Wool equals warmth

My Grandpa always said there are four things man will always need before all else. Everything else is forgotten when the time comes (this was excluding family of course.) One is shelter, Two is food, three is clothing, and four is warmth. I say it all the time at work, the poorest man in the world is the richest man if he not only owns land but can work it and use it. Land provides food, shelter and warmth, if you are smart enough to use it. Before man built home they used caves, wood has been used for fire since well fire and land provides barriers, root plants and if you can set a snare, a rabbit or squirrel. So what about clothing. Well about 8,000 years ago someone figured that out too. They caught the sheep.

Sheep, Cows, goats, and chickens were domesticated for food and clothing. Sheep, Cows, and Goats were used for their meat, milk, cheese, parchment, tallow for candles and leather. Goats and Sheep have been used for their fleeces too. It has raised empires and humbled them too. Elizabeth I established a custom of nobles kneeling of a sack of wool when they swore loyalty to the Crown to remind them that their power and position was because of the wool industry in England. Sheep were supposedly on the Santa Maria and the natives in South America, Mexico and the South Western part of the United States not only recognized its value, they used it. It arrived in Jamestown in 1609 and show up out of nowhere in 1628 in New England when Myles Standish trades a lamb for a share in a heifer. (It is assumed he brought some ewes and a ram over in 1626 when he returns from a trip to England.)

What makes it such an important fiber. Well it is water resistant, and fire resistant. If it absorbs up to 30% of its weight in water it will still feel dry to the touch. If it touches flames a flame may appear on the cloth but take the cloth off and the flame will disappear and it will smolder putting it’s self out. (If you try this do it in an open space, it smells like burnt hair). Over 100 breads of sheep providing short fibers and long fibers, and soft verses scratchy. To those allergic to wool, you aren’t actually allergic to it but rather sensitive to the coarseness of it. Think of it like your hair, it is built of protein fibers and under a microscope rather scaly looking. Now when I am getting split ends my hair itches my back. It isn’t that I am allergic to my hair but a bit more sensitive that it is getting rougher at the bottom. Some people are more sensitive to them no matter the breed while others can handle Mohair but not Romney wool.

It is durable, long lasting, good wool is resistant to water (All the oils haven’t been completely washed away), and it is renewable. Depending on the breed one to three sheep will provide enough wool for one person and will produce a whole new coat within 6 months to a year. Shearing the sheep is good for them too. So here is to sheep… Bah!

Sheep at Plimoth Plantation... Two ewes and the far ewes lambs.

Quilt on...

Did you know quilting once referred to he technique rather than the blanket? A few years ago I was asked by a woman were all the quilts were. I informed her that “my husband had quilted canvas armor but if it wasn’t with him he kept in a chest or in the loft.” She responded, “No, the quilts on your beds?” I looked at her silently thinking ‘Mam, you are about 200 years ahead of when that starts happening’ and said to her because I couldn’t say that without breaking character “You don’t quilt your bedding. That would be too difficult to re-stuff.” Referring to the mattresses. She looked frustrated at me and said “No, the blanket they should be quilted?” Frustrated myself that I couldn’t give her the answer she was looking for responded that “You don’t quilt your blankets, and they don’t sell blankets like that either, no need the wool is good enough.” She looked at me and with a straight face and told me I needed to do my research.

14+h Century doublet of Charles de Blois from Les Arts Decoratifs

Well I had and have. Quilt first appears in the 14^th century according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, and despite the definition that the app gives it was just referring to two materials stitched together and basseted together with thread. Beautiful quilts (the blanket) don’t start happening until the 1800s and don’t really take off until the 1860s. Petticoats (underdresses) in the 1700s and 1800s could be quilted for added warmth. (This is also the time in history, especially in the United States when women were wearing more cotton then wool, which is not only cooler but is also more flammable.)  Quilts are new, in relation to the word quilt but still very pretty.

A quilted petticoat 1840-1850 at the Metropolitan museum of Art.

