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Limberjacks - Limberjacks, Paddywhacks, Dancing
Jacks, or Clogging dolls are old-time mountain toys played
along with music. Children and grownups could keep the beat
to old fiddle dance tunes with the limberjack.
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Patchwork Quilting - The art of making something
from nothing. Patchwork is the stitching together of small
pieces of fabric into squares called blocks. The blocks of
patchwork were sewn together into a large bed sized square
and, with a backing material and a layer of cotton or wool
batting in between, stitched into a warm quilt. Fabric was a
scarce commodity in the early days of the United States.
Many people had to make their own fabric-washing, carding,
spinning, dyeing, and weaving threads into a cloth, or they
would reuse fabrics, or they would use pieces left over from
other sewing projects. Patchwork quilting flourished from
1775 to 1875, and a wonderful variety of designs developed,
inspired by early life and events.
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Storytelling - With no TV, no computers, no movies
or radio, the oral tradition was vital in the first one
hundred years of this country as a source of entertainment
and news. It is through storytelling that the first truly
American heroes developed. The mythical larger than life
characters and their adventures were chronicled in what was
called Tall Tales. At first the stories enlarged upon the
life and times of real folk such as Johnny Appleseed (who
was the originator of many of his own stories), Davey
Crockett, and Daniel Boone. Over time new characters
developed that had no basis in reality, yet embodied the
spirit of the different professions springing up in the new
country. Paul Bunyan was the logging "mascot", John Henry
the rail road builders', and Pecos Bill the cowboys'. Soon
the stories were written down and in some cases the Tall
Tales were created solely by writers.
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Whirligigs - Whimsical and wonderful, whirligigs
or wind toys are old fashioned carvings that were placed
outside to catch the wind and move playfully. They are a
combination of dolls and windmills. The most common form was
a single figure, however a few combine many figures and
windmills. They were made throughout the eighteen
hundreds.
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