6 records – page 1 of 1.

Larry Lee family fonds

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19071
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Larry Lee family fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Physical Description
14 photographs + 3 p. of texutal records
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs of the Dragon Inn restaurant in Burnaby, Lee family photographs and certificates awarded to Larry Lee.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Larry Lee family fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Physical Description
14 photographs + 3 p. of texutal records
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs of the Dragon Inn restaurant in Burnaby, Lee family photographs and certificates awarded to Larry Lee.
History
Larry Lee was born in Dawan village, Kaiping, Guangdong, China in 1932. As a child, he attended school at the Dawan village primary school, and later the Kaiqiao middle school. During the Second World War, the Japanese army took over parts of Guangdong. Due the circumstances at the time, Larry quit school and returned to the village. He arrived in Vancouver, Canada in 1949 at the age of 16 by plane, which stopped in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Guam, Hawaii, and Seattle before reaching its final destination in Vancouver. With no English language skills upon arrival, he attended Sir William Dawson School in Vancouver and was placed in grade five surrounded by mostly white children. His father Lee Soon was already in Canada many years before Larry arrived, and paid the Chinese head tax to come to Canada. Lee Soon operated the Puss and Boots coffee shop located on Robson Street and Richards Street and was one of the restaurant’s cooks. As a teenager, Larry's first job in Canada was working at the Puss and Boots as a restaurant helper. Later on, he took a full time job working at the Bamboo Terrace restaurant in Chinatown, and was eventually promoted to become a buyer for the restaurant. He met his wife Git Nung Lee "Kathy" who came from Xinhui county, Guangdong, in the 1950s while she was working for the produce wholesaler Tom Yee, which was located on Keefer Street between Gore and Main Street in Chinatown. Kathy's grandfather originally operated a fireworks factory in Vancouver. After an accident which involved an explosion at the factory, her father closed down the company and opened the Fong Lee BBQ Meatshop in Chinatown. Kathy and Larry married in 1958. Larry and Kathy lived in Burnaby where they raised their eight children. In the late 1950s, Larry and Kathy opened the first Dragon Inn restaurant on Slocan Road and Kingsway area along with seven other partners who mostly originated from Larry's hometown in Kaiping. The business partners eventually parted ways, and a second Dragon Inn restaurant opened in the Willingdon and Kingsway area. The third restaurant, named the Park Inn, opened up at Welwyn Street and Kingsway. A fourth restaurant, also named the Dragon Inn, was established on Willingdon and Hastings Street. Finally, a fifth Dragon Inn restaurant was opened in New Westminster on Columbia Street. Larry retained ownership of the Willingdon and Kingsway location, and sold the remaining businesses. Over the years, he purchased property around the block of his restaurant, and sold the land to developers who constructed the Crystal Mall. Larry and Kathy operated the Grand Buffet restaurant on Kingsway in the late 1990s for five years before they sold the business and retired. The Dragon Inn was known for its exterior neon sign which was removed in 1997. Larry Lee was a member of the International Association of Lions Club and a duly elected member of the Lions Club of Vancouver Champlain Heights. Larry Lee died in 2019 and his wife Kathy died in 2022.
Responsibility
Lee, Larry
Accession Code
BV017.37
BV022.19
Media Type
Photograph
Textual Record
Notes
Title based on contents of fonds
Less detail

