Puppets; Vietnam; Vietnam -- Social life and customs; Puppets -- Vietnam
Due to its climate, Vietnam is a very humid and wet country. For hundreds of years, Vietnamese people have raised crops of rice in fields of water, fished and tended animals to make a living. Water is very much a part of their world and is often...
Indians of north America; Zuni Indians; Zuni Indians -- Social life and customs; Zuni pottery; Containers; Storage jars; New Mexico; Zuni pottery
Zuni peoples recognized the importance of water in their daily lives. Water and items associated with water became part of their belief system. During the 1800s water jars or containers featured abstract designs of rain, vegetation and animals...
Indians of North America; Zuni Indians; Zuni Indians -- Social life and customs; Zuni pottery; Containers; Storage jars; Zuni pottery
Zuni peoples recognized the importance of water in their daily lives. Water and items associated with water became part of their belief system. During the 1800s water jars or containers featured abstract designs of rain, vegetation and animals...
Fire extinction; Fire pumps; Fire extinction -- Equipment and supplies; Japan; 19th Century
Today firefighters wear lots of protective gear made of high-tech, nonflammable materials. In 19th century Japan, these options were not available. Japanese firemen wore coats, pants, gloves and hats made of thick fabric made from several layers of...
Indians of North America; Apache Indians; Apache baskets; Baskets; Containers; Pitchers
The Southwest Indians are well known for producing well made utilitarian baskets, as well as textiles, jewelry, and dolls. The various Apache tribes are well known for their coiled water jugs. This particular jug is covered with pine pitch inside...
Great Britain; Stoves; Great Britain -- Social life and customs; Tea; Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901
In Victorian times, the teapot was filled with boiling water in the kitchen and then transported to the drawing room. The pot was set on a trivet, a stand used to hold pots of food over heat, above a spirit lamp to keep the water hot. The tea was...
This brightly colored mollusk is a Giant Lima Shell and was found along the reef flats near the Philippine Islands. In life this creature moves about by clapping both halves of its shell together and forcing water out – thus propelling itself...
Think of an octopus or a squid that lives in a large, round shell and then you'll understand what a Chambered Nautilus is like. This creature has the ability to take water into a sac in its body, and then expel this water quickly, creating a cool...
Baleen is a sieve-like (strainer) growth used too skim food out of the water for some whales. It is made of the same material as your fingernail, but grows long from the roof of the mouth of certain whales. The whale will swim with its mouth open,...
Bags; Water; Indiana; Indianapolis (Ind.); Nineteen thirties; West (United States); Containers
During the 1930s, Hillis Howie led an expedition of Indianapolis children throughout the western United States to investigate the wildlife and plants of the region. During these Prairie Treks, campers learned to identify birds and animals, pan for...
Just like real pumper trucks, this 1950s toy can carry water to the scene. Storing water in the center of the truck, the handle on top pumps water out the hose to a waiting fire fighter. The Doepke Company designed it to look like the American...
Thailand; Thailand - social life and customs; Dwellings; Models and modelmaking
Stilt houses are raised on stilts over soil or a body of water. These houses in Thailand are made of bamboo with harp angled roofs and wooden floorboards. The ceiling is typically high to provide good ventilation. The mattress would be laid on the...
Birds; Ducks; Wood duck -- North America; Wetland animals
One of the most colorful ducks in North America, the Wood Duck can be found among wooded streams, swamps and lowland areas. These ducks nest in trees that grow directly in or around water. Shortly after hatching the young ducklings will jump from...
Japan; Japan -- Social life and customs; Tea; Implements, utensils, etc.
In Japan, tea is an essential part of a picnic as well as virtually every meal. Although tea drinking originated in China, the earliest record of tea drinking in Japan dates to 729 AD. There are special ceremonies and utensils to prepare and drink...
Hundreds of mechanical washing machines were designed in the first half of the 19th century, but they were hand powered. The earliest models rubbed clothes to clean them; later designs featured mechanisms that moved the clothes through the water....
Zuni Indians; Pueblo Indians; Zuni Indians -- Social life and customs; Dolls; Indian dolls
This beaded doll represents a Zuni woman performing the Olla dance. In the past, Zuni women carried water on their heads so their hands could be free to gather and carry other things for their families. These water jars are called ollas. Some women...
Mali; Dogon (African people); Dogon (African people) -- Social life and customs; Dogon (African people) -- Religion and mythology; Dogon (African people) -- Rites and ceremonies; Dance; Sculpture
Like many cultures, the cliff-dwelling Dogon peoples of rural Mali in West Africa have special beliefs and practices related to death. It is believed that after a person dies, even if his body is removed, his spirit remains in his home. The spirit...
Indians of North America; Pueblo Indians; Pueblo Indians -- Social life and customs; Pueblo pottery; Containers; Storage jars
In the beginning of the 20th century, Sara Fina Tafoya was the first Santa Clara Pueblo potter to succeed in marketing traditional utilitarian pottery with decorative non-functional designs. One image she began using was the imprint of a bear paw...
Turkey; Turkey -- Social life and customs; Implements, utensils, etc.; Coffee making paraphernalia -- Turkey
Pestles, club-shaped tools, and mortars, bowl shaped containers, were used for grinding coffee by hand before the Fifteenth Century. As the popularity of coffee increased in Europe during the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish coffee mill was introduced....
This pig-like animal is found among the forests and riverbeds of the Sula Islands of Indonesia. Elusive animals by nature, the babirussa prefers to live in dense cover near water. The upper tusks of the babirussa are unusual in that they grow...
