Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Monday, October 16, 2017
1887 - A Mother's Memories of Pumpkin Seed Craft for Little People
I enjoyed reading Clarissa Potter's memories of her childhood at the end of the instructions. Being a little "maker" is the natural state of children, unfortunately parents flood them with pre-made stuff. Kids don't know better when they fall for ads. The fact kids love Legos so deeply shows their little clever souls are yearning to create their own things. Better than nothing! but not as good as poking around and finding your own building materials.
... A bag of dried pumpkin seeds holds resources of solid enjoyment for the little people who are experts in stringing buttons and beads, and can count.
The forehanded, good man of our house and fields always dries and stores away many more such seeds than he possibly can use in planting time, and he knows it, so he makes no complaint when the children have a saucer of pumpkin seeds about, of which they are making mats and baskets.
The oddest table mat I ever saw was made of a circle of paste board covered and bound with stout, bright flannel, and on the flannel were sewed scores, yes, hundreds of small, white, earthen buttons arranged in circles about the outer edge of the card board, and within in wild confusion. Next in oddness is one of pumpkin seeds, and children in the home, of both first and second childhood, enjoy making both mats.
To make a mat of pumpkin seeds, string at their points, on stout linen thread, nineteen seeds resting on their sides; draw snugly into a circle and fasten and break thread. Between each of these nineteen bases, string the points of two seeds. Again draw into a circle and tie thread. Between each of these nineteen pairs of bases string at their points three seeds; draw close and secure thread as before.
So far, mat and basket of pumpkin seeds are made alike. If the work is for a mat, continue increasing one seed to those strung at their points and placed between the bases of each succeeding circle. If you find the mat is rufiiing, getting fulness too fast, omit increasing the number of seeds strung at points for a row or more, to insure a smooth, flat mat. Finish outer row with a stout thread run through bases of pumpkin seeds, and then wind edge with a bright ribbon passed over and between the groups of seeds.
A pumpkin seed basket is made by continuing stringing seeds in triplets between bases of each preceding row till three rows are made besides the row of double seeds placed between the bases of the nineteen seeds of the first circle. This forms a flat base for basket with rounded sides.
A pretty bail is made by stringing on two wires, face to face, thirty-eight seeds; wires to run through bases and points, alternately, till a flat web is made the width of a pumpkin seed’s length. Fasten ends of bail wires to opposite edges of basket and then wind between each pair of seeds on edges of handle—the windings not to come opposite —-with narrow ‘ribbon. Finish basket with pretty ribbon knots placed over points where handle is fastened to basket.
In that bright, glad time of “when I was a little child,” we built ingenious houses and laid out: famous grounds with acorn cups and saucers, from which I think we derived more pleasure than children nowadays can from their patented, smartly painted building blocks. Acorn cups standing on their bases was our building material; the soft, warm hearth rug before the dining-room’s open fire, as near as possible to mother’s rocker, was our field of quiet enjoyment.
We grouped the acorns in a big square for the outer walls of the ground floor of our house, then filled in partition walls, leaving loop-holes for doors to our double parlors and cozy kitchen and bedrooms, with narrow walks between two long acorn rows for halls and corridors. Similar long, winding lanes led to our capacious barns and outbuilding, with cunning gateways opening into farm yards and outer fields. They were made of little cedar posts that would stand upright on their smoothly whittled bases, with lengths of tough rye straw for bars that needed continual letting down and putting up that the cattle might pass.
Watering troughs we had along every driveway and fence and wall. Flat-bottomed acorn saucers they were, filled with water. And our cattle ? Well, they were queer little blocks of cedar, with rounded heads and rumps, and four fat legs that were as uneven as the stanchions of broken-headed darning needles stuck in the floor, to which our cattle were tethered by means of a cotton thread looped round their chunky necks.
We then thought that it was the happy game, the cozy fire, the warm, bright sunshine fiecking the carpet that made the room so sunny and pleasant and our play and life so rich with happiness, but we know now, after all these long years, that it was mother’s presence, our nearness to her, and our safe trust in her for everything that made our child life so full of
comfort and sunshine. — Clarissa Potter.
Clarissa Potter wrote for magazines. She wrote about how to care for children as well as stories like this.