Harry Toy fonds

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription20339
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
[197-]-2023
Collection/Fonds
Harry Toy fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Physical Description
.5 cm of textual records + 6 photographs + 2 photographs (jpg)
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of business records and photographs relating to Harry Toy's store the Canada Way Food Market, the Fraser Merchants' Association and his family.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Harry Toy fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Physical Description
.5 cm of textual records + 6 photographs + 2 photographs (jpg)
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of business records and photographs relating to Harry Toy's store the Canada Way Food Market, the Fraser Merchants' Association and his family.
History
Harry Wee Koon Toy was born in February 9, 1936 in Taikong, Toisan county, Guangdong, China. Harry's father William Toy came to Canada in the early 1920s when he was ten years old. Harry arrived in Vancouver, Canada on September 9, 1950. After staying in Vancouver for one night, he joined his father in Neepawa, Manitoba where the family operated a cafe business (Royal Cafe). Harry grew up in Neepawa and graduated from the University of Manitoba and teacher's college. He became a high school teacher and worked at schools in Minnedosa and Gladstone, Manitoba teaching various subjects including, science, business, geography, history and physical education. Harry and his wife, had three daughters, Melinda, Beverley and Christina who were all born in Neepawa. When the family decided to move to the west coast, Harry was introduced to the grocery store business through an uncle who was a store operator. Around 1970, Harry purchased a grocery store at 4694 Canada Way in Burnaby which he named "Canada Way Food Market" and Harry and his daughters made their home at the back of the store. Harry owned and operated the store for approximately 40 years between 1970 and 2010. Around 1986, Harry purchased the butcher shop next door (4692 Canada Way) which was no longer in operation, expanding his store and adding a second storey to use as a residence. Harry's children helped him operate the store throughout their childhood. In the early 1970s, corner stores were threatened by the spread of small chain-operated convenience stories from Eastern Canada to Vancouver. Formed in April 1972, the Fraser Merchants’ Association was established to protect the rights of corner store operators. With no paid legal help, the association was incorporated in Victoria, BC for the cost of 56 cents. The benefits of being a member of the association included warehouse and group purchasing, common advertising and other advantages of being part of an association. Founded by Gary Lee Ling and five others, Fraser Merchants’ Association’s first member was Graham Grocery. By 1978, the association represented over 200 corner stores in the Lower Mainland (Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Coquitlam, and New Westminster) and Fraser Valley. The association remained active into the 1980s and 1990s. Harry has served as President of the Fraser Merchants' Association from 1992 to present.
Creator
Toy, Harry Wee Koon "Harry"
Names
Toy, Harry Wee Koon "Harry"
Fraser Merchants' Association
Canada Way Food Market
Accession Code
BV023.25
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Date
[197-]-2023
Media Type
Photograph
Textual Record
Related Material
See also BV023.16.19 - Interview with Harry Toy, Beverley Babey and Christina Toy
For associated artifacts from Canada Way Food Market see Accession BV023.17
Notes
Title based on contents of fonds
Less detail

Head tax certificate issued to Dung Way How

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15546
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1922-1934 (date of original), copied 2021
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Document collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 certificate (tiff) : col. ; 600 dpi
Scope and Content
Item consists of a head tax certificate issued by the Dominion of Canada - Immigration Branch - Department of the Interior to Dung Way How (Dong Howe). The certificate was first issued on March 18, 1922 and includes certification stamps on the front along with a photograph of Dung Way How. Certifi…
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum Document collection
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 certificate (tiff) : col. ; 600 dpi
Scope and Content
Item consists of a head tax certificate issued by the Dominion of Canada - Immigration Branch - Department of the Interior to Dung Way How (Dong Howe). The certificate was first issued on March 18, 1922 and includes certification stamps on the front along with a photograph of Dung Way How. Certification stamps on the verso of the certificate were issued by Chinese Immigration authorities between 1922 and 1934. Information on the front of the certificate reads "...This Certifies That / Dung Way How whose photograph is attached / hereto arrived or landed at Vancouver B.C. / on the 23rd day of January 1922 / ex "Empress of Asia" / and upon representations made has been / admitted as exempt from head tax under the / provisions of the Chinese Immigration Act. / The above mentioned party claims / to be a native of Bark Choon Jong in the District of Pon Yue of the age of 20 years. The declaration in this case is C.I.4. No. 3715 Date at Vancouver on March 18, 1922" signed by "Controller of Chinese Immigration". Printed text on verso of certificate reads "IMPORTANT / IT IS NECESSARY THAT THIS / CERTIFICATE BE CAREFULLY / PRESERVED AS IT IS OF VALUE / AS A MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION".
History
Dung Way How (Dong Howe) arrived from Bak Chun (North Village), Guangdong in 1922 as a paper son. He had two sons during his first marriage, but the sons remained in China and one died at a young age. He married his second wife Chow Goon Pang through an arranged marriage. She was married twice previously and had a son from each marriage, but neither of them survived. Chow was from Nam Chun (South Village) and arrived in Canada as a paper daughter around the late 1930s or early 1940s. Both Dong and Chow spoke a Poon Yue dialect. The couple raised one daughter Vivian Dong (Dong Jing Yu) in Canada. The Dong family leased and operated the New Fountain hotel in Vancouver located at Abbott Street and Cordova Street. The family later went on to purchase farmland in Burnaby in 1957. The Dong family moved to Burnaby and operated a three acre market garden located at 6220 14th Avenue until 1972. They grew European staples including celery, radishes, green onions, beets, lettuces, endives, as well as Chinese vegetables such as gai lan (Chinese broccoli). There were two Chinese families in the area, including the Wong family who operated the Wong Chew market gardens 6325 14th Avenue. Dong Howe passed away in 1978. Chow Goon Pang passed away in 2000. Their daughter Vivian grew up in Burnaby and attended Riverside Elementary, McPherson Junior High School and Burnaby South Secondary School.
Creator
Government of Canada
Subjects
Persons - Chinese Canadians
Documentary Artifacts - Certificates
Migration
Names
Howe, Dong
Accession Code
BV021.13.1
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Date
1922-1934 (date of original), copied 2021
Media Type
Textual Record
Photograph
Scan Resolution
600
Scan Date
March 25, 2021
Scale
100
Notes
Title based on contents of photograph
Images
Less detail

