores n Chinatownand inPasadena. By1910,he was the mostsuccessful usinessmann Old Chi-
natown; n the late 1940s he moved over to New Chinatown. n her
book,Lisa See acknowledgeshat n "innate acism" nderlay he successof her great-grandfather'store.Fong See was popular withtouristsbecause of hisabilityoplay,n herwords, he role ofthe"charming hi-naman." Incidentally, ong See was also the uncle of Gim Fong, theownerof Fong's OrientalWorksof Art. GimFong's father,ike FongSee, conductedbusiness ressed n a longChinesegown cheongam), ndGimrecalls hat ustomerswerespecificallyttracted ohisfather's torebecauseof theexperience f nteracting ithhim.GimFongalsoremem-bers, or hatmatter,ow tourists ouldphotograph rregardhimand his
siblings ith ascinationvenwhen, s children,hey erformedmundaneactivitiesuchas doingtheirhomework ehindthe work ounter.
China City nd New Chinatownthrived nd prosperedbefore and
duringWorldWar I. Servicemen n leavewouldmaketheshortwalkover
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fromUnionStation; ollywoodelebritiesatronized ars, estaurants,ndtheart nd curiostores. apanhad invadedChina and the U.S. was atwar
withJapan:this ncreased thepublic's nterest nd sympathyorChina.Hollywood roduced number ffeatureilmshat omanticallyortrayedChinese history nd life. Residentsof Chinatownregularlyworkedas
Bytheend of the1940s,New Chinatown asa proven uccess ndplanswere nprogress oexpandit with he additionofa secondplaza,China-
townWest,whichwasdesignedformixeduse-residential nd business.ncontrast,he demiseofChinaCity eemed mminent;thad beendamagedbyfire n morethanone occasionand duringWorldWar I, many f the
shopownerswhohad been renting ropertyherefoundbetterwork nthe defenseindustry. oday it is the coalescence of the areas aroundNewChinatownndChinaCity hat onstituteshe arearecognizeds Chi-natown.
Since the end ofWorldWar I, Chinatown aschangedsignificantly,s
has the social ocationof Chinese mmigrantsnd ChineseAmericansnboth theUnitedStates nd ingreater osAngeles.With herepealof theChineseExclusionAct n 1943 and subsequentwavesof mmigration,heChineseAmericanpopulation snow markedbycultural, conomic, in-
guistic,nd generational iversity.estrictiveousing ovenants o longerkeep theChinesesegregated ocertain reas ofthecity, orare touristic
enterprisesheonly iableoccupational iches vailable o them.Recently,
newcenters f ChineseAmerican ommercehavesprouted utsideofthecentral ity.n addition o thesetransformationsithin he Chinesepop-ulation, heexpectationsnd perceptionsfAmericansngeneral owardsChineseAmerican and Chinese culturehave changed and diversified.
MorerecentChinese mmigrantsromHong Kong,Taiwan, nd South-eastAsiancountries ave builtnewbuildingsndbusinesses nChinatownthat aterto otherChinese mmigrantsr area residentsmore so than toa touristlientele.Reportedlyperating lmost 0% of thestores Torres1996), thesebusinessesdo not emphasizeand sell "Chineseculture" omuch as practical temssuch as underwear, andals,sunglasses.Theirmeans ofcommercial epresentationo longerreliesupon self-conscious"exotic" lourishessignage, rchitecture).ndeed,as early s the1970s,younggeneration fneighborhood ctivistsharged hat heold business
leadership'smphasis n attractingourismbscured hechanging atureofresident eeds and theproblems f thearea.1
In the centralplaza and ChinatownWest, handful f thetourist-ori-
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entedstores till perate.Many re runbytheAmerican-bornhildren ftheoriginalbusiness ommunity.hese are people whogrewup in Chi-
natown uring he 1930s nd 40sand who are a minoritymongthenewerimmigrant hinese.These proprietorstock ssentiallyhesametypes fitems hat heir arents id, nd old merchandisecquiredby heir arentsactually ontinues o line theshelves.Most of themdo not live n China-townanymore, nd manyhave held or continueto hold professionaloccupationsoutside of Chinatown.Their motivation oroperatingthestoressnotsolely inancial,nd thereforehecentral rinciple rganizingthe storesand business
practicess not commerce but
memory;heir
stores owmediatenotsimplyhe direct nteractionetweennon-Chinesetourists nd Chineseproprietors,utalso on a moresymbolicevel,the
relationshipsetween econd-generationroprietorsnd their arents,ndbetween econd-generationhinese American roprietorsnd the more
recently rrived Chinese Americans.By maintainingthe stores and
through heorganization f theirmerchandisen thestores, hese con-
temporarytoreownersrenotprimarilyryingoproject he mageofa
foreign nd ancient ountry,s their arents id. Instead, hey vokethetemporallyistant utgeographicallymmediate nd familiar hinatownof theiryouths.
