The golden age of homespun / Jared van Van Wagenen, Jr. ; illustrations by Erwin H. Austin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

van Van Wagenen, Jared, Jr., author.

Contributor:

Austin, Erwin H., illustrator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agriculture--New York (State)--History.

Agriculture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (301 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca ; London : Fall Creek Books, an imprint of Cornell University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

"You have seen neglected oxbows, but what do you know of their making or of the training of a yoke of oxen?... What do you know of the rambling shoemakers who came to a farmhouse and stayed until each member of the family was newly shod with leather from the farm's cattle? Have you ever wondered about the processes by which our frontiersmen translated forest land into fields of wheat? What do you know about those two first crops of the pioneers, ashes and maple sugar? What do you know of log houses, of shingle making, bridges, and flax growing, of spinning and weaving cloth for a garment that was homegrown and homemade? Here is folk history, the accumulated memory of old men and women whom the author knew,... memories he has substantiated by a lifetime of research."-from the Foreword by Louis C. JonesThe Golden Age of Homespun chronicles the occupations, handicrafts, and traditions that defined rural life in upstate New York-and throughout much of America-in the first half of the nineteenth century. First published in 1953, it is an engaging and affectionate account of how land was cleared, farms established, and homes built; of how each family fed, clothed, and warmed itself; and of the trades, crafts, and industries that augmented a primarily agrarian economy. Illustrated with 45 delightful line drawings that depict the activities and implements described by Jared van Wagenen, Jr., The Golden Age of Homespun is an invaluable record of how upstate New York farmers lived on and off the land in the decades before the Civil War-a vanished way of life that still holds strong appeal in the American imagination.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Foreword / Jones, Louis C.

Preface

Contents

Illustrations

I. The Homespun Age

II. The Setting of the Stage

III. The Pioneer Goes Forward

IV. The Clearing of the Land

V. The Glorious Ox Team

VI. The Log Home in the Clearing

VII. The Story of a Farm

VIII. What Crops Did the Pioneer Grow?

IX. The Crops of the Homespun Age

X. Meadows and Pastures in Bygone Days

XI. Living off the Wilderness

XII. The Wooden Age

XIII. Joiners and Cabinetmakers

XIV. The Old Millstream

XV. Shingle Shaving and Other Handicrafts in Wood

XVI. Wooden Age Occupations

XVII. The Sad Story of Silk Production and the Success of Tanning

XVIII. Workers in Leather

XIX. Some Minor Crafts

XX. The Farm Implements of the Homespun Age

XXI. The Ways by Which Our Fathers Threshed

XXII. The Household Handicrafts

XXIII. The Golden Fleece

Postscript

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Reprint. Originally published: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, [1953].

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-5017-1723-5

OCLC:

1082875694