The tour begins in the Epstein home, Holocaust survivors who came to 103 Orchard in the 1950s. On Bella Epstein’s desk in her pink bedroom sits a record player. When the tour guide turns on the player, Bella herself recalls the Paul Anka song that made her feel like an American. Next in the Saez-Velez living room, visitors sit on their plastic-covered sofas and watch Jose Velez on a large TV in the corner describe the few Spanish channels available in the 1960s.
The tour concludes with the Wong family and a visit to a recreated garment shop, made to look like those common to Chinatown in the 1980s. Within the garment shop, visitors have the opportunity to explore and interact with the objects around the room. Visitors are invited to sit at one of six sewing machines in the center of the room. When visitors touch a machine, a video plays on the surface of the machine. The video describes different aspects of life in the garment shop, like how pricking your finger with a needle was seen as a rite of passage. In the corner, three toys rest on top of a garment cutting table. When visitors touch each toy, they hear Thomas Yu describe his experiences playing hide and seek in the garment shop after school while his mom worked. In an opposite corner, a rice cooker surrounded by bowls sits on a small table. After touching any of these objects, visitors hear about the “water-cooler” role these rice cookers had and the social conversations that happened around them.
