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Ursinus College Digital Commons @ Ursinus College Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection Spring 1966 Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 15, No. 3 Earl F. Robacker Frank Brown Don Yoder Amos Long Jr. Marion Ball Wilson See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag Part of the American Art and Architecture Commons, American Material Culture Commons, Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Cultural History Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Fiber, Textile, and Weaving Arts Commons, Folklore Commons, Genealogy Commons, German Language and Literature Commons, Historic Preservation and Conservation Commons, History of Religion Commons, Linguistics Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits oy u. Recommended Citation Robacker, Earl F.; Brown, Frank; Yoder, Don; Long, Amos Jr.; Wilson, Marion Ball; and Braun, Fritz, "Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 15, No. 3" (1966). Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine. 24. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/24 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Ursinus College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Earl F. Robacker, Frank Brown, Don Yoder, Amos Long Jr., Marion Ball Wilson, and Fritz Braun This book is available at Digital Commons @ Ursinus College: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/24 .................... ... 8,1"1'1 ... 'UlIItttt f •• .. "' ....... ~ I_ ,... t....,.f __ .. ~ UI~ ... ---. ... .....l1oo · ~·-~" ' II4 _""" ....~ IUioo .... _~""' _1 "" .. "-0 ............ _ •• "'-.... lhfr [ e ••/tr i. ri .... 'rrl.: ... ~In ... fl.aflJ. c.ta:t... , 341",. ~~eund EDITOR: Dr. D on Yoder DEPARTMENTAL EDITORS: SPRIN G 1966, Vol. 15, No. 3 D r. Earl F. R obacker, Antiques Edna E by H eller, Cookery Olive G. Zehner, Cmfts L eR oy G ensler, Design Contents Dr. J. William Frey, Music E DITOR E )' fERTTV. : Dr. Alfred L. Shue maker SUBSCRIPTION R ATES: 2 Stitching for Pretty 4. 00 a year in the United States EARL F . R OBA CKER a nd Canada. Elsewhere fifty cents a dd i t i o n a l fo r pos t a ge. Single copies $ 1.00. 10 New Light on "Mountain Mary" FRANK BROWN MSS A D P HOTOGRAP HS: The Editor will be glad to consider 16 The Newspaper and Folklife Studies MSS a nd pho tographs sent with a view to publication . 'When u nsu it­ DON YODER able, and if accompanied by return pos tage, every care will be exer­ 24 Pennsylvania Limekilns cised toward their return, although AMOS LONG, JR. no res po nsibili ty for their sa fety is ass umed. 38 Mennonite Maids PENNSYLVA NIA FOLKLIFE, MARION BALL WILSON Spring 1966. Vol. 15, N o.3, pub­ lished quarterly by the Pennsyl­ 40 The Eighteenth-Century Emigration van ia Folklife Society, Inc. , Lan· from the Palatinate: New Documentation caster, P ennsy lva nia. Subscriptions a nd business correspondence: Box FRITZ BRAUN 1053, L ancaster, Pennsylva nia. Ed i­ Tmnslated and Edited by Don Yoder to ria l corresponde n ce: Dr. Don Yoder, Ben nett Hall Box 19, Uni­ versity of Pennsy lvania, Philadel­ phia 4, P e nn sy l van ia. Con tents copyrig h teel . En tered as second class maller at Lancaster, Pen nsylvania. , .. "",,410- 1J. .. If ~-~., 0: _ .. \,$" ,> ~( ~ .. -~ 1. J• .~. .. "o • ~ • 0 . .. .. o.. eo , o 0 . ..•• ::.. ....' .. A • • T 'y jJi ca l DlIte/1 COlllltry .sallJpler mounted ill red frame witll blne/, sq u iggled d Noration . ComjJau' tll(' peacock alld the letterillg witll those in Feronica Gehman's sh ow-towel. All articles shown are from th e R obacker Collection. PhotogH/pll ), by K aras of Hartsdale Show·towel of llOrneslnlll. Note tlwt d eel', pea­ coe/,s, and tulilJS take Oil different chamcten'stics according to the n eedlework techniq1le em IJ/oyed . " Starter" piece of red stitchery 011 11llbll'ar/ted muslin. The outlines were (irst illdicated ill jJen­ cit. Tllis jJiece was don e by !lda Fellner, Strollds­ bW'g, at age 5. 