Walking through the camps

Bedroom

Bathrooms

                                    Two-bedroom stall, 1923.

The labor camps accommodated bunk beds or narrow cots where the laborers would sleep. Present at all times is the laborer's closet that contained everything the Filipino worker owned. The floors are wooden and the walls are thin, just like cardboard and oftentimes, had cracks on them too. During cold winter days, the laborers would suffer from severe cold as the wind goes through their bedroom walls. There was no heater of course, so thick blankets were their only resort. 

Makeshift bathrooms outside the labor camp

Majority of the labor camps have communal shower shower rooms made of wood and shingle sidings. The water pressure was not very strong so the men couldn't shower all at the same time or else water would just drip. Bathrooms were constructed the same way but was about 10-15 yards away from the shower rooms.Some didn't have any communal bathrooms and a back house was made instead. This back house is located at the back of the barn, hence its name, and has the toilet. Laborers who have to go to in the middle of the night would have to endure the blistering cold walking from the labor camp to the back house and often, lighting was very minimal. Hot running water was not available until the late 1930s when pipes that are old and rusty were replaced and inspections were being done.

Grounds

Labor camp lots were big and free space on the back of the camps itself were considered to be the "grounds" for recreational activities. One corner would be reserved for the animals that the laborers were raising to feed in, and another corner for vegetation. The rest of the space is for the favorite Filipino past-time, cock-fighting. This happens weekly and each payday, heavy bets are waged on the event. Spectators would gather to the grounds to watch this spectacle that has been a long-time tradition for Filipino men.

Kitchen

Some camps came with a community kitchen and some didn't so the laborers had to make their own, like the image to the left. In bigger camps were Mexicans and Filipinos lived together and had community kitchens, the Filipinos would choose to cook their own meals in their own kitchens or in their rooms using portable burners. Some of them also planted their own vegetable garden and would get their food from there.  A problem that they had to face were the pests, like rats, flies and cockroaches that feast on their food if left unattended. For bigger camps, a camp cook is employed as well, oftentimes older Filipino laborers. They would cook and serve breakfast and dinner meals since the workers would have a packed lunch at work.