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Last updated 26/11/2023

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The Crane Envelope
 
This page attempts to record what is known about the origin and history of the origami design known as the Crane Envelope. Please contact me if you know any of this information is incorrect or if you have any other information that should be added. Thank you.

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1868 to 1912

The Crane Envelope pictured below is from a sample book of Ogasawara school origata in the collection of Shoko Aoyagi. This book is undated but probably from the Meiji period. It is identified as a wrapper for a gift of money for a new-born baby boy.

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1931

As far as I know this design first appears in 'Origami (Part 1)' by Isao Honda, which was first published in Japan in 1931.

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1961

Vol 2: Issue 1 of 'The Origamian' for Summer 1961 contains diagrams for 'Bird Carrying Letter', 'found in the Library of Congress' and a variation by Giuseppe Baggi.

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The same design appears as the 'Carrier Pigeon' in 'The Art of Origami' by Samuel Randlett, which was published by E P Dutton in New York in 1961.

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