Hipman "Jimmy" Chow with his father and mother

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19192
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
[1953]
Collection/Fonds
Hipman "Jimmy" Chow and Donna Polos fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w ; 12 x 8.5 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of young Jimmy Chow with his father, Robin Chung Dip Chow and his mother, Gim Gee Chow standing outside a building in Asquith, Saskatchewan. Jimmy's father is holding him in his arms. The group are standing in the snow outside of a building.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Hipman "Jimmy" Chow and Donna Polos fonds
Series
Jimmy Chow family photographs series
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
1 photograph : b&w ; 12 x 8.5 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of young Jimmy Chow with his father, Robin Chung Dip Chow and his mother, Gim Gee Chow standing outside a building in Asquith, Saskatchewan. Jimmy's father is holding him in his arms. The group are standing in the snow outside of a building.
Subjects
Persons - Chinese Canadians
Persons - Children
Names
Chow, Hipman "Jimmy"
Chow, Robin Chung Dip
Chow, Gim Gee Dang
Accession Code
BV022.21.38
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Date
[1953]
Media Type
Photograph
Scan Resolution
600
Scan Date
2023-03-03
Notes
Title based on contents of photograph
Handwritten notes in blue ink are written in Traditional Chinese on verso of photograph. Notes translated to English and transliterated into Mandarin pinyin read: " "Niu Guo Tang" (name of a village in Kaiping, Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, China). "A keepsake for maternal grandmother. From maternal grandson Hipman Chow" (Jimmy Chow)
Hipman "Jimmy" Chow's name in Cantonese is Chow Hipman and in Mandarin is Zhou Xiamin.
Images
Less detail

