Leslie's 18th Century Sidesaddle

First Post of the Day

Ever held something in your hands that you know is REALLY old, even centuries old? 

Participating in living history has allowed me to have that opportunity more than once. My two favorite items?

Parson John's 1726 Anglican Bible.

Frank Jarboe is a minister in real life and his living history persona reflects that - Parson John. He provides the early morning church services (18th century style) at many events, including Kalamazoo and the Feast.

Frank always lets me look at his Bible and honestly, I get the shivers knowing it has been in use for 299 years (300 next year.) 

The other is my sister's 18th century sidesaddle. And it's sitting in my dining room right now.

The horses who wore this saddle and the women who rode in it are long gone, but still there are echoes from the past that I feel when I touch or look at it. I wonder about those who used it and where it has been. More shivers.

The fixed horn is beautifully decorated

and the leather tooling is exquisite and well preserved. Look at those tiny stars!

The sewist in me also wonders about the stitching. The first known mechanical device for sewing was invented in 1755 by Charles Frederick Weisenthal, but I don't know if that was for use on leather or not. Perhaps there was a tool that punched tiny holes together and then they hand sewed it that way?

This saddle has been examined and dated to 1785 - 1795 so it's around 230 - 240 years old. 

The stirrup irons remind me of those that have been found during archeological digs at Fort Ouiatenon.

This is one that was unearthed during one of the digs on the original site.

There is more to come on the things I have for this year's Feast School Day. Stay 'tooned!

Don't forget the September Give Away!  Here are two of the keychains that you can choose from.

To enter, comment on any blog entry posted between Wednesday, September 24 and Saturday, September 27, 11:59 PM Eastern. There will be several winners this month!

Leslie's Civil War Sidesaddle

Second Post of the Day

Yesterday I pulled the two sidesaddles out of my car and, for lack of a saddle stand, set them on the backs of my dining room chairs. (Along with two riding habits.) I can see them much of the day. Whoo hoo!

I doubt Craig is as excited as me to see them, but he is too nice a guy to say anything and knows that they are only there short term. 

This is the 19th century sidesaddle, dating probably from the Civil War Era (1861 - 1865). 

A clue is that the seat is covered in the fabric that was used for carpetbags during the Civil War time period.

Take a look at this beautiful and unusual stirrup iron! 

The leather has lovely decorations, too. I don't know how that was accomplished - stamping the leather, maybe? Regardless, I love all the gentle curves.

As I did some research yesterday, I came across some George Stubbs and Thomas Gooch paintings from the 1750s and realized that I had a saddle that could be used that represented the 18th century better than the Civil War sidesaddle.

I'm still thinking about it, but I may take the Civil War sidesaddle back to Leslie and use the other one in its place.

Stay 'tooned!

And don't forget the September Give Away!

These wristlets are two of the choices for those whose names are chosen when I spin to win!

The September Give Away

It's the for the September Give Away, and this time there will be multiple winners because I have multiple items to give away!

Halloween wristlets and keychains, all made by Cambria and Titan. Check out that Highland Cow keychain!

They auditioned for a special vocal training school and were accepted, but it was with the understanding that they help pay for part of the monthly tuition. They've been walking neighbors' dogs, taking people's trash out, and more, plus they are crafting jewelry and keychains.

This grandmama and mom knows how extra curricular activities can be expensive, and I wanted to support them as they worked to earn money for their vocal school. So I bought some of their handmade jewelry and keychains to give away here.

Like usual, comment on any blog post beginning with this one and ending Saturday, September 27 at 11:59 PM Eastern time to enter. The first person drawn gets the first choice, the second gets to pick next, and so on. 

I'll do my best to post extra blog posts to give you more chances to enter.  Best of luck!

(Man, I wish I could enter my own give away! LOL)

Putting on the School Marm

I am a bit surprised at how excited I am to be participating in School Day this year. It's taking a lot of time to prepare, especially the documentation of items to be sure they were part of that time period, but that's also been part of the fun.

Currently my dining room is where I have the things I borrowed from Tim stashed. As I finish researching them, those going to the Feast will be packed up and those not will be returned.

Tim proved to be a wealth of information. I had no idea he had been interested in the time period and had things from it that I could borrow.

Like these two swords/rapiers.

They have dulled with time and have beautiful decorations.

He told me that these were actually more for military ceremonies than fighting, but when I researched them, the paintings I found had scenes of them being brandished during war.  I will continue to look for more information on them.

This cast iron tether weight was super cool! And heavy! (17.5 pounds on my scale.)

They were used to keep the horse from running off when there was nowhere to tie them. The rider would place it on the ground and the the reins would be tied to it. 

