KNIFE, BEET-TOPPING

Description: UNFINISHED WOOD HANDLE HAS 3 RIVETS SECURING BLADE. BLADE GETS LARGER TOWARD THE TIP. AT TIP A HOOK SHAPE IS MOUNTED PERPENDICULAR TO BLADE, AND IS HELD BY TWO RIVETS. TIP OF BLADE AND HOOK HAVE SEVERE CORROSION. BLADE HAS SCRATCH MARKS ON IT, AS WELL AS WHITE RESIDUE.

History: NO HISTORY KNOWN BEYOND KNIFE'S ASSOCIATION WITH ARCHIVES DONATION. DONOR STATES MATERIAL WAS AT ONE TIME IN THE POSSESSION OF HANAE IWAASA-ROBBS, WHO OPERATED THE JAPANESE CULTURAL ASSOCIATION FROM AN OFFICE ON THE NORTH SIDE. MATERIAL WAS ENTRUSTED TO HER BY THE LOCAL JAPANESE COMMUNITY. THE LOCAL OFFICE DISBANDED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED AN ARTIFACT SURVEY, WHICH INCLUDED A SERVING DISH AND A JEWELRY BOX DONATED BY THE NIKKEI CULTURAL SOCIETY. AS PART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS, PUNDYK CONTACTED THE FORMER OPERATOR OF THE JAPANESE CULTURAL ASSOCIATION, HANAE IWASSA. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PERSONAL MEMORY OF THE ARTIFACTS BY THE LOCAL JAPANESE COMMUNITY PRIOR TO THE ITEMS BEING DONATED TO THE JAPANESE CULTURAL ASSOCIATION IS UNKNOWN.