1890 - A Morality Tale with a Muskmelon Bag and a Happy Ending
I looked her up and found this :-) Her grandfather was the inventor of the Miller Platform Coupler and Buffer (trains).
Following the tale is an article describing how the muskmelon seed bags were made. It places the peak of melon seed bag fancy work around 1850, by my calculations.
THE MUSKMELON BAG.
It was fall. In the magnificent sitting room of the wealthy Mrs. Symes, sat Grace, her only grandchild, eighteen years of age, and very pretty. She had been embroidering a silk handkerchief, but now as she looks at the clock her work falls from her hands and she jumps up exclaiming;
"Why! It is four o'clock and grandma is not home yet. Something must be the matter. I will go and see."
Just as she is putting on her hat, her grandmother, a stately old lady with pure white hair, enters, looking very much excited.
"Grace ! Grace! come here child, I have lost my melon bag and all that money I was to take to the bank."
"Grandma, you do not mean your tin money-box?"
"Yes, yes, child. What shall I do? It was a small fortune, all the money I received for rents to-day from Johnson, $1,500, and my melon bag that your dear mother made for me a short time before she died."
"But how did you come to lose it?"
"Well, you see I don't know exactly myself, for I did not miss it until I reached the bank."
"Do you suppose some one cut it from off your arm?"
"No! I did not meet any one. The road was very muddy and I had to keep going from one side to the other to avoid the puddles and I suppose I lost it then. I have hired men to search the road and have offered a large reward for it in the papers."
A month having passed and not hearing anything of the bag and box of money, Mrs. Symes gave up the search and started with Grace, whose health was not very good, for the south to spend the winter.
It is spring now and the flowers are beginning to open and the trees have put on their leaves.
Mrs. Symes and Grace have returned from the south with renewed health. Nothing has been heard of the money and the people have ceased to talk about it.
On the road to the village, a short distance in the woods, stands a dilapidated hut. There is only one room in this building, and that contains but little furniture. An old straw mattress serves for a bed, and a soap box for a chair, on which widow Ross, careworn and sick, with her three-months' old babe in her arms sits, while her bright little boy of ten, stands with his arm around her neck, saying in a brave sweet voice: "Never mind, mother dear, I will go and earn some money and take care of baby Hope and you, for since the cruel fire killed my father and destroyed all we had, and you nearly lost your life from exposure and want, you have no one to depend on but me." He then kissed her and went out.
As the little boy, Guy Ross, by name, entered the village, his heart failed him, for he sees no chance for a boy of his tender age in that bustling place. But on he goes, wiping the tears from his eyes with his ragged coat sleeve. He wanders over all the streets without meeting a kind face, or getting any thing to do, nor even so much as a crust of bread, for he was too proud to beg and he turns his face with a heavy heart towards home. Just before he reaches the path which bears off the road to his house, he noticed a vine growing by the wayside. Guy examined it and found it to be a muskmelon vine.
"Ah!" said he, "I will take it home and when it bears melons, I can sell them in the village. But till then? Oh! the good Lord will take care of us and feed us, as papa said when he was dying."
He then began digging around the plant with his hands. Soon he struck something hard which he thought to be a rock.
"Poor little plant,'' said Guy, as he put his hand under the roots and lifted it out of the ground, "I will plant you in a better place than this, and where there are no rocks."
On looking into the hole, he saw not a rock, but a rusty tin box.
"Why! this must be somebody's tobacco box. I'll take it home and plant my vine in it"
He lifted the box out of the earth,
when lo and behold! there in the bottom of the hole was a dirty piece of blue satin, covered on one side with muskmelon seeds and rusty steel beads.
Guy, satisfying himself that there was nothing more, started home to show them to his mother.
On arriving at the house he ran in calling "Mama! mama! see what I have found!"
"Let me see it," said she wearily, taking it from him.
"Is this all you have got? Could you get no work, dear?"
"No, mama, but I ." He got no
further, for his mother who had been rubbing the rust off the box with an old rag, suddenly exclaimed: "Why, Guy, just look, this seems to be a tin bank, and here," she continued, "is a plate, with a name on it, and the box is locked. Try if you can make out the name, Guy."
