Item #51358 Three lengthy letters from a Hong Kong expat to her friend in the States
Three lengthy letters from a Hong Kong expat to her friend in the States
Three lengthy letters from a Hong Kong expat to her friend in the States

Three lengthy letters from a Hong Kong expat to her friend in the States

Hong Kong: 1900-1901. Three quarto manuscript letters totaling 22 pages and approx. 6000 words on life in Hong Kong as an American expat. Clean and legible. The author, "Katheryn," writes to her friend Jesse in Oregon, describing her daily routine and life in Hong Kong with her husband Tom, who works there. "Hong Kong is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I cannot describe it to you but will send you some Kodak pictures." Her writing is rather slangy and telegraphic, but she manages to convey a sense of her life and times. "We have a rickshaw of our own now, Tom bought it last week. It is a nice one, made in Japan, and better than the ones they make here. Have two coolies so they can drag Tom up the hill. One runs behind and pushes. A tailor is making their uniforms. I chose kahki (sic) trimmed with red for them, Will also have the monogram TWH in red letters on them. People here think you are somebody if your coolies are in uniform." She goes on at length in this manner, explaining that the chair coolies (necessary to negotiate the many steps in Hong Kong) do not like Tom because he weighs 200 pounds. She, on the other hand, goes where she pleases. She discusses her wardrobe (all white clothing) and talks about clothing and Chinese tailors, and about friends of her husband's - other expats. She describes their rooms, a bargain at $160 per month. Then, "Although the Plague is usually worse here in summer it seems now that there are fewer cases than there were a few weeks ago... I go through the Plague district (that is, where it is the worst) Wauchai, a suburb, nearly every day." She also talks about ships currently in the harbor, “trouble in the north" and the Hong Kong regiment. We gather that she's been married just a year, and that her husband pampers her, but that she misses her friend Jessie and is a little homesick. The first twelve-page letter was written between June 19 and 25. The second, a two-pager sending condolences for a death in Jessie's family, was written August 27, 1900. The third letter, eight pages, was written in 1901. In it Kathryn talks about cameras and mentions their trip to Canton and Macao. Item #51358

Price: $1,250.00

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