BOX, STORAGE

Description: RECTANGULAR STEEL TIN WITH HINGED LID. PAINT ON LID IS WORN COMPLETELY OFF. BODY IS BLUE WITH RED AND YELLOW YOSES WITH FOLIAGE. "CONTAINER MADE IN ENGLAND" IS STAMPED INTO BOTTOM.

History: TEA TIN WAS A HOUSEHOLD ITEM USED BY DONOR'S FAMILY WHILE LIVING AT COALDALE. THE NAKAYAMA FAMILY WAS ORIGINALLY FROM VANCOUVER BUT MOVED TO COALDALE FOLLOWING THE SECOND WORLD WAR WHEN THEY WERE INTERNED AT SLOCAN CITY IN THE INTERIOR OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. THE DONOR'S FATHER, REV. CANON G.G. NAKAYAMA, WAS AN ANGLICAN MINISTER IN VANCOUVER, AND THEN ESTABLISHED THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION IN COALDALE IN 1945 WHERE HE SERVED UNTIL 1970. 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: “[THIS] CONTAINED HANDKERCHIEFS… ALL FOLDED UP NEATLY IN THERE WHICH WE USED DAILY… [IT] WAS KEPT NEAR THE SEWING MACHINE [THAT] WAS IN THE LEAN-TO BEDROOM [IN COALDALE]… WE ALWAYS HAD TO REUSE THESE HANDKERCHIEFS, AND USE THEM OVER AND OVER, AND THEN THEY WERE WASHED… WHEN WE MOVED BACK TO VANCOUVER [THEN] IT WAS USED FOR HOLDING TEA… LOOSE TEA AND SOMETIMES TEA BAGS.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.