"Let's see," said Guy. "S-y-m-e-s, Symes." He stood and looked at his mother and she at him. They were both so surprised. At length Mrs. Ross managed to say: "Where did you find it dear?" Then Guy told her all about it.
"Well, I do declare, I really believe it is Mrs. Symes' money that she lost. You remember the money that your father spent so much time looking for?" exclaimed Mrs. R., as Guy finished. "Oh, yes, and papa said that a large reward was offered for it in the papers."
"Yes, dear, I think this must be it. Come, let me brush off your clothes with the broom and then you go and wash your face and hands in the brook, while I wrap the box in a piece of newspaper."
Guy obeyed and soon came in again.
"There," said his mother, "now go to Mrs. Symes' house and ask for her. Tell her all you know about the box and how you came to find it, and most probably she will give you a reward."
Mrs. Ross kissed him tenderly and watched his manly little figure until it disappeared from her view.
As for Guy he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him and soon reached Mrs. Symes' house. He timidly rang the door bell, and when the butler, in livery, opened the door, he asked for Mrs. Symes. He was ushered into the hall and told to wait there a few minutes, as "my lady" is dressing. She came down soon, however, and as she saw Guy, said in a pleasant voice: "Well, my little man, did you want to see me?"
"Yes, ma'am," answered Guy, "I want to know if this is yours?"
"Why !" said the old lady, astonished, "this is my money box !" and taking a little key from her watch chain she tried it to the lock and the lid sprang open. "Well, of all the wonders," began Mrs. Symes, and then addressing Guy again, continued, "where did you get this, and how did you find it?"
So Guy told her all about finding the vine by the road-side and how, on digging it up to take home, found the box and part of the old bag."Well, you deserve a reward. Have you any relatives and what is your name?"
"My name is Guy Ross, I have a mother and baby sister. Papa was hurt in the big fire last winter and died soon after. We are very poor," he concluded, "and mama and I are nearly starved. We live in that hut on the S road.''
"Poor little thing! James! Bring some lunch right away for this honest boy, and then be sure and take a large basket of good things down to that house on the S road for Mrs. Ross. This boy will show you the way after he has had his lunch." "Now, my good boy," she said, as Guy was leaving the house, "tell your mother to come up to-morrow, I want to see her and have a talk about business." "Good night, dear kind lady," replied Guy, and then, accompanied by the butler, with a heavy basket on his arm, Guy walked rapidly home with a lighter heart than he had had since his father died.
The following Monday we find Mrs, Ross installed as housekeeper in the great mansion of Mrs. Symes, and preparations were being made to send Guy away to a boarding school at Mrs. Symes' expense.
Mrs. Symes did not take the money found in the old box, but put it in a savings bank for Guy, for as she told his mother "such a good and honest boy well deserves it."
Mrs. Symes, in thinking it over after the excitement of the finding of the bag and money, came to this conclusion: The bag must have fallen from her arm where the ground was very soft and sinking into the mud. disappeared from sight. Then, in the spring, a single melon seed that was not injured in the making of the bag, sprouted and grew there until found by Guy.
Adele R. Miller.
Mahwah, N. J., March, 1890.
[Our little authoress is only fourteen years old. We think the story remarkably good for one so young.—Ed.]
MELON SEED BAG
The old-fashioned melon seed and bead work of our great-grandmothers has been revived. This work is done with horse hair or silk and a needle. The only preparation necessary is to spread the seeds on a dish and allow them to dry.
"Poor little thing! James! Bring some lunch right away for this honest boy, and then be sure and take a large basket of good things down to that house on the S road for Mrs. Ross. This boy will show you the way after he has had his lunch." "Now, my good boy," she said, as Guy was leaving the house, "tell your mother to come up to-morrow, I want to see her and have a talk about business." "Good night, dear kind lady," replied Guy, and then, accompanied by the butler, with a heavy basket on his arm, Guy walked rapidly home with a lighter heart than he had had since his father died.
The following Monday we find Mrs, Ross installed as housekeeper in the great mansion of Mrs. Symes, and preparations were being made to send Guy away to a boarding school at Mrs. Symes' expense.
