Chinese Laundry Blues

(Listen to 'Chinese Blues' by George Formby, to the accompaniment of the Jack Hylton Band, 1932)

It's common to see, especially in old films, the stereotype of East Asian immigrants in the States as owners of specific small business such as restaurants, groceries and laundries. These figures are usually part of backdrops but never part of main story lines. I don't really remember any film about, say, a Chinese grocer, a Korean laundress or a Japanese sushi chef produced in Hollywood.

However, there is a record of an interesting song, 'Chinese Blues', written by a British singer-songwriter and comedian Geroge Formby, in which a fictitious laundry owner, Mr Wu, lost his heart to a Chinese girl and his laundry has all gone wrong. Here Mr Wu is the leading role, rather than an extra.

George Formby was most remembered for playing the banjolele, a kind of instrument with an American round banjo body and a Hawaiian fretted ukulele neck, and for singing his original comical songs. (See the photo, quoted from Slap & Tickle)

On a website dedicated to him, George is praised as a great person who "could hold a live audience in the palm of his hand as he sang and played the ukulele in his own inimitable style."

Composed in 1932, 'Chinese Blues' was his first successful record and later adopted by himself as the signature tune, with the renamed title 'Chinese Laundry Blues'.

Stereotypical figure as Mr Wu may be and perhaps some early-twentieth-century racism, prejudice and inappropriateness as there may be, I won't take it too seriously. Never mind. Replacing 'Mr Wu' with 'Uncle Sam', 'Chinese girl' with 'Scottish lass', 'Chinese Laundry Blues' with 'New York Laundry Blues', or whatever, I still see the Laurel-and-Hardy- or Chaplin-style hilarity.

Please refer to the lyrics below to see the whole picture of this song.

Now Mr. Wu was a laundry man in a shop with an old green door.
He'll iron all day your linen away, he really makes me sore.
He's lost his heart to a Chinese girl and his laundry's all gone wrong.
All day he'll flirt and scorch your shirt, that's why I'm singing this song.
Oh Mr. Wu, what shall I do, I'm feeling kind of Limehouse Chinese Laundry Blues.

This funny feeling keeps round me stealing
Oh won’t you throw your sweetheart over do.
My vest's so short that it won't fit my little brother.
And my new Sunday shirt has got a perforated rudder.
Mr. Wu, what shall I do, I'm feeling kind of Limehouse Chinese Laundry Blues.

Now Mr. Wu, he's got a naughty eye that flickers.
You ought to see it wobble when he's ironing ladies blouses.
Mr. Wu, what shall I do, I'm feeling kind of Limehouse Chinese Laundry Blues.

Now Mr. Wu, he's got a laundry kind of tricky,
He'll starch my shirts and collars but he'll never touch my waistcoat.
Mr. Wu, what shall I do, I'm feeling kind of Limehouse Chinese Laundry Blues.