"SYMBOLIC COLOGIES"
These stores onstitutesymboliccologies" nthesame manner s dothematerial nvironmentsfpeople's homes,a phenomenoncharacter-
ized byMihalyiCsikszentmihalyi Eugene Rochberg-Haltonn theirstudyTheMeaning fThings: omesticymbolsnd the elf 1981). These
authors,s wellas folkloristsuch as BarbaraKirshenblatt-Gimblett,nher
essayon the personalmaterialcollections of the elderly 1989), and
ChristopherMusello, nhisstudy f thepersonal ignificancef a Penn-
displayn theprivate,omestic ealmoftheirhomes.All ofthese cholarshave pointed out thatwhatpeople collect,save,and arrangein theirhomescan reflectmportantnformationbout how a personrelates oothers nd/orcan evokepast experiences ndrelationships.suggest hat
though heartand curiostores republic, ommercial ites, hearrange-mentof theirmaterial ulturenvolveshe sametype freflectionhat ni-mates the considerationand assemblage of personal collectionsandsouvenirsn domestic ealms.
Whilewemore often hinknterms f thetopographyfa broadphys-
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RonLouie, eportedlyhe econd hild ornn NewChi-natown, orksne or two veninghiftsweek tK.G.LouieCo. Now narchitect,e is still memberftheChinatown erchant'sssociation.
icalspace
suchas aneighborhood, city,
r a farm, he nteriorpacesofart nd curio toresmay lsobe considered opographically.he followingexplorationsf thetopographyf these tores--howbjects rearranged--illuminate eographerYiFu Tuan's observation hat"wecan'tmaintain
time, utwecan maintain lace" (1980,468). In bothKG. Louie Co. and
Fong'sOrientalWorks fArt, amily istories re spatialized; rogressionsof differentemporalmoments re recordedin the interior paces ofstores.
K.G. LOUIECO.
K.G.Louie Co. is one of twelve usinesseshat penedNewChinatown
in 1938.K.G.
Louie, who had come to CaliforniafromChina in the
early 900s,was an originalhareholdern the Chinatown orporation,he
body thatowned the land upon whichNew Chinatownwas built.He
passedaway n 1956,18years fterNewChinatown pened. His sixsons,all of whomhave
professionalareers nd no
longerive n thearea,take
turns perating hestore.RonLouie,reportedlyhe secondchildborn nNewChinatown, orks ne or two eryhort veninghifts week.Nowan
architect, e has also servedas the presidentof the ChinatownMer-chant'sAssociation.
The store tocks rangeofmerchandisewithdiffering ersonalandeconomicvalue,which sroughly eflectednhowthey redisplayed.nthe center f theroom on tables re the"newtrinkets"--theackscratch-
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ers, easets, ans, ndtoyanterns hat re most requentlyought;nRon's
words, thenickel nd dimestuffhatmaintains s."
On display ehindthecashregisterre oldpiecesthatwere cquiredbyRon's father ver40years go: carved vory ieces (now llegaltoimportto theU.S.), mudmen,and porcelainfigurinesfKwanYin, hehelpfulgoddess.Selling t around$90 a piece,Ron Louie estimates hat hey ellone ortwoperyear o a collector.n an adjacent ase arenewcopiesofthe
expensive ld pieces that ellformuchcheaper.Along theentireperiphery fthestore, bove thedisplay ases,are
larger are ndvaluablepiecessuch aswoven apestriesndgold eafmetalpiecesfrom ld bed frames. lso n this ameregion, nreachablewithoutthe aid ofa ladder, rethechairs rom he Louie family'sining oomset,a vintageRegulator"lock, nd an oldmetalfan.Behindone ofthe coun-ters s a hugewoodenstatue fKwanYin, urchased yRon's father t the"Chinese avilion" fthe 1939World's air nNewYork.Ronestimateshatall ofthese tems avebeena part f the tore or 0years ndhe indicatesthatnone ofthemarefor ale,althoughpeople have offered otradeor
buythem;theircommercial navailabilitys manifestn theirphysicalinaccessibility.he Louies still se an old cashregisteroring p purchases.Ron notesthat n addition obeinga good conversationiece, it contin-ues toworkreliably nlike thenumerous lectronic nes theyhavehad.
