There was a time when, upon entering a historic museum house,
my eyes would wander and I would wonder:
what is that?
what was it used for?
And, generally, I found such items to be interesting due to the fact that they were items used "in the old days." Spinning wheels, old candle sticks, furniture styles, tableware, tools, various odds & ends, and even clothing. All items I would gaze at in wonder.
Did they really wear those clothes?
What is that for?
What are the presenters doing?
Well, I'm learning...by golly, I'm learning~
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Several years ago I wrote a posting about Crafts and Trades in Early America as is done by reenactors. Today's post is a sort of "part 2" of that. I used to read about such historical daily life things when I was a young lad, and then, upon visiting places such as Greenfield Village and even Crossroads Village, I would watch the presenters bring my history books to life. Then I would visit reenactments and see even more historical crafts come to life.
Then one day a couple decades ago, I, myself, became a historic reenactor, donning the old-time clothing and even learning some of the crafts & trades as well, being a part of recreating colonial & Victorian life through historic presentation and living history.
And I watched and learned.
And I asked questions.
So now, over time, I, myself, have become what I used to dream about being - a historic presenter. And it is every bit as fun and satisfying as I hoped it to be.
More, in fact.
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| It was mentioned that Mill Race Village was looking for volunteers for Sundays during the summer months to present a period craft or trade. Since one of my favorite period things to do - and easiest to set up - is the flax process. That's what I chose, and so I found a day that was open and, well, here I am! |
Mill Race Village is a small open-air museum not too far from where I live. And, as you can see, I chose a wonderful sunny summer day to be there.
My interest in this textile art of turning flax to linen stems from my many visits to Greenfield Village. Of course I've been visiting that open air museum for literally decades now, and I rarely leave without learning something new. So it was one day, probably 2018 or '19, and I visited the Daggett House, and there was interpreter Roy processing flax. He explained each step, from the break to scutching to hackling, and then he explained how this was often the male's job in the colonial household. Since my wife spins on a spinning wheel, my interest was raised. I mean, here is something that we may do together, or perhaps another spinner if my wife was unable to for whatever reason. So, I researched this craft on my own, found it to my liking, and then from there I began a search to pick up the items/tools needed to do such a chore: flax break, scutching board, and a hackle or two. Over time I acquired what I needed, and ever since I have been processing flax as a presenter/interpreter myself!
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| Bev took a pretty good photo of me speaking with a group of visitors. Mill Race is not a closed-in park - people can stroll along the dirt road amongst a Victorian setting pretty much anytime, though it is discouraged late at night. |
And that's what I did on Sunday August 20 at Mill Race Village. I very much enjoy speaking about flax and of its importance in not only American history, but in world history. As I am constantly in a state of research, I included additional information to my presentation; something I learned earlier this year was that the Sumerians also used flax to make linen fabric. With Sumer being considered the earliest known civilization, it is said this process for making linen dates back at least to the 7th millennium BC., and that the Sumerians may have even invented the flax process, for flax is one of the earliest plants known to be used for producing textiles. But it was by the seventh millennium B.C., farmers in the fertile crescent cultivated flax, not only for its linseed oil but for its fiber, and producing cloth from vegetable matter was a tedious process, especially in those early, early days, though with time the process improved.
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| Yes, even amongst the 19th century setting, I could still pull off a colonial feel. So here I am explaining the pre-processing chore before I demonstrated. |
They learned, in those old BC days, that the flax stems had to be soaked, then vigorously pounded to release the fibers. Next the fibers were "spun" - either by rubbing them on the thigh, or by twisting them on a free-hanging spindle (drop spindle) - before being woven on a horizontal loom that was staked out on the ground. We must remember that the earliest looms date from the 5th millennium B.C., so before that time people were doing the process by hand. The finished product, however, was well worth the trouble.
And who wouldn't want a new linen shirt, waistcoat, or knee breeches?!
The Vikings certainly did, for toward the end of the first millennium:
"Turning the soil with the end of a simple metal point dragged through the dirt or with the more efficient plow, and harvesting with wood and iron sickles and scythes, (Viking) farmers grew barley, oats and rye, peas, hops, and cabbages for eating, and flax for making linen."
But I am representing the 18th century - roughly 1773 - so I explained to the visitors how we...
