July in Nebraska

Traveling the fair circuit. I spent this July traveling to the Mid-West. Early July, I flew into Omaha Nebraska. Roger was demonstrating his bowl turning at the Madison County Fair. A nice little fair in the middle of corn fields. The weather was in the high 90s for 6 days of sun.

I sent some pots on ahead, and cut down one of my paddle loom boards to fit into my suitcase. I had to fit 6 mugs and steins, the loom, yarns, notebooks, and some clothes into my two bags. This time, I had to stop at the airport security so they could take out my Oil of Olay bottle. It was 6 oz. Too big. But the nice gentleman said he would scan it, although he doesn't usually do that, and gave me back my Olay. This time, my plane got sent to Minneapolis for the first stop. Which got me debating with others about planning my next trip to Minneapolis. By booking a flight to Omaha by way of Minneapolis, and getting off at the half way point, would now turn into a direct flight and save me having to sit in Philadelphia or Chicago for a couple of hours. The only problem with this is the baggage. What if they had to take my roll on case and send it to Omaha. How much would I have to pay to get it back to Minneapolis? Well, it's something to think about.

I got to Omaha on a commuter plane. A little tight, but a short flight. In Omaha, I had booked a bus that would take me the two hours to the Madison County Fairgrounds. The bus turned out to be a shuttle, which I missed, they had to come back for me and I finally rolled into the tiny town of Madison, population just over 2,000. Corn and soybeans, cowboys, cowgirls, cowkids....all very nice and friendly people.

The corn crop looked dry. I wove on my tape loom to pass the time and met some locals who were interested in weaving too.

This bug on Rogers tent ropes and this corn field, and the beer garden were the only photos I took while there.

Roger and I got invited to a Nebraska corn farmers couch burning party at 3 am one morning. The farmers had 1,400 acres of corn, some was being watered but the whole mid west was dry this summer.

The couch burning started a few years ago and now this once a year event has grown and friends and family come for weiners cooked on a pitchfork, beer and other tidbits while sitting around a huge bonfire on old couches and chairs. After everyone had their fill of weiners, someone put a mattress on the fire and then a couch. The flames shot up into the early morning sky. People backed away from the heat. The couch went up so fast... do not smoke and fall asleep on your couch. WARNING:  Do not try this at home. Folks seem to like to watch things burn, but the fumes were not so good and we left around 4 am smelling of burning fibers and smoke.

We saw some great bull riding, horse shows and met a lot of nice folks. Seems one of this fairs best events is line dancing and the beer garden. Next to each other and about 100 feet from our camper till 1 am.  Crowds of teenagers were great to watch dancing and having a good time to very loud music. They enlarged the beer gardens this year. The enclosed, underage enforced area of just beer, could hold about 2000 folks.

All in all a very nice fair that I would recomend... did I mention the fair admission was FREE?

Dressing a potter from 1820 in New England...

Dressing up a New England potter from 1820 ...
No, I am not a Princess....

This is a real problem. I have found wonderful web sites on fashion of this time period. Late "Regency"? Found some wonderful blogs about dressing in America in Pilgrim days, Colonial times, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian and 1900's dress to. But all these are the fashionable, "I want to be a princess and go to balls" fashion.

What about the peasants? What about the shop keepers, the tradesmen and the working class? One problem is that there were no photographs in the early 1800's. If there were, how many people would get photographed in their street clothes? The really poor would not be photographed at all. So this leaves the painters and illustrators of the day.

Another problem is that the poor didn't pack away their clothes in trunks to be cherished and passed down to future generations. They were worn, worn out, cut down for children and then used for rags before completely rotting on the compost pile. How many people today keep their old underwear? Occasionally pajamas or slips get saved and packed away.

My mother in law was a historian at a local towns' historical society. She was a saver and collector. She saved many old clothes from her mother and grandmothers side and packed them neatly in the attic for us to cherish. These include camisoles, pantaloons, socks, children's garments, children's shoes, many wool and cotton slips, aprons, bonnets, purses and a few Victorian and flapper dresses. The oldest, however, looks to be Victorian, perhaps back to the 1880's.


