Depression Era: 1930s: Chinatown: De Facto Segregation
Chinese man drives a Signal delivery truck for the company, Chew Hing Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, through a residential neighborhood. ca. 1930. M.L. Cohen, photographer. Gelatin silver print from glass negative. Collection of Oakland Museum of California. Gift of Martin J. Cooney.
Occupations open to Chinese Americans outside of their own communities were limited primarily to grocery, restaurant or laundry businesses, and domestic servant positions. Often Chinese American farmers would provide produce to Chinese American delivery services that covered particular neighborhoods, as shown in this photograph. In 1930s California, small family farms were still able to compete with giant agribusinesses through this type of distribution and marketing. The Chinese American grocer or produce deliveryman, however, most likely lived outside of the largely white neighborhoods where they did business.