happy-holidays!

Happy Holidays!

A reminder that the Archives will be closed for the holidays at 5:00 pm on Friday, December 22, 2023, and will reopen on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, at 10:00 am.

A “Connemara Donkey” on the front of a homemade Christmas Greetings card
A “Connemara Donkey” for Christmas Greetings, 1957 (composite of front and inside of card).

Folks familiar with exploring archival records know that they can sometimes come across something unexpected during their research. This year’s holiday post is an example of how the threads of human activity can be sprinkled throughout an individual’s personal papers deposited at an archives. The Paul Yee fonds (AM1523) contains issues of Chinatown News that he collected, a biweekly magazine that was the established in 1953 and the first Chinese-Canadian newspaper to be published in English here in Vancouver. Tucked inside the pages of an issue from 1957 is a homemade holiday card that the writer sent using one of their travel photos. Aren’t donkeys perfect for a little cheer!

The Aug. 1957 issue of Chinatown News (Reference code: AM1523-S3-F162) beside photo of open greeting card found inside
The Aug. 1957 issue of Chinatown News with a surprise inside. Reference code: AM1523-S3-F162.

The message inside reads, “I hope to unite later on but want to get this off before it is too late for Christmas. We had a wonderful 3 weeks holiday in Ireland this summer when this full length portrait (!) overleaf was taken. Hope you are all well at home.”

Front of holiday greeting card showing adorable donkey

Happy holidays!

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