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Tin Boats

Posted on 30/09/2009

Bookworm

MRS NGUYEN THI MAI’S TIN CAN SHIPS

Once upon a time tin boats were made out of scrap metal and tin cans and sold as Mid Autumn Festival toys for children. They were made in the village of Hong (Pink Village) on the To Lich River on the outskirts of Hanoi and almost all of the villagers were involved. Now the village has become part of Hanoi proper and now only two families make the boats that are in the shape of bristling war ships.

Mrs Nguyen Thi Mai and her brother have kept the tradition alive but as roads and modernity have encompassed their homes and made their positions desirable for other businesses to rent, the two remaining shipmakers are retiring. 2009 will be Mrs Mai’s last production year and her brother will probably join her in another venture soon after.

In the run up to the Mid Autumn Tet you can catch representatives of the families in Hang Ma selling them and in the surrounding streets and you can buy them in some shops – but beware of badly painted imitations.

The Bookworm has bought Mrs Mai’s boats for the past six years and has even sold them overseas as part of an art exhibition.

This year will be our last year of purchasing the boats and we will have a selection on exhibit and for sale as a tribute to a great artisan and to a vanishing craft village.

For more information on Mrs Mai and her boats and her ‘Tin Can’ village read this article (click on the image below) that the Worms published about her in the Guide in 2007.