When I found this little parasol at a recent estate sale--small but quite heavy for its size--I added to my pile just because I liked it. Not until I got home did I give it a close look and realize that its canopy is made entirely of painstakingly folded Winton cigarette packs. With a little research I learned that these origami parasols were once a common craft among Japanese American women, who would save up cigarette packs and then complete them with the help of a kit that included toothpick-like sticks for the armature. Pretty amazing I think!
Apparently, many of these date from the 1940s, a lot of them actually made by women in internment camps during WWII. With a little googling one can photos of a rainbow array of these, taking their different colors from a wide variety of cigarette brands, and demonstrating the wonderful ingenuity and design sensibilities of their makers.
5" diameter x 6" tall, with some wear to the surface of the paper as documented in photos but in great shape structurally and very substantial.
