Gaming in The Dalles: The Presence of Asian Coins and Glass Gaming Pieces in a Small Town Laundry
Author(s): Maryanne F. Maddoux
Year: 2017
Summary
The partners/owners of the Wing Hong Tai/Hai Company were innovative entrepreneurs who utilized multiple strategies to circumvent economic and social pressures during the Chinese Exclusion Act era. The ‘Chinese Laundry’ site (35WS453) located in the Dalles, Oregon was occupied by the company beginning in the 1880s until the mid-1920s. The site is situated along the Columbia River which is an important hub for travel and trade in the western United States. The partners of the Wing Hong Tai/Hai Company openly operated a mercantile and laundry, but they were also proprietors of a more discreet gaming operation. The presence of glass gaming pieces and Asian coins (Chinese wen and Vietnamese dong) provides evidence of gaming activities at the site. The partners of the Wing Hong Tai/Hai Company varied operations of their business in response to the legal and social challenges facing them as foreign owners.
Cite this Record
Gaming in The Dalles: The Presence of Asian Coins and Glass Gaming Pieces in a Small Town Laundry. Maryanne F. Maddoux. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Fort Worth, TX. 2017 ( tDAR id: 435346)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
Asian Coins
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Exclusion Act
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Overseas Chinese
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
Chinese Exclusion Act Era
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 288