Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 15, No. 2 Earl F
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Ursinus College Digital Commons @ Ursinus College Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine Pennsylvania Folklife Society Collection Winter 1966 Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 15, No. 2 Earl F. Robacker Henry Glassie Berton E. Beck Don Yoder 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.; Glassie, Henry; Beck, Berton E.; and Yoder, Don, "Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 15, No. 2" (1966). Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine. 23. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/pafolklifemag/23 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]. Covel' !Jie /u re: A DEViL rl PPEA R ANCE, Th e cover picture is all illustration by the early Pel1nsylval1 ia ('ngravel' G i lber/ f01 ' a11 almanac " lIni/lel'" of 1821, It appem'ed in thf Philadelphia publisher Conrad l ent/er's " A 17l el-ieall iseher Stadt und Land Calender," For ti, e D evil ill Pe11nsy lvan ia, see the al,ti cle " 0 lJi.eia l R eligion vers1/S Folh R eligion," EDITOR : Dr. Don Yoder D E PART M ENTA L E DITORS: WINTER 1965-66, Vol. 15, No. 2 Dr. Earl F. R obacker, Antiques Ed na Eby H eller, Cookery Olive G. Zehner, Crafts LeR oy Gensler, Design D r. J. William Frey, M usic E DITOR E\fERITes : Dr. Alfred L . Shuemaker Contents S I3SCRI PTION RATES: $4. 00 a year in the United States and Canada. Elsewhere fifty ce nts a dditio n a l fo r pos tage. Single copies $1.00. MSS A ND PHOTOGRAPHS: The Editor will be glad to consider 2 Dutch Country Burls and Bowls M S and photographs se nt with a view to publica ti on. 'Vhen unsuit EARL F. ROBACKE R able, and if accompanied by return pos tage, every care will be exer 8 The Pennsylvania Barn in the South cised toward their return, although H ENRY G L ASS IE no res ponsibility for their sa fety is ass umed. 20 Tales of the Block House PE SYLVANIA FOLKLIFE, B E RTON E . B ECK Winter 1965-G6 , Vo1.l 5, No.2, pub lished quarterl y by the Pennsyl 36 Official Religion Versus Folk Religion Yania Folklife ociety, Inc., Lan cas ter, Pennsy h 'ania. Subscriptions D ON YODE R and busin ess corres pondence : Box 1053, L ancaster, Pennsyh ania. Edi to ria l corres po nde n ce: Dr. D o n Yoder, Bennett H all Box 19, U ni \'er ity o f Pennsy h 'a nia, Philadel phia -1, P ennsy h ·a nia . Co nte nts w p yrightecl . E nlered a, second tlass malleI' a l Lancasler, I'ennsy " ·ania . Turned soap-dish believed to have come from the EjJhrata Clois ters, and an 8-inch treen IJlate. These pieces m-e of tulip poplar. chop it. And an elm bw-/! Probably the best reason that burl serving as a guide. From there on, the burl was gouged, ca n be g iv en [or taking on the forbidding job o[ hacking carved, whittled, and eventuall y smoothed until it became away a t an elm burl is the one adduced by the inveterate not only useful but also ornamental. Fancy woods have al climber of mountains: One does it because the mountain wa ys been popular in fin e cabinet-makin g, and walnut and is there. other burls, largely des troyed in the process of creating the It is generall y assumed that early colonists learned the art bowl, might have lent beauty to many a commode or lowboy, of making burl bowls [rom the Indians. Such Indian bowls after being converted to veneer. \"'hether or not the as have survived, differ from those made by the white se ttlers colonists found their bowls attractive we shall probably not principa ll y in the matter of h anell s; the Indians fini shed the know- but LOday, refinished and retired [rom heavy se rvice, bowl so th at the fingers could be slipped through the bowl many of these vesse ls are th ings o[ beauty. on either side. The colonists did not. No one knows exactl y M achine-turned bowls-and most were machine- turned by wh y, but a reasonabl e surmise is that the extra ex penditure the beginning of the 19th Century-are attractive or not, of time ca lled [or in creating handle did not seem war according LO what additional process ing took place after they ranted, in view of the fact that the bowls were often thought were releaseel [rom the lathe. Some of the earlier bowls were of merely as interim pieces, an yway. sanded and smoothed until all , or a lmost a ll , the tell-talc Determining the age of a wooden bowl is, in large mea - circular markings were destroyed . Except for the fact that ure, guesswork. Bowls took shape in a variety of ways, but they arc perfectly round, one might suppose that the be t of the fini hed product does not necessa ril y reveal beginning or them had actuall y been made by hanel. Real hand-mades, o[ intermediate or final stages in the task. Indian bowls were course, tend to be a little lopsided or off-center, and the walls reduced (rom solid chunks of wood to finished bowls by vary in thickness. There is little i[ any variation in thickness burning- red hot stones patiently appli ed until all unwanted in a machined product. surfaces and thicknesses had been purged away. As might \Vooden chopping bowls were still being lLIrned out a be expected, the wa ll s a nd bottoms of Indian bowls vary mere generati on or two ago, but these m ade no pretension somewhat in thickn ess. They are, of course, completely free to an y quality other than utility. They were turned [rom of any sign of shav ing, chipping, gouging, chiseling, or turn a ny hare! wood [ree o f knots, and no attempt was made to in g. Indian bowls now in existence were probably made elimina te the rhythmic, in cised lines created by th e lathe. during the 17th Century. j\ ccording LO how they were u ed or abused , ome of these There arc crude bowls which aClU all y might appropriately bowl, may still be fo und in actual service, while others split be termed troughs. Formed of straight-gra in ed wood, they long ago and were disca rded. Those which were used for arc mere wooden blocks which have been gouged out with butter making were particularl y vulnerable beca use of the mallet and chise l. They undo ubtedly served their purpose deleterious e ffects o f .the sa lt. Today, o[ course, the market in the domestic economy of the 1600's and poss ibly the places arc full o l brand-new wooden bowls, lovely to look at, 1700's, but they were so heavy, cumbersome, and- in most trea ted so that they will resist sa lt or acid or even alcohol, cases- so ugly that any innovation was likely to be an im and ranging in price from pence LO pounds, according to provemen t. wh eth er they are to be regarded as objects of utility or ob The early colonists had no need to use red-hot SLO nes in jects of art. the creation o( a wooden bowl, but reducing a block of Rims and ears sometimes, but not always, giv clues as to wood to a useable shell before a turning lathe was avai labl e the age o f o ld bowls. Seemingl y, most lathe- turned bowls ca ll ed for enormous patience. T he chunk of wood would had rims prominent enough that they could be gras ped and first be hacked or chopped in to a rough a ppro x imation o[ carried easily. Some o f the hand-made bowls o[ earlier times the des ired round or oval shape, th e natura l form of the a lso had rim s, but more did not. On some of those which 4 Oval bowls were prefened by housewives who sold tll eir butler by TOlls mthel than in stone cTOcks. No flapja ck-bakeT ("Quld outdo the housewife who adroitly tossed Tolls, including the en ds, in to shape in these maple containen! Th ey were usually pierced at one end to take a leal heT thong-or a heavy st1-ing- f01" hanging them up. Mortal' of majJle, with pestle tipped with fin e white stol1eWa1·e. The mug is of quassia wood, imported fTOm SW'inam and used widely along the eastem, seaboard. Watel' which stood in quassia containers became bittel- and was believed to have medicinal qualities. 5 T urned and decora ted bowls. The seven-in ch sugar- bowl at the left has a spatte1' decom tion in red and green.