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Tools, equipment, and supplies originally created for working with materials that mask surfaces by depositing a residual film such as a paint film, or by using adhesives to attach a thin covering such as wallpaper or gold leaf to a surface. This classification includes tools, equipment, and supplies used in decorative, artistic, and protective appliactions. Excluded from this classification are tools and equipment that are used with thicker coatings, such as wood veneers or plastic laminates, and tools and equipment used for metal plating. Also excluded are tools and equipment associated with printing processes such as printing blocks and silkscreens.

Scope and Contents

Artifacts originally created to be used by individuals as clothing care tools such as glove stretchers, as personal carrying or storage gear such as wallets, or backpacks, as protective equipment such as umbrellas or goggles, as personal or physical aids such as canes or eyeglasses, or as personal smoking or drug equipment such as pipes.

Artifacts originally created to communicate a particular personal belief, opinion, achievement, status, rank, occupation, membership, office, or identity. This classification includes articles of adornment or clothing worn primarily for their symbolism; these objects may be assigned additional terms from Category 3 to ensure appropriate cross-indexing. A personal symbol differs from a ceremonial artifact in that it expresses individual ideas, not the ideas of a group, or it communicates the relationship of individuals to a group.