Unrecorded Views of Los Angeles' Chinatown

Nine Images of the Chinese Procession in the Fiesta de Los Angeles, ca. 1905

Notes: A remarkable collection of images of the Chinese contingent in a pioneering multicultural event in Los Angeles at the turn of the 20th century. Nine real photo postcards (RPPC), all pre-dating the use of divided back cards (March 1, 1907), printed with wide margins to allow writing on the front.

While not identified on the cards, these images appear to be from the Fiesta de Los Angeles parade, held during April or May, beginning in 1894 and continuing for several decades. The parade was deliberately multi-ethnic, with Anglo-American floats joined by large contingents of Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and Chinese Americans. The highlight of the event during the early years was the Chinese dragon, which stretched more than a hundred feet.

These nine images, each measuring 4 by 3 inches (on larger paper), provide several side views of the dragon, plus good images of floats, banners, and Chinese spectators. The photographs seem to have been taken in Old Chinatown, prior to the start of the parade.

The Los Angeles Evening Express reported on the absence of the dragon in the 1906 parade (see "Golden Dragon Is Ruined", May 29) because it got wet while on tour in Astoria, Oregon, and was packed up without drying. When the crates were opened for the Fiesta parade, the dragon had rotted. These images most likely date prior to that disaster.

See Rachel Grace Shuen's 2014 Master's thesis, "La Fiesta de Los Angeles: Race, Ethnicity, and History on Parade in Los Angeles, 1894–1903" for more information on the parade. She reproduces nine images of the Chinese participants in the parade: seven photographs, a color lithograph postcard, and a drawing. None of those images are duplicated in this grouping.

Edition + Condition: One card with a small piece missing from the border, not affecting image; other cards fine or nearly so.

Publication: Los Angeles: (n.p.), (n.d. but before 1906).

Item No: #35530

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