Summary

Coat hanger was made by Bruno Bianchi during internment at Rottnest Island, Western Australia in 1940. Bruno was born on 28 October 1915 in Asola, near Mantova in Lombardy, Italy. He was working as a printer on the Italian passenger ship Remo, when he met a 19 year-old girl, Savina Bianchi. When Italy declared war against the Allies on 10 June 1940, the Remo was moored at Fremantle, the crew were all arrested on that same day and interned. Bruno was later transported to Loveday, South Australia and Murchison in Victoria where he volunteered to work as a farm labourer with an Australian family. At the end of the war, all the Italian POWs interned in Australia were to be returned to Italy. However, Bruno did not want to be repatriated and ran away. He wanted to marry Savina and settle in Australia. Through the assistance of the Gobbo family the couple remained in Australia, they married in 1946.

Physical Description

The handmade coathanger appears to have been carved out of one piece of dark coloured wood. The top has been shaped to accommodate the shoulder shape of hanging garments. The centre of the wood has been removed leaving a round brace at the bottom. Bent wire has been used to shape the hanger's hook.

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