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| ...planted flax seeds by hand at Waterloo Cabin. |
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| And then how we harvested the matured flax three months later. |
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| After that I prepared the flax at my own home. This includes rippling (what I'm doing in this picture - pulling the seeds off), then comes retting - soaking the sheaves of flax in water, then allowing them to dry. |
Next up:
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| My flax break - a birthday gift from my children & grandchildren a few years ago (2020). How many people can say that? lol
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| The scutching board - another gift I received, though this time from my wife, and I got it as a Christmas gift in 2020.
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Once the hackling is completed, now the very softened flax is ready to be spun into linen thread:
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| Rebecca was a Master Presenter at the Daggett House, and she had learned the old ways from those presenters who came before. I think one of my proudest living history moments came from Larissa and Rebecca when they said that of all the years they'd worked at Daggett - and that's a lot of years! - this was their first time actually going from seed to spinning! |
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| The wheel was acting up so Larissa and Rebecca got it working again. |
Soon I had about a spool of linen thread, so over at Mill Race I then explained to the visitors that if you have enough thread it can then be woven into fabric on a loom, whether the family had a personal loom in their home or perhaps it was taken to the weaver's shop if one lived close enough.
Now, there was a certain amount of linen thread that remained for other uses. For instance, to use as wicking for candles:
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| Three linen wicks made from spun flax, just as would have been done in the 18th century. Yes, they were straightened (somewhat) as they were dipped into the hot wax. |
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| Candle dipping. |
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| The three of us dipped a few dozen candles on this day. It was a great experience. |
If I was representing an actual 18th century chandler (one who made candles to sell for profit), I would have loads of candle molds. Instead I am dipping for our own home - modern and reenacting - for I burn them throughout the fall and winter months.
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| Imperfect, hand-dipped, pure beeswax candles. I tried to keep the wicking as straight as I could, but, well, this is sometimes what you get when you dip the old-fashioned way. Definitely better than store-bought! And each one will last for about five or six hours! |
According to sources, the average family could go through 500 to 700 candles in one year. Now, that's the average - methinks if we were living in the Waterloo cabin, our usage would be far less...
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The light at its brightest...in 1773! By the way, the wooden candle shelf was made for me by Brian, President of Waterloo Farm Museum, and the candle holder is from 1757 - an authenticated 18th century antique! Hanging inside the cabin~ |
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Two of my own 18th century vignettes in my home.
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Since I had a goodly amount of linen thread, but nowhere near enough to have it sent to a friend of mine who has a loom (that would be so cool!), I continued my research and learned that back in the day book binders could use it to bind books together.
And I just happen to know a bookbinder!
Of course I do - - I'm a living historian!
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| Fellow living historian, Tom, prints and puts together period books, so I asked him if he would be so kind as to use the home-processed linen thread we made to bind my pamphlets, and so he did. |
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And here is how they look. I must admit, I am pretty proud of how this whole period project and experiment worked and the part that I played in it. Well, quite a few of us did our part! We can all stand proud~ |
And we're still not done!
We have what's left over - the flax that didn't make the cut (so to speak).
That's called tow, and tow was used to stuff mattresses, to stuff pillows, also as fire-starting tinder, and even to clean the inside of a barrel of a gun.
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| So, back at Mill Race Village, I had a tableful of flax, both raw and processed, as well as a candle and book to show the visitors flax uses. And there's my rippling comb to remove seeds! |
I think what I enjoy most when I present in this manner is the outcome; the expressions of surprise and even astonishment on the faces of the people when I explain all of flax's uses never ceases to make me smile. No, these visitors are not dumb - I'm sure they paid attention in school - it's just that this is the sort of history not taught in most schools, generally speaking. Not back when I went to school and not today.
In case you didn't notice, I've done the entire process - planting, harvesting, rippling, retting, breaking, scutching, hackling - while in my period 18th century clothing. And those after me did the very same; spinning and dipping and binding...every step of the flax process here was done by those who were dressed period!
You won't find that at most other places!
I have to say I am so proud of all of us who played a part!
Until next time, see you in time.
To visit the Mill Race Village website, please click HERE
To visit the Waterloo Farm and cabin website, please click HERE
To read about 18th century textiles, please click HERE
To read about our planting flax, please click HERE
To read about our harvesting and preparing flax for processing, please click HERE
To read about ancient farming, please click HERE
To read about living in the age of darkness, candles, and lanterns, please click HERE
The ancient Flax history source comes from the book "The Human Dawn" from the Time-Life 'Timeframe' collection.
The Viking flax information is from the book "Fury of the Northmen" also from the Time-Life 'Timeframe' collection (p. 14).
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