Mr. Fashion-Incubator sent me a link to photos Ansel Adams had taken at Manzanar. I don’t know if you ever read the book but it affected me profoundly. [For a time, I even lived at a former internment camp; it’s where I wrote my book.] The Adams photos are breathtaking as you’d imagine but also provide snap shots of daily prison life. By 1943, the camp provided lessons in fashion design and dressmaking -who would have imagined? There was even at least one dedicated pattern maker -Bert Miura shown below.
Judging from the photo record, clothing production was relatively advanced at Manzanar; there is another photo of Bert bundling and readying garments for shipping. This led me to do a search, apparently the camp had a complete sewing factory where workers were trained. This site says:
The clothing factory, which made a profit throughout its operation, employed an average of 65 persons. Between June 1943 and June 1944, the factory produced 39,930 garments, and at its close in September 1944 it was producing an average of 4,000 garments a month having a value of $4,500.
And so is today’s archives entry by way of a history lesson. Hope your weekend is grand.
February 24, through March 1, 2005
The zen of the survival of the prettiest
Tailoring and The English Cut
February 24, through March 1, 2006
Reverse engineering standard work pt.5
The Fashion Piracy Paradox
A Sunday in Las Cruces
The Fashion Piracy Paradox pt.2
Home-sewing manufacturers
Designer’s website design
Domestic manufacturing is up
Home-sewing manufacturers pt 2
February 24, through March 1, 2007
Why pattern makers resist learning CAD
Do you have patterns for sale?
Fit Couture in Apparel Magazine
Notes Eco Trade Show
MAGIC Show: Publications
February 24, through March 1, 2008
Global ECO Show review: Ellaroo
Global ECO Show review: Naturally Bamboo
Insurance coverage for designers
Sales Rep Horror Story
5 reasons patents are worthless and more
Showing a line at MAGIC: Rene Geneva
Trudy’s adventures in Las Vegas pt.1
Trudy’s adventures in Las Vegas pt.2
Trudy’s adventures in Las Vegas pt.3
News from you 3/1/08
February 24, through March 1, 2009
My response to Representative Schakowsky
What it’s like to exhibit at the Outdoor Retailer Show
How to transition from Etsy into wholesale pt.1
How to sew V necklines with facings
February 24, through March 1, 2010
Fair is fair: Blaming China?
Refashioning sweaters
Looking for a clothing manufacturer?
February 24, through March 1, 2011
9 lessons learned exhibiting at KID Show Las Vegas
How online retailer buyers can kill you
Refine My Line: Claudine’s cranberry silk blouse
Don’t know if you’ve ever seen this book, Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in our War Relocation Camps http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-behind-barbed-wire-relocation/dp/B0006ASSJO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330954507&sr=1-1 I’ve seen a copy once, it’s from 1952, will probably never be reprinted. The photos I remember were of flower arranging, maybe classes and competitions, not sure. Would be interesting to see it again now and see if it had anything about the clothing production you describe.
I haven’t seen that book. Along the same lines, when I was searching yesterday, I found this link via NPR about an exhibition at the Smithsonian called “The Art of Gaman”. The work depicted in photos is quite amazing.
According to the story, the Japanese word gaman means “to bear the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity”. Art is definitely one way to do it.
Cool link about that exhibition Kathleen. The comments in response to the article are interesting too.
Ansel Adams also took a fair amount of pictures in Manzanar. Here is one of Mrs. Ryie Yoshizawa, instructor in a dressmaking class, and here’s online the book Free and Equal, a book with a selection of Adams’ pictures there.
The NPS site also has several galleries by famous photographers including Adams and Dorotea Lange.
Interestingly, they don’t have a gallery for the work of Toyo Miyatake, the main professional Japanese photographer interned there… You can see some of his work here. And here’s a whole bunch of his other work here too. Cool, his grandson is continuing his photo studio in San Gabriel now!