Quon Lip Lee fonds

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription16725
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
1921-1988 (date of originals), copied 2021
Collection/Fonds
Quon Lip Lee fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Physical Description
8 photograph (tiffs)
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs pertaining to personal records of Quon Lip Lee including his immigration and citizenship documents, his family, business and involvement as a member with Lee's Benevolent Associaton of Canada.
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Quon Lip Lee fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Physical Description
8 photograph (tiffs)
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of photographs pertaining to personal records of Quon Lip Lee including his immigration and citizenship documents, his family, business and involvement as a member with Lee's Benevolent Associaton of Canada.
History
Quon Lip Lee immigrated to Canada in 1921 from Sun Woy county, Guangdong at the age of 12 and found work as a housekeeper. In his adult years, Lee travelled back to China several times and fathered two sons and two daughters in China, including Tim Lee who was born in 1949. Quon Lip Lee purchased two acres of farmland in Richmond and operated a poultry farm in the No.3 Road and Williams Road area. He brought his wife and most of his children from China to Canada in 1952, with the exception of one daughter who was already married. When the poultry industry began to decline, Lee purchased a grocery store business in Burnaby and the Lee family moved to Burnaby in 1962. The shop was named C&L Grocery, which stood for Cheng (his son-in-law’s surname) and Lee. The property was located at 6912 Kingsway on the corner of Kingsway and Griffiths and had three store fronts and a house in the back where the family lived. The family grocery store sold groceries and canned goods and was in operation for approximately fifteen years. Quon Lip Lee was a member of Lee's Benevolent Association of Canada. In 1988, Quon Lip, received a service award for his many contributions as an advisory board member and board secretary of Lee's Benevolent Association magazine. As a child, Tim Lee attended Stride Avenue School, Edmonds School and Burnaby South Secondary School. Tim co-owned an architectural mill work company named New Image Millwork Ltd. in Surrey for 30 years before his retirement. The company renovated locations including the Burnaby Village Museum, Burnaby’s Winners store, and other businesses. Tim sold the business and retired in 2019.
Creator
Lee, Quon Lip
Accession Code
BV021.18
Date
1921-1988 (date of originals), copied 2021
Media Type
Textual Record
Photograph
Notes
Title based on contents of fonds
Less detail