RonLouie states hatwhenhewasgrowing p hewas not nterestednChinese collectibles.He recallsthat he regardedthe store as just the
placewherehisparentsworked ndwherehe and hisfriendswould run
inand outofwhentheywereplayingn the central laza.Now,he states,"Idon't see us selling he tore. tbreaks ven, ndwe ustwant okeepthe
family amehere... tokeep thetradition oing....Ifnot formyfolkshav-
ingthestore,we wouldn't e wherewearetoday"Torres,;personal om-
munication).
FONG'S ORIENTALWORKS OF ART
GimFong,
as I mentioned arlier,sthenephew
ofFongSee, formerlyChinatown'smost uccessfulusinessman. e wasborn nOld Chinatown,
and hisfatherwas one ofthefirst usiness wners o rent pace inChina
City.n the ate1940s,Gimand his sisternd brothersooled their avingsand opened theirownstore n theplaza ofChinatownWest, crossthestreet rom hecentral lazawhere heLouie's store slocated. ntendingtoappeal to whathe refers o as "thebackscratcherrowd," ourists howere nterestedn "trinkets"nd "cheapsouvenirs,"heFongsstocked he
storewith ostumeewelry, hinesepajamas,teasets, nd trick oxes. In
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the 1950s whenfewChina City toresremained, heFongs encouragedtheir ather o movehis art nd furnituretore ntothespacenextdoorto
theirs.Bythe 1960s,Gimwas the sole proprietor fFong's, and as hisfather poke very ittle nglish,he spenta lot oftimeassisting imwithsales. Emphaticallytating hat he had "HATED Chinese things,"Gimdescribes how littleby little,he learned about Chinese furniturendcame toappreciategood quality ieces. Duringthisperiod,he wasmoreinterestedn selling models, oys,nd realcontemporaryhings."Whenhisfather assedawayntheearly 970s,he tookover hespaceand incor-
poratedthe furniture nd
larger,more
expensiveart
piecesfromhis
father's usiness nto hisown. He states, I keptthespace. I don'tknow
why took tover, utgradually started illingtup." It wasonlyrecentlythathe stoppedrenting hespace.2
Today,Gimrunsthe storewithhiswife hirley. n inveterateistorian,Gimeclecticallyurates isstore, isplayingarecloisonneieces,purchasingunusual items such as old Chinese glass lanternslides and rare snuffbottles,nd avidlyollectingrtifactsnd ephemeraofChinatownuch as
old business cards. Like the Louies, he displays hingsthat he wouldnever ell,manyofwhichexplicitlyefer o hispersonalhistoryn Chi-natown,where ncidentallye no longer ives: n old ceramic lephanthemade inan elementarychool artclass, fish-shapedanternmadebyhisfather, photo oftheshipthatbroughthisfather o theUnited States.When askedwhyhe displays hingshe would not considerselling,he
responds Sopeoplecan enjoy hem "His love for he contents f hisstore
is contagious, nd old customers egularlyeturn o visit.Gim shimselfn artist horepairsrtworknd furnitureor thermer-chants n thearea.Consequently,mongtheade jewelry,ricketages, ut
paper cards, nd windchimes,he displays isownplique-a-jourloisonni
objects and miniatures;he has also assembled a numberof tableaux
memorializingisfamilyhroughouthe store. orexample, heglass ab-inetnear thedoor displays mong a number of expensiveplique-ad-jourbowls nd vases,glasssnuff ottleswith heetched magesofhisparentsand his n-laws.n thedisplaywindow n one side ofhisstore, here s anarrangementfa scholar's eskuponwhich s setan abacus,old piecesofmail,and graduationphotosofhis mother nd mother-in-law.large,framed, hree-foothotoportrait fhismother nd father angsaboveanother ablethatdisplays hotographsncluding 1930sfamily ortraitin China and a photo ofGimwhen he wasservingn theUnited States
Army. he largeportraitfhisparentswascommissionedy formerus-
ter, hephotowas returned othe store fter he ownerdied. t now servesas a tribute o his parentsand a souvenirof a customer'sfascinationwith he old storeowners.
