This clock hung in the window of the Ding Ho Laundry and Cleaners which was started by Chinese immigrants York and Arlene Luke and located at 905 James Street in Seattle. York Luke was born in 1923 in the Kwangtung Province in China, and immigrated to Seattle at the age of twelve with his father in 1935. He was a WWII veteran, serving in the US Army Air Service Group supporting the famous Flying Tigers. After the war, he returned to Seattle to continue his father's laundry business located in the University District. During a trip to China in 1947, he met and married Arlene, and she and their daughter joined York in Seattle in 1951. They established Ding Ho Laundry and Cleaners (Ding Ho roughly translates to "the best" in English) in 1956, and their clients were the "who's who" of the city including top executives, doctors, lawyers, and politicians. People would often set their watches to this clock. Ding Ho Laundry and Cleaners was one of the last to provide hand-laundry service along with semiautomatic operations. York and Arlene would work ten to twelve hour days, six days a week, and their children helped out in the shop too. York sold the cleaners in 1991 and retired after 35 years of running the business.