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1945 |
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1992 |
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Escape Map, C-52 Japan and South China Seas and C-53 East China Sea
This is a Escape map. It was manufactured by Army Air Forces. It is dated 1945 and we acquired it in 1992. Its medium is acetate rayon and its technique is printed on plain weave. It is a part of the Textiles department.
During World War II, airmen were provided with cloth "Escape and Evasion" maps for use if shot down behind enemy lines. In the Pacific theater, crews flying over vast bodies of open water carried ocean current and prevailing wind "drift" maps if isolated on a life raft. Here, green lines represent the direction of currents from May through September; red lines, from November through March. Initially made of hard-to-obtain silk, the American military turned to DuPont’s synthetic-fiber fabric, rayon. Rayon maps were easily hidden, could endure harsh weather and combat conditions, would not disintegrate in water, and could be used quietly. However, applying traditional paper-printing techniques to cloth posed problems. Thus, the Army turned to the board-game industry for assistance, who typically printed game boards on linen, a process highly transferable to military needs. By the end of the war, more than 3.5 million maps were printed.
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Measure: Behind Enemy Lines.
This object was
donated by
Mr. Richard N. Fried.
It is credited Gift of Richard N. Fried.
- Sextant And Case (England)
- sextant: brass, silver, glass; case: mahogany, brass, felt.
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, 1980.0318.03.
- 14.2012.23
- Portable Equatorial Sundial And Compass
- gilt and engraved brass, cut and blued steel, glass.
- Gift of the Estate of James Hazen Hyde.
- 1960-1-12
- Diagram: Layout Of Micro-sized Timing And Inertial Measurement Unit (T-IMU)
- Approx: H x W: 121.9 x 182.9 cm (48 in. x 6 ft.).
- Courtesy of MicroSystems Laboratory of the University of California, Irvine.....
- 17.2014.1
Our curators have highlighted 12 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
- Textile, South China Sea
- silk.
- Gift of Jack Lenor Larsen.
- 1973-54-1-a,b
- Pleated Fan (France)
- paper leaf with hand-colored engraving embroidered with metallic spangles,....
- Gift of the Estate of James Hazen Hyde.
- 1960-1-87
- Map Sampler, An Outline Map of the World for Ladies Needlework and Young...
- silk.
- Gift of Helen, Jean, and Margaret Wilson.
- 1967-62-1
Its dimensions are
H x W: 79.1 × 86 cm (31 1/8 × 33 7/8 in.) Frame H x W: 88.9 x 96.5 cm (35 x 38 in.) (press mount)
It is inscribed
AAF CLOTH CHART, February 1945
Cite this object as
Escape Map, C-52 Japan and South China Seas and C-53 East China Sea; Manufactured by Army Air Forces; USA; acetate rayon; H x W: 79.1 × 86 cm (31 1/8 × 33 7/8 in.) Frame H x W: 88.9 x 96.5 cm (35 x 38 in.) (press mount); Gift of Richard N. Fried; 1992-140-1
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Tools: Extending Our Reach.