To the left is an old flannel slip with red wool hand embroidery.


The tucks, hand stitching, knitted trims, banding and buttons are wonderful to look at and a good source for special features to be added to reproductions. But the are still to late for the time period I am looking for.



So what would a potter in 1820 Connecticut be wearing? When not getting muddy and dirty with the pottery work, she would be slopping hogs, butchering chickens, cooking, washing theses clothes with inferior detergents, scrubbing and mucking stalls. I can see myself dressing up in my one nice dress for Sunday church, coming home to make dinner for my 13 children and husband and maybe a neighbor or two, and some work hands. After washing dishes and pots, I would sit down with my knitting needles or needle and thread and work on mittens, a quilt or a new slip for one of my girls like the above.

I have heard one might have two dresses one to wash and one to wear while the other was being washed. Lucky girls had a third dress saved for Sunday. Washing you and your clothes might happen once a week, so you would be rather yucky most of the time. But so was the rest of your family, so you probably didn't notice it.

And then there were shoes. Shoes were leather top and bottom and had wood pegs to hold the soles on. I use new lace up shoes I find at thrift stores, but they have synthetic soles and polyester lining. What I need is a good pair of reproduction shoes. However, the ones available through reenactor sites are Colonial Williamsburg, too early or Regency, too fancy. I need a sturdy, thick leather shoe with no high heel. I am thinking of making a pair of moccasins. This would prompt discussions with my audience at fairs. Of course in 1820 there were a few surviving Native Americans in Connecticut.. or maybe upper New York, who would trade some of my down pillows for a good pair of work shoes.

See my new blog... Peasant Fashions of New England,  and subscribe!

Two new Kittties for us!

Our two new kitties, Tessa and Tasha, sisters, alike but different.

New face jugs and Dave the slave...

Occassionally I make some face jugs. Most potters at one time or another, are tempted to put a face on a pot. What better background? Pots are round and begging to be tampered with. These are some of my face jugs from last year...

In my travels to South Carolina State Fair, I met lots of folks who knew about Dave the Slave who did pottery one hundreds years ago in their area.

The most interesting thing I think is that Dave signed many of his pots. He also inscribed verses into his pots. So many early potters made a pot and sold it as a common useful item and today we are left wondering who made these wonderful images and the stories behind them.

All crafts are expressions of something the person has inside and has to get out in one form or another. Over the years we refine our style and designs. My new face jugs have smaller features and simplified details. The jug with the bloody nose was a result of being on the same table when I glazed my red birds. I didn't notice it till I opened the kiln and lifted him out, (they take on personalities). My first impression was "Oh no!" But the more I have him around the more I like him and want to keep him.   If I try to recreate some bloody noses, will they come out the same or is this accident a one-of-a-kind creations?

Dave – A Literate Slave

Dave goes by many names including "Dave the Potter," "Dave the Slave," Dave Drake, and simply Dave. There is considerable mystery surrounding this Edgefield artist, but thanks to the former slave's unique ability to read and write, we've been left with an amazing autobiography, scrawled on the shoulders and sides of his remaining jugs and vessels.

Dave was born around 1801, presumably to South Carolina plantation-owner Harry Drake. Drake is thought to have been staunchly religious and may have taught several of his slaves to read and write in order that they might continue to benefit from the teachings in the Bible. Helping a slave learn to read was heavily frowned upon, as common thought concluded that it would lead to free will and possible revolt. A series of laws were passed prohibiting owners from educating slaves, and in 1740 it became illegal to teach a slave to write, although reading was not specifically outlawed.

Dave may have had as many as five owners throughout his life as a slave. Following the death of Harry Drake in 1832, Dave became the property of Dr. Abner Landrum. Dave's literacy by way of Drake was not the only thing that made him unique. Evidence suggests that Dave may have lost a leg as a young man – the result of a train accident. This made him unfit for field labor but well suited to a type of work that required sitting.