Mrs. Symes did not take the money found in the old box, but put it in a savings bank for Guy, for as she told his mother "such a good and honest boy well deserves it."
Mrs. Symes, in thinking it over after the excitement of the finding of the bag and money, came to this conclusion: The bag must have fallen from her arm where the ground was very soft and sinking into the mud. disappeared from sight. Then, in the spring, a single melon seed that was not injured in the making of the bag, sprouted and grew there until found by Guy.
Adele R. Miller.
Mahwah, N. J., March, 1890.
[Our little authoress is only fourteen years old. We think the story remarkably good for one so young.—Ed.]
The following is another melon seed article from 1893.
MELON SEED BAG
The old-fashioned melon seed and bead work of our great-grandmothers has been revived. This work is done with horse hair or silk and a needle. The only preparation necessary is to spread the seeds on a dish and allow them to dry.
Cucumber seeds are the ornament chosen for a small work bag made of a piece of satin, twelve inches long by fourteen broad. It is gathered firmly together at the bottom and has a heading nearly two inches deep at the top.
A string of twenty seeds, each separated with a steel bead, forms the foundation of the net, whose divisions extend in rays. In the second row two seeds with a steel bead in the middle are threaded between two in the first, and so on until the ninth row, two seeds are always threaded between the two of the lower row, the number of the beads being increased by one every row.
The bottom of the bag and the ends of the draw strings are finished off with tassels made of beads and seeds.
1893 - Health and Home - A Monthly Journal of Health and Domestic Economy
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
1858 - Desmanthus virgatus Seeds in Ladies Fancy Work
Appearing in the Journal of the Society of the Arts in 1858, this mention of seeds used in ladies' fine work has me looking for magazine articles with patterns and pictures. So far no luck. The original pattern guides must be out there! Winter is coming, the perfect time for searching. Until then you may like to follow up on the folio of watercolors that illustrate the plant which seeds were used in decorative crafts at that time.
It is also commonly called, says Wikipedia, "wild tantan, prostrate bundleflower, dwarf koa, desmanto, acacia courant, acacia savane, pompon blank, adormidera, brusca prieta, frijolillo, ground tamarind, guajillo, guashillo, huarangillo, langalet, petit acacia, petit cassie, petit mimosa, virgate mimosa, and slender mimosa, as well as simply desmanthus."
It is also commonly called, says Wikipedia, "wild tantan, prostrate bundleflower, dwarf koa, desmanto, acacia courant, acacia savane, pompon blank, adormidera, brusca prieta, frijolillo, ground tamarind, guajillo, guashillo, huarangillo, langalet, petit acacia, petit cassie, petit mimosa, virgate mimosa, and slender mimosa, as well as simply desmanthus."
"The small brown seeds, something like apple pips, so commonly used, when strung thickly together, for bracelets, work-bags, nets for the hair, and other ornamental work, are the produce of Desmanthus virgatus. They are frequently dyed black for effect."This illustration is from unpublished watercolors from 1883-1888. Dr. A. Stahl published, on his own, a series of volumes for Etudios sobre para la flora de Porto-Rico but the last volume was not done.
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| Fabaceae. Stahl Watercolor Number 130b, species Desmanthus virgatus @ Smithsonian Institution |
1887 - Memories, and Instructions for a Pumpkin Seed Mat
This is a charming and useful article from the American Agriculturist, Volume 36 in 1877. Since it is pumpkin season here in Connecticut I thought I had better post it! When you think of the perseverance needed to finish a mat it really becomes astounding when you know first graders were doing it as well as older girls and women.
PUMPKIN-SEED MATS.
A question comes to me, which should go to Aunt Sue, but as there is no time to send it to her and get a reply, and as the seeds are likely to be more plenty this month than later, I take the liberty of answering it myself, though out of my line.
A question comes to me, which should go to Aunt Sue, but as there is no time to send it to her and get a reply, and as the seeds are likely to be more plenty this month than later, I take the liberty of answering it myself, though out of my line.
The Doctor.
Yes, Alice B., I have "heard of pumpkin-seed mats," and what is more, of' melonseed bags.
