BLOCK

Description: WOOD CUBE WITH COLORFUL PICTURES AND LETTERS ON EACH SIDE. SIDE ARE 1)"ZEP" WITH BALLOON, 2) "P" IN PINK SQUARE, 3) "EAGLE" WITH SILHOUETTE OF EAGLE IN BLUE BACKGROUND, 4) "F" IN PINK SQAURE, 5) GREEN PAINTED RELIEF OF MICKEY MOUSE, 6) ORANGE PAINTED RELIEF OF "MINI MOUSE".

History: WOOD BLOCK TO DONOR AS A YOUNG CHILD IN VANCOUVER. DONOR WAS THE DAUGHTER OF G.G. & LOIS NAKAYAMA WHO WERE ORIGINALLY FROM VANCOUVER. THE FAMILY WAS MOVED TO SLOCAN CITY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IN 1945 THE NAKAYAMA FAMILY MOVED TO COALDALE WHERE REV. NAKAYAMA FOUNDED THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION WHERE HE WAS MINISTER UNTIL 1970. THE DONOR WENT ON TO BECOME A LECTURER AND AUTHOR OF RENOWN IN CANADA AND HAS WRITTEN A NUMBER OF BOOKS INCLUDING "OBASAN" AND THE RAIN ASCENDS. TOY BLOCK IS MENTIONED IN DONOR'S NOVEL "OBASAN". FROM AUGUST 29 TO 31, 2011 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR, JOY KOGAWA, ABOUT HER MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC OBJECTS THAT SHE DONATED IN 1997. OF THIS ARTIFACT, KOGAWA SAID: “I HAD ALL KINDS OF BLOCKS. I REMEMBER MY BLOCKS IN MARPOLE, BECAUSE [THEY] WERE VERY FANCY, WITH COLOURED CELLOPHANE WINDOWS, AND DIFFERENT SHAPES… I HAD BEAUTIFUL CLOCKS AND THIS KIND AS WELL, WHICH IS MORE THE ALPHABET KIND… I’M REALLY SURPRISED [AT] THE KIND OF THINGS THAT [MY PARENTS] KEPT… THEY WERE PRETTY SENTIMENTAL… I DON’T KNOW QUITE WHY THIS [BLOCK] ENDURED.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.