Scraps and Dragons

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription14273
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Date
Oct. 2020
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
3 video recordings (mp4) (11 min., 19 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo, subtitles
Scope and Content
Item consists of part one in a two part video series "A Taste of History" created by Debbie Liang and Joty Gill, University of British Columbia alumni and graduates from the Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies program (ACAM). Part one is titled "Scraps and Dragons". The film provides backgroun…
Repository
Burnaby Village Museum
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Village Museum fonds
Series
UBC Partnership series
Subseries
A Taste of History Video series - 2020 subseries
Description Level
Item
Physical Description
3 video recordings (mp4) (11 min., 19 sec.) : digital, col., sd., stereo, subtitles
Material Details
Script: Debbie Liang; Joty Gill Narration: Debbie Liang Editor: Debbie Liang Subtitles: English; Simplified Chinese; Traditional Chinese Video Appearances: Kathy Lee; Eleanor Lee Interviews filmed by: Eleanor Lee Interview questions: Eleanor Lee; Debbie Liang Illustrations and Animations: Debbie Liang Photos, Images & B-roll: Vegetable letters from Shutterstock; Green onion and carrot footage from Debbie Liang; Chop Suey image courtesy of pulaw from Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC By 2.0); Chop Suey from Shutterstock; Menus by Amy Wilson; Gold Dragon booklet cover and menu image- courtesy of UBC RBSC Chung Collection (RBSC-ARC-1679-CCTX-309-122); Chop Suey Nation book cover, image courtesy of Douglas & MacIntyre; Dragon Inn: City of Burnaby Archives, 556-239 photo by John McCarron; Larry Lee, image courtesy of Eleanor Lee; VanTech, image courtesy of Mike from Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0); Bamboo Terrace, image courtesy of Rob from Flickr, public domain; Map image courtesy of Sentinel 2 from wikimedia Creative Commons; Salad bar inside of Dragon Inn Restaurant, Burnaby Village Museum, BV017.37.3; John Lee: City of Burnaby Archives, 535-0415, photo by Brian Langdeau; Photograph - Bar Inside the Dragon Inn Restaurant - Burnaby Village Museum, BV017.37.2; Chopping Mushrooms, footage courtesy of Pressmaster from pexels.com; Chopping Parsley, footage courtesy of Pressmaster from pexels.com; Kwan Luck from Debbie Liang; Crystall Mall as taken from the north side of Kingsway in Burnaby, image courtesy of w:en: Colin Keigher from wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license; Lok's Produce at Crystal mall (Burnaby) in the Underground Chinese Produce Market image courtesy of William Chen from wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International license; Crystal Mall foodcourt, image courtesy of Jay Friedman, Gastrolust; Restaurant and Dragon Innn art by Debbie Liang Music and Sound Effects: "Alison", "Acoustic Mediation 2" from audionautix; "Slow Motion", "Creative Minds" & "Cute" from bensound.com; "Kitchen sounds" & "Pop" from Debbie Liang; "Ding sound effect" from freesoundlibrary Video adapted from 2019 BVM intern project by Debbie Liang and Marcela Gomez Special thanks to: UBC: Joanna Yang, Jenny Lu, Denise Fong, Henry Yu; BVM: Kate Petrusa, Amy Wilson Changes to music may have been made for the purposes of this video
Scope and Content
Item consists of part one in a two part video series "A Taste of History" created by Debbie Liang and Joty Gill, University of British Columbia alumni and graduates from the Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies program (ACAM). Part one is titled "Scraps and Dragons". The film provides background information on the origins of the Chinese-Canadian culinary dish "chop suey" and tells the story of Chinese Canadian Chop Suey restaurants, highlighting the history of the "Dragon Inn" chop suey restaurant owned by Larry Lee. The film is supported with voice over in english, subtitles, animation, historical and family photographs and interviews with family members, Kathy Lee and Eleanor Lee. One version of the film is supported with subtitles in English while two other versions of the film are supported with subtitles in Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
History
In 2020, due to the restrictions of COVID-19, University of British Columbia student interns with the Burnaby Village Museum Chinese Canadian History in Burnaby project were asked to create virtual experiences to reimagine Burnaby Village Museum's historical Chinese Canadian programming in remote online spaces. Debbie Liang and Joty Gill (UBC alumni and graduates of Dr. Henry Yu's 2019 summer ACAM 390A Global Seminar to Aisa) returned to work with Burnaby Village Museum to create two short films showcasing the history of Chinese Canadian Chop Suey restaurants and piggeries in Burnaby. Larry Lee was born in Kaiping, Guangdong, China and immigrated to Canada in 1949 at the age of sixteen to reunite with his father, Lee Soon. Larry Lee's father had been in Canada for years before his son immigrated to join him. Larry attended Vancouver Technical Secondary School and learned English and carpentry. After he graduated, he was hired by Mr. Wong. Larry and Mr. Wong operated an IGA grocery store at Lonsdale in North Vancouver. Following this, Larry worked as a cashier for his father at "Bamboo Terrace" Chinese restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown. In 1958, he married his wife Kathy and one year later, in 1959 he started a new business of his own. Larry opened the "Dragon Inn" chop suey restaurant at 2516 Kingsway (at Slocan) in Vancouver. Once the restaurant was doing well, Larry opened the "Park Inn" at Kingsway and 25th Avenue. The "Park Inn" was the first Chinese food restaurant with a smorgasboard in Vancouver. With the success of these restaurants and subsequent restaurants Larry Lee opened three other "Dragon Inn" chop suey restaurants located at; 4510 Kingsway and Willingdon in Burnaby (1964); 250 Columbia Street in New Westminster (1971) and Hastings and Willingdon (1990s). In the 1990s Larry retained ownership of the Dragon Inn at 4510 Kingsway and Willingdon and sold the other restaurants. In 1996, Larry sold the property of the Dragon Inn and surrounding lots located at Kingsway and Willingdon to make way for the construction of Crystal Mall. Larry and Kathy Lee had eight children who all worked in the family run restaurants until they were sold.
Creator
Liang, Debbie
Debbie Liang
Subjects
Persons - Chinese Canadians
Buildings - Commercial - Restaurants
Names
Lee, Larry
Lee, Kathy
Lee, Eleanor
Liang, Debbie
Gill, Joty
Burnaby Village Museum
University of British Columbia
Responsibility
University of British Columbia
UBC Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies
Burnaby Village Museum
Geographic Access
Vancouver
New Westminster
Street Address
4510 Kingsway
Accession Code
BV020.28.6
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Date
Oct. 2020
Media Type
Moving Images
Historic Neighbourhood
Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Marlborough Area
Notes
Transcribed title
Images
Video
Less detail

6 records – page 1 of 1.