Palm leaf conical hat with plastic wrap, souvenir from Seattle World's Fair 1962. The hat is composed of four parts, accessioned as a-d, the hat, a plastic wrap secured around it, a cord used to tie around the wearing chin, and a cord fastener in the form of a clear yellow plastic "Chinese coin." The hat has a woven palm leaf exteriror and a split bamboo lattice-weave interior. A bamboo (or other wood) ring is stitched to the interior with raffia or split palm leaf. Around the exterior rim, a similar ring is stitched in places with a similar material. A white cotton thread is tied in places to the exterior ring and creates a pattern of triangles on the brim of the hat. The hat is wrapped in clear plastic printed in red and blue ink with, "Seattle 1962 World's Fair" and four Chinese characters in blue (three of them being shi, jie, and zhan: world, exhibition). Tied to the interior of the hat is an orange cotton cord drawn through a flat, clear plastic "coin" with four raised Chinese characters.

1994.039.021