This part of a harness will be used to demonstrate what a harness looks like especially when compared to the saddles. It's not an 18th century harness piece, but it will still give the kids the general idea.

Bells!! That we now use for decor at Christmas and which I absolutely love.

In the 18th century, they were tied to animals to ensure that, if the animal was turned loose to graze, that it would be found again. (They were used on goats, cows, and sheep, too.)

These are one of my own sets of sleigh bells. Not 18th century but close enough to talk about how they were also put on harnesses to warn people of a coming carriage or wagon.

This woman uses them every year at the Feast but I've never met her - I'm too busy in my tent.

This next piece was something totally new to me - probably because my persona is more of a genteel seamstress and not one of the traders, trappers, or hunters.

This is called a "Possibles bag."

Carried by militia, frontiersmen, and hunters/trappers, possibles bags  held essential items for survival such as black powder, bullets, flint and steel, knives, jerky, and tobacco

Here is a smelting ladle used in making bullets and shot for muskets, fowling pieces, and pistols. It was used to pour the molten lead into bullet or shot molds.

Like this single ball mold.  Other molds could do multiple balls at one time.

A beautiful powder horn - a hollowed out cattle horn with a stopper on the end. Powder horns were used to hold gunpowder and keep it dry. Sometimes they were engraved with maps, names, dates, decorations, scenes, and more.

A large horseshoe with a clip and a nail still remaining.

A bearskin lap robe for riders and those in carts, wagons, and buggies. It was also used by the militias to cover up/keep dry gun powder while traveling. Farmers and indigenous people were known to sling one over a horse or mule's back and use it as a simple bareback pad.

Sadly, the hay bale hook is too modern (mid 19th century), but snaffle bits can be documented back to 1400 BC. It will be something I can let the kids touch and handle.

This smaller wheel (18 " in diameter or so) was used for goat carts and small wagons. A wagon wheel expert friend is checking to see if this one can be dated to the 18th century. If not, I'll return it to Tim. Fingers crossed.

The two sidesaddles are still in my car but I will bring them into the house this morning. I also have a dragoon blanket from my days as a rider in my high school dragoons.

You can see one in this painting of George Washington.

Belle (who will be helping me at School Day) is going to come over later today and try on riding habits and tricorns for her to wear. I've got an info sheet about all the items to give her as she will be answering questions at School Days, too.

Time is flying by!

Stay 'tooned!

Early Morning Horses

 I'm super busy this morning, so this is just a quick post.

Often when they run across horses, my kids will snap a few pictures and then send them on to me. Here are some that I got recently from Kyle. He walks in the morning and these horses are along one of his favorite walks. (It would be one of mine, too!)

It's early morning and the sun is rising behind that mountain. 

Over by the water trough a little later.

Isn't this beautiful mare friendly! And I love the grass hanging out of her mouth. Thanks for sending these to me, Kyle. What a great way to start my day!

Teamwork Makes the Feast Work

No pictures yet, (the saddles are still in my car) but yesterday I went up to Leslie's farm and borrowed her two sidesaddles for my Feast School Day presentation. Oh, my, what treasures! As soon as I get them into the house, I will take some pics and share them here. You're in for a treat!

Leslie and I make a good team with our skill sets complementing the other's so we are helping each other a lot as we both prepare our booths for the Feast. Sewing buttonholes on older machines, Janome or not, was tricky for both of us in the past.  

Using sleeve buttons doubles the number of buttonholes that must be put into a trade shirt, but my new Janome makes them easily and beautifully. 

So, I offered to do the buttonholes on the trade shirts she is making to sell at her booth.

I put in different sets of sleeve buttons for her to choose from.

That enabled me to see how they looked across several different block print fabrics.

I had been thinking the brass and metal sleeve buttons would be best, but now I think the fancier ones will work well, too. 

The only clothing that I currently make that would use sleeve buttons are trade shirts (worn by men as well as some women who hunted and trapped in the wilderness)

and chemises (also called shifts.) EVERY woman wore a chemise, so that is the bigger market for the sleeve buttons I am making.

I have found three different smaller and more delicate buttons that are working really well for the chemises.

Because they have both been involved at the Feast for decades (they actually met there) Leslie and Rick are very well known.

People flock to their tent when it is open and they rarely get a moment to sit down and catch their breath. 

Me, I have a very loyal core group of customers and get lots of drop ins, but I am not nearly as well known as they are. 

So, when Leslie asked if she could take some of my sleeve buttons to display and sell in her booth, I jumped at the chance. It will be good exposure for me and my guess is that she will sell more of them than I do in my own tent. 

Like I said, we make a good team!