Gim's miniaturesreespeciallyvocative. fewyears fter hedeath ofhisfather, e constructed miniature eplicaofan art and curio store,which througha combination of memory nd fantasy epresentshis
father'store.A miniature f hisparents'portrait angs bove thedisplaycaseagainst he backwall. n thefront f thestore, tiny ramed hotoofGim'sgrandson itson a miniature cholar'sdesk. He has also begun aminiature eplicaofa bar,Yee Mee Loo, whichuntil t metthewreckingball ntheearly 990s,was the ast tandingtructurehathadbeen a partofChinaCity. hiswork-in-progresssnow stored n thebasement ecause
spacehas been at a premiumincehe downsized. e plansto concentrateon the bar's kitchen rea as thiswas theonly space intowhichhe was
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allowed as a child.Tinyframedphotosof 1940sHollywoodcelebrities,which were fabricated o hang in the replica of the bar,are now dis-
played among his other merchandise.He has also relayedto me hisplanstoconstruct iniatureanterns osit nside miniatureanternhop,whichhe will base on a paintingfromChina that had belonged to hisfather. e continuouslyabricatestherminiaturesf Chinese rtifactshatone might ind n a typical rt and curioshop,such as shoesforwomenwithbound feet, ncenseburners, piumpipes,and ancestral crolls.
AsSusan Stewart as demonstratedn herbook,OnLonging: arratives
of heMiniature,heGigantic,heSouvenir,nd the ollection1993),miniaturesare a poignant symbolof nostalgiaand the inaccessibilityf the past.Diminutive nd toy-like,hey voke one's childhood;what'smore,theirsmallness enders hembeyondutilitynd suggestshepreciousness ndobsolescence f theobjects ponwhich heyre modeled. would dd thatminiaturesan imply physical istance-tinynd hard to see acrossthestore's nterior opography,hey eem to occupya faraway r remote
point n this andscape;it is as ifthey re geographicallyituated ome-
whereoff n thedistance. David Lowenthalhas observed that "Unlikeplacesthat regeographicallyemote,what sdistantntime sforevernac-cessible" 1975,24). Thuswith heminiatures,emporal istance s trans-lated into a sortofgeographicdistance.This implied physical istance
By ncorporatingisfather'smerchandisentohisstore nd through is
various ableaux,GimFong symbolicallyollapsesthedistance nd reaf-firmshecontinuityetweenhimand the andscapesofhispast (suchashisfather'store;YeeMee Loo) as well as betweenhim-the personwho"HATED Chinesethings" nd hisfather. is uxtaposition fobjects nd
photosthroughouthestore nd hisassembling f tableaux ymbolicallyenvelophim na socialnetworkxtendingrom hepasttothefuture.3n
display ehindthecounterwith hecashregisterre innumerablehings,each ofwhich, ccording oGim,"tells story": hotosof hischildren,Leo Politichildren'sbook thatwas based on theFong's store, lanternGim'scousin cavenged rom henearby ailroad racks, trumpetiketheone he playedna high choolswing and,a bugleand a helmet ecallinghisdays n thearmedservices,nd a backscratcher ade from propellerblade, a humorousreference o thedays fter heKorean War when heworkedon propellerplanesatDouglas-Lockheed.
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When the astremaining uildings romOld Chinatownwererazed nthe mid-1940s o
beautifyhe area
surroundingUnion
Station,Los
Angelesimes riter oted To outsiders,he oldChinatown as never een
anythingmore than a Coney sland nOrientaldress....Tourists,eekinga storybookcquaintancewith hemysticismf theeast,willprobablymissthese hings. ut the Chinesewho ive herewill nlymiss heir omes"(LosAngelesailyNews 946).WhileChinatownmayrepresenthe nexusof the
nineteenth-centuryevelopmentof department tores, nternational
expositions,nd museums--a ommercial iteorganized round the exhi-
bition fa foreignnd exoticculture--itasalso the siteofa community'songoing, everyday ife. It was home. It is thislevel of meaning that
imputes he contents f thecontemporaryrt and curio storeswithpar-ticular oignancy.4
The symboliccologiesof theLouies' and GimFong'sstores rticulatetheir ttachment o thearea,their onnection ofamilynd old friends,and assert heirhistoryn a neighborhoodnthe midst fsocial, ultural,and
effortsfgroups uch as theChineseHistorical ociety f SouthernCal-ifornia and the Friends of the Chinese American Museum who also
emphasize n theirprojectsthehistory f the older Chinese American
community.oday, ather han ttemptingopreserve elics rom foreignand ancient "Old China," as ChristineSterlinghad wanted to do inChinaCity,toreownersisplaynd preserve bjects-anold cashregister,KwanYin tatuettes,anterns--thatreessentiallyouvenirsf their amily's
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age oftheobjectsmakes hem ompellingvidencenot of theantiquityfChineseculture, utrather heirfamilies' ituationn Chinatown. heyrefer o a place that no longer existsexcept in their memories.This
temporalremoteness s physicallyepresentedn theminiaturizationf
objects, hearrangement ftableaux, nd in thedisplay fobjects boveorbeyondthe store'sprimarypace ofcommercial r social nteraction.