When I was a youngster the girls and young women carried a reticule, and the old women carried a bag; they were, both the same thing, but it was thought more genteel to say reticule. These bags were of various sizes, shapes, and materials, and answered the place of pockets. No doubt your fathers and mothers can recollect what a wonderful thing their grandmother's bag was, and the many nice things that came out of it. The bags of the older persons were strong and large; those of the young girls were small, and of some fancy material, often of beads of various colors, worked into pretty figures.
At one time melon-seed bags were in fashion; these were made of the seeds of the musk-melon, and black, cut glass beads of various sizes; these were, strung on strong silk, to make an open-work net, and this was lined with silk. These bags were very pretty, and no one would guess at the material without first examining it closely.
But, about the pumpkin-seed mat. The seeds—those of squash will answer quite as well—are to be dried, then all thin, poor and small ones picked out so as to have them alike in size: if the thin film or skin of the seeds has not fallen off in drying, it should be rubbed off to leave a clear white surface.
You will need some very strong linen thread and a needle. Begin by stringing 18 seeds, passing the needle and thread through their small ends, and tie the thread securely; this will give you a rosette of seeds, standing on their edges.
Now between each two of these seeds put two other seeds, the thread passing through the large ends of the seeds in the first row, and through the small ends of the seeds in the second row. The diagram will show you how this is done.
For the third row, put three seeds between the pairs in the second row, and so continue, using four seeds for the next, and so on, until the mat is large enough. If intended for a toilet, the mat may be finished with a fringe on the edge, and a bow in the center, of any desired color. If it is to be used for a tea-pot, then it is better to be left plain, except for a bow in the middle. If strong thread is used, and the knots at each row carefully made, the mat will be much more serviceable than one would suppose.
- An older post: 1820 - 1920 - Melon Seed Reticules!... Who Knew?
- 1852 - For a list of handicrafts submitted for display that shows how popular seeds were take a look at The Book of the Exhibition: Annual Exhibition of the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Baltimore
- "...comical chickens made of pumpkin-seeds and beads will delight the little ones." I bumped into this sentence in an 1891 Xmas issue of Demorest's Family Magazine
Thursday, October 5, 2017
1889 - Seed Crafts for the Clever Child (With Notes for Modern Parents)
As a retired art teacher, I applaud any craft that gets a child using their hands, especially ones that turn "nothing" into something.
Over the years I taught I noticed children having less and less control over their hands. While in the 19th century little children (K and first grade) were using tools of all sorts, from pen knives to needles and thread, kids now manipulate pre-made things, and their understanding of how to hold and use tools, even scissors has gone way down hill. Handwriting readiness for the classroom teacher has gone the same way. If you are reading this your child probably isn't who I am talking about :-) (My notes in brown text.)
The fierce-looking snake shown in No. 6 is simply a lot of acorn cups strung together in order of size on a piece of string or line wire.
Hand drills are magic to children. Forget the electric ones for little kids. Let them revel in watching the drill turn its way down into the wood. Show them how the drill is an inclined plane wrapped around. They will get to invent some sort of clamp to hold the acorn cap still...perhaps their legos could be put to use?
I think this illustration is a bit fanciful...that tail doesn't look likely. Perhaps aiming for a fatter boa would match the acorn caps I know.
The pretty basket (No. 9) is made of melon seeds strung on stout silk or linen thread. The shape of the basket and of the handle is preserved by a frame of wire bent to the proper shape. This will form the rim and handle of the basket, and from the rim strings of melon seeds may hang.
Over the years I taught I noticed children having less and less control over their hands. While in the 19th century little children (K and first grade) were using tools of all sorts, from pen knives to needles and thread, kids now manipulate pre-made things, and their understanding of how to hold and use tools, even scissors has gone way down hill. Handwriting readiness for the classroom teacher has gone the same way. If you are reading this your child probably isn't who I am talking about :-) (My notes in brown text.)
Harper's Young People, Volume 11, Part 1 - 1889
Hand drills are magic to children. Forget the electric ones for little kids. Let them revel in watching the drill turn its way down into the wood. Show them how the drill is an inclined plane wrapped around. They will get to invent some sort of clamp to hold the acorn cap still...perhaps their legos could be put to use?