Dr. Landrum owned a small pottery yard inhabited by about 15 slave-families. Known in early years as Landrumsville, and in later years as Pottersville, the stoneware produced there was of great quality and beauty. For use in plantation homes, it outshone its predecessor – earthenware pottery – as it was impervious to water and much stronger overall.
http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/edgefield-county/old-edgefield-pottery.html

And, Daves verses...
http://www.davetheslave.org/VersesonVesselsmadebyDavetheSlave.htm

Stories are behind the pots we make.

working with Bob the Sculptor

Today I went to Bob Raymonds to help him hone his computer skills!

http://www.annsartcenter.com/

Roger comes to New England.

Roger came for a visit after Dollywood.  Roger is from Minnesota. We went off to see our New England Roots in Plimoth Massachusetts.

It was a cold and bleak day the beginning of November.

Very few tourists. So after visiting with the potters shop

for me and the wood joiner for Roger, we went down into the village to talk to the locals.

It is fun to talk to and listen to the people from 1627. The reenactors there are in first person, so you cannot get them to break out of their roles. This is fun and yet frustrating if you want to know something about what they are doing, you may not get an answer you will understand. 

We got over to the Mayflower just before closing to get a tour above and below decks. Roger is decended from Thomas Rogers I believe who was on the original Mayflower.  His family wandered out west to Minnesota, and mine from Boston, stayed here in New England.

We saw the big trees in Connectciut. Cathedral in the Pines was an old strip of forest in Cornwall CT not too far from me. Most people don't realize our old trees were all torn down for firewood and houses. The "old" trees you see are a mere hundred year old or so. The Pines in Cornwall are only 200 years old but some stand 140' tall.  In 1989, a rare tornado blew through and took down most of the tall pines. Before the Plimoth settlers, most of our land was primeval forests. Think of it, dense forests of trees as large as these last two really old trees still standing in Connecticut, Granby Oak and Pinchot Sycamore in Simsbury. While the Pinchot Sycamore is the biggest at 300+ years, the Granby Oak is older by 100 years.

Cathedral in the Pines

Pinchot Sycamore

Granby Oak

But then, read about the oldest tree found in Sweden... http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416104320.htm

Off to Dollywood, Tennessee!

My first year demonstrating at Dollywood!  Some of my good friends got me in at the last minute to Dollywoods Harvest

 Month.  For years, the month of October has been the month to celebrate tradesmen and women and their crafts.  My good friends Roger, John, AK, Cindie, Bob and Nick have been down there every October for years.  They put me up in a cabin with Rosie the weaver as my room mate for the month. A really nice place to stay. With my friends nearby to share good times on our off hours, and the nice folks and immaculate grounds of Dollywood, I had a very nice time.

No, I did not meet Dolly, although I heard she had stopped by the week before.  I had my own "workshop" in the park, and a new friend Donna, a Dollywood employee, helped me out with my booth and I taught her how to pot.  I met some new tradesmen that I now keep in touch with, expanding my large circle of friends. Besides Rosie, I met painters,

dulcimer makers, fiddler makers, wood carvers, rug hookers, chair caners and a lot of other old time and expert tradespeople.

We all had lots of time off. Besides the many wild roller coasters ( I only went on one that scared me to death), the great places to eat, and the interesting Gospel shows and music, we were free to explore Pigeon Forge, Smokey Mountain National Park, and the surrounding country side and its' people.

Alwine pottery where I met the owner and got a behind the scenes tour, http://www.alewinepottery.net/

The strip that runs through Pigeon Forge TN, is a cross between a theme park and Las Vegas. Mini golf, hair raising rides, theme restaurants and exhibits, the Titanic, gift shops, breweries, outlets and the Dixie Stampede.... just among a few of dozens of things to see and do.

We stuck to the out of the way eateries, the Smokies, antique and fellow craftsmen.

Cades Cove in the Smokies was a favorite, but there are too many photos of friends having fun.

It is a wonderful life!