Monday, March 3, 2014

Airport Distractions -- Japanese Toys

SFO -- Airports can suck the life out of you. You want to get home/to your meeting/to the beach to start your vacation, but maybe you're flight is delayed or, worse, cancelled. Even if it's on time, waiting at the airport (for people who fly often) can seem a lot like Groundhog Day. Generic food, generic news shops, generic luggage for sale, generic clueless travelers who bump into people who are all on their generic cellphones.

How nice to have something different to look at. Say, for example, Japanese Toys. Thanks to the folks at SFO who put this exhibit together.




One of the reasons this exhibit resonated so much with me is that my mother lived and worked in Japan in the early 1950s, and I grew up with Japanese apple head dolls displayed through the house and lots of Japanese prints and even a silk room divider. My mother brought back fabric and made fancy cocktail dresses for herself. This is the only one that survived.


I never knew that the apple head dolls were called Kokeshi dolls.



My mother also brought back porcelain pillows. I don't know the history, but seriously, did anyone ever really sleep on one of these?




Silk room divider is in the background.