In closing, suggest hatwecould consider heevolution f Los Ange-
les's Chinese artand curiostores s involvingeveral tagesof"domesti-cation." am extrapolating his dea from he book Re-Made nJapan:Everydayife nd Consumeraste n a Changingociety1992). The editor,JosephTobin,uses theterm o characterize owWesternoods, deas, nd
turefor heir wn domestic ublics.ChineseAmerican usiness wners,nturndomesticated-"adopted,"tamed,"madefamiliar,"broughtntothehome"-these methodsas a means ofrepresentinghemselves or com-mercialpurposesaccordingtoa frame freference hat ommunicated
thingsChinese as exotic,foreign,nd old.Whileperhapsno morethan"Coney sland inOrientaldress" n one
Chineseculture-these tores nd their rnamental acades, miling ud-dhas, and lanternshave also been domesticated n anothersense. Thestores are places of family ignificance, heycontainthe physical ndemotional esidue ffamily istory.he symbolic cologiescuratedbytheLouies and GimFong inscribepublic,commercial ites s home.Today,perhapsas a means ofallaying sense ofdislocation,GimFongand theLouies' stores ircumscribehe familiarnd retain n thepresent heres-onance ofthepast, hatplacewhere,nDavidLowenthal'swords, Weareat home...because it is our home-the past is wherewe come from"(1985,4).5
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1 Specificallyn order toreceivefederal elief unds, neighborhoodmustmakea case for tsdeterioratingonditions.Business eaderswerenotenthusiasticabout such a processbecause itmight iscourage ourists rom isitinghe area(See Lightand Wong,1975).
2 Some ofmydescriptionsf GimFong'sstore eflecttsconfigurationeforehestoppedrenting hesecond store nd consolidatedhismerchandise n thesin-
gle storeroom.
3 He alsokeepsbehindthe counter smallmodel of theWright rothers' lider,
whichhe is currentlyssembling rom kitfor customer. eyondtheenjoy-menthe derives rom hebuildingprocess,Gim also derives ersonaland his-torical significancefrom the model: his father mmigrated o the UnitedStates n 1903,thesameyearthatOrvilleWrightuccessfullychievedflightn
Kitty awk,NorthCarolina.
4 In her recent book TheArtificial ingdom: TreasuryftheKitsch xperience(1998), Celeste Olalquiaga distinguishesbetween "nostalgickitsch" and"melancholickitsch."n the latter, hewrites, thepassage of time s funda-mental, reciselyecause it sthetransitorinessf all things,hecontinual light
of ife ntodeath,that educes this ensibility.onsequently, ormelancholickitsch hetemporal imension, epresenteds narrative,hapesthespatialoneinto a three-dimensionalscenography.... he processat work n melancholickitsch s equivalentto that of the souvenir: t is the process of allegoriza-tion." (122)
5 It isalsoworthnoting hat hememory fChinatown s it ooked and thrivedin the 1940s and '50s has been dispersedand replicated n sitesbeyondtheneighborhood.For instance, heGood Luck, a bar inHollywood,displaysneon signwith
chop suey" ettering, hotosand lanterns
urchasedfromChi-
natown tores,ncludingGimFong's, nd proudly oaststheservices f the for-mer bartenderof Yee Mee Loo (the bar that Gim Fong is reproducing nminiature).The bar evenfeatures drinkcalled the "Yee Mee Loo." Similar-ily,Cinnabar,an upscale restaurant nd bar in Glendale is also furnishedwith anterns, mbrellas, nd wooden screens.The bar cabinetand uke boxare both relicsfromYee Mee Loo, whichalong with GimFong's store wasamong theowner'sfavorite laces tohangout.The environmentalrocessesin thesestores mbark on yetanotherstageofdomestication, s itis nostal-
gicallyecalled
byformer isitors oChinatownn
sitesbeyondtheneighbor-hood.
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Bingham, dwin R. 1942. TheSaga of he osAngeles hinese. aster's hesis,Occi-dentalCollege.Breckenridge,Carol A. 1989. TheAestheticsnd Politics fColonialCollecting:
India at World airs.Cultural tudies n Society nd History 1,no. 2: 195-216.Chao, Tonia. 1985. Communicatinghrough rchitecture:an FranciscoChinese
