<Begin Segment 6>

MN: Let's go back to Terminal Island.

CH: Okay.

MN: What was the main street on Terminal Island?

CH: Tuna Street was the Broadway of Terminal Island, Tuna Street. They had maybe twenty-five merchants, twelve on this side and twelve on this side, Broadway. That, it must have been about one block long, all the little stores were there. There was three chop suey, I think, three chop suey and three hardware and two drugstore and two liquor store and two gas station and one bank, and maybe seven or eight grocery stores. Butcher, two butcher --

MN: Two butchers?

CH: Butcher, butcher shop. Meat market they had.

MN: Were these all run by Nihonjin?

CH: Huh? All run by Nihonjin, yeah, all run by Nihonjin. But of course we had, Terminal Island, on the Wharf Street, that was the, main street was Tuna, then Wharf Street was right by the water. They had a cannery, they had six cannery. Sea Pride, French Sardine, Franco Italian, Van de Kamps Seafood, Starkist, and International, and Southern Cal. That was where the cannery there. And you know, when a boat come in with sardine or any kind of fish, my mother used to go, well, they don't know where the boat come in. So each cannery, they had a whistle, and each whistle different, represents different cannery. So [makes sound effect], "Hey Mama, I know, Van de Kamps." Middle of the night, you got to wake up, go boots and apron. And they go. That that was happening all the time. You know, Terminal Island, I even ditched school. I tell 'em I got the flu or cold. You know that long time ago, school had that steam heated heater. You know, you ever heard, you know about the steam heater heater? Steam. That it was. So we put the thermometer right there, and when the nurse come, we put in our mouth, go like that. "Hey, you got a high fever." "Yeah, I don't feel good." So they sent me to that, sent me home. Sent me home, so hey, we go to work in the cannery for thirty cents an hour. Thirty cents, we worked ten hours, three buck.

TI: So you would rather go to work and make money than go to school?

CH: Well, that happened all the time. Finally the teacher got wise. There's too many Japanese, they're not all sick. Something's wrong. They find out. I used to do that once in a while, not every, can't be doing every time. When it get busy. That's why, make lot of things, you know these mackerel? I mean, you line up these sardines, one by one like this. Going down, they cut the head and the tail and they pack 'em up, so you'd line up. It's a boring work like that. So cutting the mackerel, easier. You know, I could see you and we'd be talking, see. We used to play games so the time goes fast. You do the same thing over and over ten hours, drive you nuts. But you're thinking of getting the paycheck. You know, Terminal Island people, they were all poor, you know. We didn't have no telephone, we didn't have no car, and all that kind of thing. Of course, no television. Even telephone, maybe one house got, maybe out of fifty, one out of fifty. Of course, there's the store, they got the telephone. Mochi ka? One tofu-ya we had. I used to live right next door to them, so I know the son and the daughter, say, "Give me, hey, why don't you give me tofu and," what's the other thing? Rubbery kind of thing.

MN: Konnyaku?

CH: Oh, yeah, konnyaku. Konnyaku and age. They used to give me for free, 'cause I'm right next door. Yeah, that's why, well, eating, I remember going to maybe, from second, third, fourth and fifth to sixth grade, I ate every day, I ate tuna can. Can of tuna. I mean, not can, but prior to you putting it in the can. I used to eat the fresh one. I grew up eating tuna. Tuna and mackerel. Not my family, it was all the other kids, same thing. When I was going to school, you know what I had to take? I had to take bread, bread with sugar only. Yeah, bread and sugar. Then I got a little high-tone, little bit. I'd put butter and sugar. And then next came peanut butter, and once in a while I'd get nigiri. You know, us guys, nigiri, all the white people, "What are they eating?" They didn't know, they never saw rice ball in them days. They didn't know, so we all used to get together and eat that nigiri. And once in a while we used to take takuan with us guys. That takuan, somehow, junior high school, "Hey, something, funny smell around here." 'Cause you open the locker like that, the smell come out. They used to pinch their, "What are these Japanese guys eating?" It's pickled radish, nothing wrong with that. You guys eat picked cucumbers, same thing. But yeah, they smelled, though. "Well, that's why it tastes good," I tell 'em. [Laughs] That was junior high school days.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.