Set of Small Wooden Carving, Geta
date: label: date made
content: mid 1940s
notes: label: Description
content: Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during WWII often turned to art and crafts to take their minds off of the imprisonment, and express themselves creatively. Many art schools, clubs, and classes started popping up throughout many of the camps to accommodate and provide for this want. It was a great way for many Japanese Americans to pass much of the large amounts of spare time they had while imprisoned, and many prisoners developed extraordinary artistic skills. This is a tiny wooden carving of geta (Japanese sandals) using red yarn to represent the straps. Geta were an important symbol for Toshi Ito. The floors of the shower rooms were incredibly dirty because that was where they used to store and wash horses before the land was turned into a concentration camp. So, in order to keep their feet clean, Japanese Americans started crafting these geta to wear around camp and in the showers. These tiny geta could have easily been a gift or a small key chain type trinket. These little crafts were made in great volume during incarceration.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Jewelry
label: Subject
content: World War II
label: Subject
content: Japanese Americans
label: related event
content: Japanese American Internment
label: related event
content: World War II
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Japanese American
label: See more items in
content: Cultures & Communities
label: See more items in
content: Executive Order 9066
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Toshi Ito
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0346.03
label: accession number
content: 2015.0346
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0346.03
objectType: label: Object Name
content: wooden carving
label: Object Name
content: wood carving
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: thread (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1/2 in x 1 in; 1.27 cm x 2.54 cm