The Din Family

All photos courtesy of the Din Family unless otherwise noted.

This photo of young Henry Din, c. 1940, became famous. Apparently, Hank was climbing on one of the tall, wooden porches that lined the north side of The Alley between Elm and College (a vestige of old China Town). After falling and breaking his leg, sister Lucy fashioned crutches from a pair of tennis rackets using cross bars and padding. Seeing this, amateur photographer Judge Hamilton snapped this shot and sent it to the Sacramento Bee. The image was circulated across the U.S. and soon letters and money came pouring into the Din household. Sympathetic readers thought the poor boy could not afford crutches, but really there weren’t any small enough in the Woodland Clinic at the time.

This is the site of the former Wyckoff store, Woodland’s first commercial building built in 1853. Currently owned by Gary and David Shaffer, this brick building at 323 First Street sits atop the location that once hosted a general merchandise store, courthouse, church, bakery, saloon, dress shop and Tai Lee Laundry. Photo by Rich Westphal.

Henry Wyckoff built this small wooden store and stocked it with liquor and provisions for travelers and farmers. This structure was located at Dead Cat Alley and First. Wyckoff built a second store named “Yolo City” in 1856 at Court and Sixth, after which Wyckoff moved to Oregon and later to Arizona. It was there he was killed in 1871 by an unknown assassin. Photo from the collection of Gary Wirth.

The Din family on Dead Cat Alley, from left: Mother Lock Shee, Ruby, George, Frank, Jim, Lucy, Jack and father Hew. At the time of this photo, c. 1930, John and Henry were not yet part of the brood. Jimmy, Lucy, Jack and John were born at Dead Cat Alley. The Tai Lee Laundry drying yard, seen behind the Dins, was located across the alley from the family home business.

Looking over the City parking lot, the former site of the Tai Lee Laundry drying yard and the Din’s World War II Victory Garden. The laundry was located at the site of Dead Cat Alley and First, where the brick Shaffer Building now sits at left. Photo by Rich Westphal.

A closer look at the photo above shows the area of the drying yard and garden. Photo by Rich Westphal.

Lock Shee Din leads son Jack behind the Tai Lee Laundry and family home. Note the alley and drying yard behind the two.

The handwritten caption on the original family photo reads, "Boy, is it heavy! Struggle, struggle." Jack, Ruby and Lucy take a moment from chores to pose for the camera in the early 1940s.

Lucy and Ruby in the Tai Lee Laundry drying yard. The note on the snap shot reads, "Ha, ha. Would these fit you?"

A ticket from Tai Lee Laundry. Many Woodlanders thought these stubs bore the name of the business owner, Hew Din. Actually, the words tai lee mean great strength in Chinese.

Hew Din, his family and Tai Lee Laundry

By Dino Gay

The main attraction of the alley is the people who really experienced it and shaped its history, the Rulands, the Wirths, the Sharps – and most of all – the Dins. During the first Stroll Through History tour in 2002, Ruby Din Yee and her younger siblings Lucy, Jack and John (who were born on The Alley) returned to their Woodland home and shared their stories with strollers. It is the Din family's participation in the annual tour that has led to the development of The People pages in this Web site. Another brother, Jimmy, was also born on The Alley. In total, there were eight children of Hew Din (Bow Gwun Gong) and Lock Shee Din. George, Frank and Henry are the other sons.

Hew Din, son of Gee Kew Gong and grandson of Gim Hick Gong was born in 1896 in Far Yuen, Gwangdong, China. He married Lock Shee Din in China who was also born that same year in Far Yuen. During the 2003 tour I met three of Hew Din's grandchildren (fourth generation Gim Hick Gong family) – Judi Wong (daughter of Lucy Din Wong and Frank Wong), Grant Din (son of George and Esther Owyang Din), and Jana Din (daughter of Jack and Esther Fong Din). Hew Din came to San Francisco in 1912. Seven years later, Hew Din's brother Bow John Gong arrived in San Francisco. For unknown reasons, Bow John Gong brought Hew Din's wife, Lock Shee, as his wife on a later ship in 1921. After Ruby was born in San Francisco to Hew Din and Lock Shee Din, the family moved to Merced where they ran a laundry. By 1925, they had settled in Woodland and ran the Tai Lee Laundry until 1947. I recently had a nice visit with Jack Din, and his wife Mae, during which he reminisced about growing up on The Alley.

His stories revolved around the family laundry business in the former Wyckoff building on the corner of Dead Cat Alley and First Street. Many Woodlanders thought his father's name was Tai Lee, the name of the business. Tai Lee actually means great strength in Chinese. Jack would demonstrate his great strength by hustling laundry deliveries to the many restaurants along the lane, including Chicago Cafe. He remembered the last remnants of China Town – the wooden buildings and tall porches that lined the alley across Chicago Cafe. Because of items left behind at the Wyckoff building,

Jack recalled that it also housed a dress shop, a bakery, and a bar. "We knew it was a bar because there was a great big wooden bar that was in the back room. I guess it was pushed out of the way and always left there, about twenty feet long, maybe about fifteen feet long. It was pretty good sized," he said. The bar was adjacent to the family kitchen, toward the rear of the building. The family had two bedrooms. A large one, at the front of the building, for the children and a smaller one, between the kitchen and the big bedroom, for the parents. Two big presses occupied the front customer area.

Jack recalled, "The alley is right alongside of our building. Then, kitty-corner was City Hall... we used to have the mayor come over with laundry, the district attorney, the chief of police. They could have got a better laundry, but not cheaper." The drying yard for the clothes was across the alley to the north, where the city parking lot is now. Their World War II Victory Garden was next to the drying yard. He also remembered the storage business directly across First Street and the garage (auto shop) across The Alley from that (next to City Hall).

One exciting tale might explain ghost reports along the alley. Jack remembered walking behind the old boarding house in The Alley (at 666 Dead Cat Alley) and coming across a suicide victim who apparently jumped from his upstairs room. Although this story is not included in the tour booklet, I'm sure it will make it to a later, much larger edition of recollections, history and photographs. For more on the Din family, click here.