2 titching for retty By EARL F. ROB ACKER A person awed at the ever-mushrooming· variety 01 fabric Fine ha ndwork and skilled needlework are not regional; used for clothing and for household need might well re,·isc ye t, as is the case with po ttery or tin or iron or pa per, indi­ his Iccling by taking a long look backward. For those who vidual regions take on individual characteristics LO the point accept fibcr-glass, nylon, alld acrila n as commonplacc or at which it is frequently po sible to say of a piece of undocu­ fam iliar terms in LOday's cconomy, the words bolting silk, mented provenance, "This is a ew England piece," or Turkish crepe, and hllck-a- bllck (later, "huckaback") in fab­ "This work was done in the Pennsy lvania Dutch Country." rics Inay be as mea ningless as the designations of jJo illt dc Samplers ,·cjJrise, double basket stitch, or baltlemem ed couching in Samplers a rc often presumed to be the first efforts of girls thc needlework of times gonc by. Yet these fabrics are o nl y starting out on the long road to accomplished needlework. three among dozens 01 "quali ty" matcrials long since Even so, a bare glance a t some of the samplers which have [orgollen. survived the stresses of a century a nd a h a lE is all that is Ccrtain ly, thc in creasing tcchnica l skill of this ce ntury, co uplcd with sciclllific advances and geared LO a planned obsolescence which ca ll s [or something new almost beforc one has h ad timc LO grow accuSLO mcd to thc old, must be accorded appropriatc res pect. At the sa mc time, even a casual sun·cy of the work donc by womcn who knew littlc of sciencc and probably ca red less leads one to the conclu­ sion that at least as much skill, ingenui ty, and cven genius were brought to bear in thc usc of needle and thread a hun­ dred years ago as is lhe case today. It seems a p ity that so much of quality sho uld be lost, in the onward march of time; ye t lhe loss is inevita ble, not because women ca re less or arc Icss skillcd but bccause the primc ingredient- endless li o urs a nd days LO devotc to the job- has long since become a cas ualty. R ed Berlin-wol·k bil·d and roses on white square. Roses resemble those on woven covel·lets of a somewhat em·lier period. Extraordinary show-towel fea turing drawn work, knitted wool thread, and colored knitted yarn on homespun. The date (1800) and the name (Bar­ bara "Bugern"- for "Bucher") are indistinct here. The deep fringe is blue and white. 3 Small pillow featuring an individual interpretation of the "spider wheel" stitch. Pillow-sham with the well-liked Dutch Country pea­ cock in b,-illiant ,·ed. The design is laid out so that there will be a minimum of knots on the revene. needed to recognize that here is the work of one who has long since pas ed the stage of being a beginner. Little girls - in Pennsylva nia, at least, and probably in most localities -started to sew b efore they went to school; that is, before they were six. Four was an appropriate age a t which to start, and three was not unheard of. Whatever the actual year, the disc ipline of learning to sit patiently was consid­ ered as important as learning to sew. Many girls achieved it; some, now matrons of mature years, maintain that they n ever did and never co uld. The "starter piece" was often a small square of white muslin or longeloth on which a compara tively uncompli­ ca ted design h ad been outlined in pencil. The chore was to go over the p encil mark with red sewing-cotton in a stitch not too difficult for young fin gers. Another kind of starter was a small patchwork quilt, very simple in design, just large enough to serve as a coverlet for a favorite doll. In either case, the desideratum was the ability to create stitches of even size without undue soiling or crumpling oE the fabric on which they appeared. Samplers in some cases a ppear to h ave stood in the same relation to young needlewomen that the " masterpiece" did to the apprentice cabinetmaker-a demonstration o E the best efforts oE one who h ad mastered through long practi ce the n ecessary steps to achievement. Often, samplers constituted Oblong rug of flannel and wool serge, folded a register of a number oE kinds oE stitches the sewer might once. The simple /lawen are individual cui-outs, presumabl y wish to use later, as well as the letters oE the appliqued to the main body of the rug. 4 alphabet (frequently only the capital letters) and the single The Show-Towel numerals. A sampler ordinarily records the name or the In the Dutch Country, a variant or refinement or develop­ initials of its maker and the date of its making. Outside of ment- it would be difficult to choose an exact term-of the Pennsylvania, doggerel rhymes were often included-and it sampler is found in the show- towel. This towel, almost might be observed that skill with the needle was frequently always of homespun, comes closer to the popular concept of more notable than accuracy in spell ing.

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