Here’s a fun way to start the week, another “find” from the collection of the late-Professor Carey D. Miller, a much-published nutrition researcher who arrived at the University of Hawaii in 1922 and served until her mandatory retirement at age 65.

Miller had a long history with her laboratory rats, which were a valuable and necessary part of her research. She established a rat colony immediately on her arrive at UH, and later provided rats to former students taking jobs at other universities. She also collected rat figures. We have several of them, wood and brass, which were among the things my mother found in Miller’s Manoa house after her death. But these are the most unusual, recently found in a trunk my sister moved from my parents’ Kahala home.

This pair of rats in Hawaiian costumes are about 4″ tall. They were packed in a small box, away from light, and the colors and materials are amazingly well preserved. I can’t begin to guess when or by whom they were made.

As usual, you can click on the photo to see a larger version.

For more on Professor Miller, click here.