<Begin Segment 4>

TI: So you said after the strawberry and raspberry season...

FK: That was before, after that, yeah.

TI: Right, after that, you told your mom that would work the shop, at the shop.

FK: Yeah.

TI: Describe the shop for me. What kind of work was done there?

FK: Well, she, the laundry part is, you know, mostly shirts and things. And the cleaner, cleaning part, you know, we sent it out to the Japanese, he did all the cleaning part of it.

TI: So, like dry cleaning part?

FK: Yeah, dry cleaning part. He had a, not a factory, but a place where he does all this cleaning for all these little shops like ours. And then we'd send it to him, he'd come and pick it up, and he'd clean it and bring it back, and then we'd, my mother, my dad had to start pressing all the pants and the suits and everything. So we had a big, you know, those pressing machines, and for sheets and things we had a big mangle, like, you know, that has to go through. And the shirts, we had to iron it. She had this heavy iron, I think, that came from Japan, and I used to help with that. And the shirts had to be all pressed, you know, and then you put this board in between and wrap, it was really fancy. And we had to do all that, so I helped with things like that.

TI: Now, how would you guys heat the iron back then?

FK: It was electric.

TI: Okay, electric. And then the cardboard, where would those come from? Would you just buy in bulk?

FK: Yeah, she buys, yeah, the cardboard and the, the one that goes through on the collar, yeah, they were all bought. And, but we had to put it together, you know, folding the arms and everything, so I used to help with that.

TI: And so describe your jobs.

FK: That's what I helped with, and then I sometimes --

TI: So the folding and putting the cardboard in?

FK: Yeah, and helping with some of the ironing, too. So she showed me how to iron the shirts.

TI: And so, like, how many hours a day would you have to do this?

FK: Oh, not, not very long. Just when, yeah, just when she needed, she needed the help, I did help.

TI: And so the customers of the shop, who would bring their clothes to be --

FK: Oh, all kinds of, mostly men, you know, of course. And not women; mostly men did. People who worked in offices, or anybody used to bring it there.

TI: And so mostly Japanese?

FK: No, no. They were all Caucasians.

TI: And so how would you guys get your customers? Would there be any promotion?

FK: Oh, they just come in. You know, like all these mom and pop shops here, it was just like that. Now, with the East Asians, you know, it was just like that. So people would just walk in and bring their things, and we'd take care of it. And shirts, cleaning was something like twenty-five cents for one shirt. [Laughs]

TI: No, I... that's amazing. So, just the neighborhood growing up, so you had to work a little bit, but it sounds like you had more time to do other things.

FK: Yeah.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.