Affect Change

I recently over heard something that I am not sure made me proud, happy or hopeful. A girl near where I was busy doing something was telling her friends someone she knew wasn’t going to vote for “him” (I am not sure who him is but loved the line despite this) because he looked frumpy. Her response was that what does it matter what he looks like as long as he can effect change. Now this pleased me to no end not only because she was younger if not my age and she saw that. Now I am not going to try to get to political in this post but more look at Presidents elect.

Did you know that since the invention of the television and presidential debates being moved on to the tv, that our Presidents have gotten taller? Did you know that even with the invention of the camera most people (especially in the rural areas) wouldn’t even know the President on the street if they walked right by him? If you look at our presidents some of them are not pretty to look at, and quite a few were obese. Since Kennedy elections were just as much about having the Presidential look as their platform. (They say dress for the job you want right.)

Presidents who were a little less then Presidential looking.

Grover Cleveland, wasn’t married when he became president. He married Francis Fulsome during his first term just after she graduated from Wells College. They also were the first to have a child born in the White House, Ruth.

Grover Clevland 22nd & 24th Presidents of the United States

William Henry Harrison was thought to be too old when he was elected so to prove them all wrong he made a three hour speech in the cold, got pneumonia and died. Shortest Presidency ever.

William Henry Harrison 9th President and not too pretty to look at

Andrew “the jacka**” Jackson is the reason the Democratic Parties symbol is a donkey. He liked the Republican insult for him so much he made the party symbol. He supposedly married his wife because “she could smoke with the best of them” and even met the French Ambassador in his bathrobe.   

Andrew Jackson 7th President of the United States

William Taft was known to be so large he couldn’t fit in the bath tub. More then one legend surrounding him has him getting stuck.

William Howard Taft 27th President of the United States

The longest serving president Franklin D. Roosevelt was crippled by polo and couldn’t stand for very long. When he was elected most didn’t know he was bound to a wheel chair even into his death. A lot of hiding and strategic moves were done to make him look well. He died in office and a law was passed limiting a President to two terms.

Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President 

Abraham Lincoln got some help with his look when a little girl wrote to him after seeing his picture in a paper and said he would look better with a beard. He took it to heart and became president. In fact he wouldn't have become President if the South hadn't been so divided between the two other candidates (Lincoln wasn't even on the ballet in many of the Southern States) and one of the other nominations hadn't been such an out spoken Abolitionist. That man later be came Lincoln's good friend in office and his Secretary of State.

Abraham Lincoln 16th President without his famous beard

George Washington was said never to smile because of his fake teeth.

George Washington 1st President of the United States.

So looks aren’t important because it is what you do with the power that determines how you stand. Some of those men were not eye candy. George Washington could have made himself King but he set the standard for what Presidents should be. Jackson was not only a war hero but put banks (briefly) in control of the government and set in motion the Federal Reserve. Grover Cleveland lost the year after his first term but they hated the new guy so much four years later he was re-elected for a second term. Roosevelt set up social security and guided us through a World War. Harrison well he did nothing but prove you shouldn’t give a speech for 3 hours in the snow. Lincoln faced America during the hardest time and paid the price for it. It isn’t the look it is how you can handle the challenges and create change. 

BABA Black Sheep.

In a recent visit with my best friend we decided to be "adults" and go to a museum . We met in Lowell at the American Textile History Museum and wondered around catching up. they were doing a special exibit on wool. In one display we came across something interesting, a mother Goose nursery book with its pages opened to "BABA Black Sheep".

Now as I remember the poem it went:

BABA Black Sheep
have you any wool
Yes Sir, Yes Sir,
three bags full
One for my master
One for the lame
One for the little boy
who lives down to lane
BABA black sheep
Have you any wool
Yes sir, Yes Sir
Three bags full.

This is What we found written instead

Bah Bah, black sheep
Have you any wool?
Yes merry have I,
Three Bags full:
One for my Master,
One for my Dame,
But none for the little boy
who cries down the lane.

Interesting., how things change.

the Ryme in question