World of Kites Museum

Who knew how interesting a museum of kites could be ?! Or that a World Kite Museum would be in Long Beach, WA.

I've flown kites over the years. Newspaper diamond shapes with tails, plastic delta winged with a ventral fin, even fabric and ribbon.

I never imagined a fabric kite 10 feet across, 20 feet long, with a tail that stretched 140 feet. 1-4-0! It had to be draped along the walls and pipes in the display room and still had a puddle of fabric on the floor when they reached the end.
It is from Malaysia

and did I mention the carved head?





















There were kites from Singapore that had to not only look pretty, and fly high and long, but they are supposed to HUM. The longer the hum the better AND in as many different tones as possible. A tall order for a construction of paper and bamboo.






















Afghani kites, a couple that fight a thousand feet above the ground and one that was pretty.











There were several more I would like to show you - my computer format is fighting me, mightily, so I may have to do several posts individually for them to make any sense

kites have been used to catch fish and bats - kites have been used for intelligence gathering, for defense (barrage), to signal for rescue, and to deliver mail between planes and ships

any some are strictly for entertainment

you may want to check your local event listings to watch for kite festivals

D.W.'s post about one of the WWII kites - a Gibson Girl, a rescue kite
Go Fly A Kite!