<Begin Segment 23>

TI: So, so part of what his family did was the laundry business. Can you talk about how that got started up again?

LH: Oh, I don't remember how old, how many years it was, but we, they decided to start and they had to get a permit and all that and then, like I said, the property was damaged quite a bit, and I don't even remember what the building looked like anymore, but all I remember was going with my husband and cleaning up the backyard and I, there was a garage in the back and I know there was a lot of grass and this hole with a lot of tin cans and bottles. And he said there was a fish pond there, so there was the remains of that. And that part, all I remember is all the hard work we had cleaning up the place. And then, and once we got it level, then they rebuilt again and it wasn't a big place, but it was enough to start the laundry. And he had, you know, the washer was huge and it was all wood. It was really an antique piece, I think. They should've saved, or somebody should've saved it. It was huge and it's all thick wood made into a round drum. That was the washing machine. And it had a door. And I don't know where it came from, but it was there and the press was in and the different things for a laundry and a dry cleaner, 'cause I wasn't there during the building process 'cause I think I was working somewhere. But anyway, they started the laundry again and I worked in the back folding clothes and sorting out clothes and marking them, you know the customers, you have to put a mark on the back so you know where each one goes. And my sister-in-laws worked in the front, one in the counter and I'm trying to think what the other one did. They both worked on the counter, I think, 'cause none of 'em worked in the (back). I had two sister-in-laws and my mother-in-law did the sewing, repairing. And I always worked in the back and shelving and wrapping and whatever had to be done.

TI: So how many total people worked at the laundry?

LH: About six or seven, I guess.

TI: And how many of them were family members?

LH: We were all family.

TI: Oh, so it was all family-run?

LH: Uh-huh.

TI: And so who, who was in charge?

LH: Probably my father-in-law. My, my husband was very passive. He, all his life he took orders from his father and in the end towards the end it kind of destroyed the relationship, simply because he didn't think he was treated fairly with all, 'cause he remembered how all his life he had to work for his father, doing things and not doing things that other kids got to do and, and then... well, there was more than several years of disconnect between my family, my husband and I, and the, and the whole family.

TI: And that came from the, the work...

LH: Dissention. Because I quit. I had to leave because we had six children and we had no insurance and I wasn't getting paid, and I think all, all of 'em got the same wage and we had six, seven, eight mouths to feed. And in the meantime my sister-in-law on my, my brother's wife worked at the county hospital. She worked for the Director of Nursing. She says, "You know, there's gonna be an opening for, a civil service class opening for a nurse's aide," and I'd always wanted to be a nurse, so I went and took that, but when I announced it there was, there was, it didn't, it didn't hit the family right.

TI: 'Cause they thought you should've stayed working at the business.

LH: Right. I guess...

TI: But you were thinking of your family.

LH: Right.

TI: And by doing the civil service, getting health insurance for the family would've been important.

LH: Right.

TI: And you said that at this time you were not being paid. It was just, your husband was being paid.

LH: Just, yes, the three, the three sons and the father. I think they were all getting the same amount and they didn't have as many children as we did, and I thought we did... I don't know, I shouldn't say it, I guess, but we did do a lot extra. We did all, he did all the, during vacation time or whatever, he did all the repairing or whatever had, servicing of all the equipment and I changed all the shelf linings and cleaned the back and, you know, to get it in working order for the year. I was from the farm. Work was not a problem for me and I was the type that if it had to be done it, it got, had to be done. And I, I remember I took care of all the backyard, the weeds came up all around the garage and the backyard 'cause it was all dirt, and I remember keeping that clean. I'm not bragging. I'm just saying what's there.

TI: So why was it that when you left the business sort of fell apart or stopped --

LH: Oh, because they started paying the wives, and I don't know why they disbanded, but they decided to do, I really don't know 'cause I was already working at the hospital and my husband is not the type that's gonna whine or anything. He just kept a lot of things to himself. And, but it, looking back, it was the best thing that happened because he got a job at Syntex and he worked there for the rest of his life, and that's why, the benefits were good and I can live the way I am now. And his brothers went to college and my sister-in-law was a dietician. She had gone to college. And the other two, I think one brother stayed in the cleaning business with another company and then his wife worked for the county, I think. But we did better, 'cause laundry work was, they used to work until one o'clock, twelve o'clock. I'd be waiting at home with the kids in bed and I'm looking out the door 'cause they're so late, but finally after I don't know how many years I says, "You know, you can do this every day. Why don't you just quit at nine or something?" So they start working 'til nine, and then finally I think I told my husband, "Why don't you just quit at six o'clock?" And they did and it still worked. There's always work. And in the meantime I was, I canned because I was, my mother canned. I canned everything I grew. I used to grow apricots and peaches. I saved the pit and plant it and three years later you could harvest. So whatever I could can I canned, tomatoes or peaches, apricots, cherries, wherever until the fruit disappeared, and so while my children grew I had, I did a lot of that. I did all the yard work. I did all the yard work for my in-laws.

TI: So you're a hard worker.

LH: Yeah.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.