I think this illustration is a bit fanciful...that tail doesn't look likely. Perhaps aiming for a fatter boa would match the acorn caps I know.
The pretty basket (No. 9) is made of melon seeds strung on stout silk or linen thread. The shape of the basket and of the handle is preserved by a frame of wire bent to the proper shape. This will form the rim and handle of the basket, and from the rim strings of melon seeds may hang.
The manner of threading the seeds is shown in No. 10. The lining of the basket is a bag of colored China silk. It should be attached to the wire frame only, and hang loose therefrom. It is not to be expected that this fragile little basket will hold anything heavy, but hung from a gas bracket in a bedroom it will be useful as a receptacle for the burnt matches which are not wanted immediately to provide legs and arms for cork beauties.
See the original article for more 19th century projects like the little doll "cork beauties".
I do not know if this is relevant, but many seed crafts soak the seeds before sewing or piercing as the dry ones split.
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
1887 - Elder's Wife's Way to Save Seed, and Another Way
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| Herbaceous Border by Helen Allingham |
Elder's Wife seems to be a bit of a Martha Stewart.
Both of these articles were published in Popular Gardening and Fruit Growing in 1887.
On the Gathering and Care of Flower Seeds.
Many persons gather seeds for the season all on one day and that far along in the season. I commence with the first flower of spring, and keep it up all through the season.
I usually carry in my pocket a small ball of twine, and when I see an extra fine flower from which I would like seed, I tie a bit of twine around the stem, and when among my flowers I am on the lookout for the ripened seeds of such. These I gather and tie up in the corner
seeds. Fine seeds with coarse husks can easily be separated by sifting; and still others, like Scabiosa and Calendula, require no cleaning.
All seeds must be carefully cured before storing away, and even then should not be closely packed into bags. Choose a bag considerably larger than you think will be needed for the amount of seeds, label it plainly with the name of the flower, so there need be no guesswork as to its contents.
For seed bags take bleached muslin, tear off strips from 2 to 4 inches wide. With the narrowest hemmer on the sewing machine hem them on one edge; cut the 2 inch strips into 3 inch pieces, 3 into 4, and 4 into 6, sew these into bags, leaving the hem outside. Cut pieces of twine, such as druggists use, into 3 or 4 inch pieces, tie a knot in each end, sew one fast by the middle to each bag near the top, and you are ready for the seeds as they are cleaned.
To me seed gathering is one of the pleasures of floriculture; quite as delightful as any other part, and this is especially so to one who saves more than are needed for her own use, that she may be liberal to others.
Is there not in each one's circle of acquaintance some child, invalid or poor person who would be pleased to have a pretty flower bed if only they had some seeds? If so, then apportion into little paper bags, writing the name of the seeds plainly on each, and send them to such.
"A good deal of trouble" do you say? A little pleasant recreation if one enters into the spirit of it rightly.
-Elder's Wife
Saving Flower Seeds.
I think that my way is simpler than the Elder's Wife's, referred to on page 153. I save all my letter envelopes. In May I get an open chip basket (one costing 5c to 10c is good enough and big enough for any one who has only a small garden) and a bunch of old envelopes, and start a-gathering, beginning with Rock Cress, Erysimum, Crown Anemones, and other early bloomers, putting the seeds of each kind into a separate envelope, on which is marked the name with pencil, and the envelopes, as they are filled, put upright in the basket and bring them in. And every now and again, all summer, as there are seeds ready to save I gather them in the same way. And when I bring them in I remove the envelopes from the basket to a flat box—the same as I use for starting seeds in—and set the box on a dry, airy shelf secure from mice.
After the summer's gathering I clean the seeds, return them to the envelopes whence they came, the envelopes to the boxes, and the boxes to the shelves. But I never bother to put the seeds into closed bags. As they are, they are always handy, easy to get at, and open to ventilation. So long as they are dry, hard frost in winter won't hurt even tropical seeds. In cleaning seeds I use a small sieve made out of a piece of mosquito wire netting. In order to separate such wooly-coated seeds as Anemones and Globe Amaranths rub them in dry, clean sand; this will not remove the wool from the seeds but it will render it less liable to stick in bunches.
— William Falconer.
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