Folk Arts and Crafts

Folk Arts and Crafts Modeling:

In the great unwashed middle of the USA, often referred to as 'fly over country' by those on the East and Left coasts, live a lot of humble people who went without electric power, paved roads, indoor plumbing and other 'big city' things until after WWII and the late 1940's.  I lived there.  Nebraska, in particular, is often thought of as the home of hicks and hayseeds.  Into the 1950's there were only 10 cities with a population of over 10,000 in the state.  Even today, the third largest city is Memorial Stadium in Lincoln when the Huskers play a home football game, population, 87,000.  I only remember one hobby shop while growing up.  But, people did make things, little trinkets, whirly-jigs, bird houses, doll dresses and doll houses.  With no TV, and little to guide us we built what we saw or experienced.

Carnival Rides:

During my 8th and 9th grades I met a local shoe repair man, a simple, unread, old man.  Each year, in this town of about 750 souls, a carnival would set up on the main street for a few days and from his observance he began to build miniature rides.  He had a marry-go-round, Farris wheel, octopus, maybe more.  He built these from what he had around the shop and what he could find at the local hardware store; wire, wood, nails, cardboard, tin, etc.  While not to any particular scale they all fit together and anyone who saw it knew instantly that it was a carnival.  If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, it is a duck.

He inspired me to do my first scratch building, a marry-go-round, hanging swing, ride with 4 airplanes.  Our store basement had a dirt floor, work bench and a light bulb, all you needed for Folk Arts and Crafts building.  Tools were my fathers hammer and saw, supplies were some wood scraps, coat hangers, nails, wire, aluminum paint and toilet paper rolls.  No plans, no instructions, just imagination.  At Christmas it claimed the center of one of the front windows of the store and people stopped to look and enjoy.

Railroad Trains:
Like most boys of that time I did have an electric train, an American Flyer S scale 2 rail system, not a layout, just track and train.  During those years grown men wouldn't play with trains, but some did build them.  At Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska, there is a large scale train running around the walls, just below the ceiling.  The cars are about a foot high, maybe 3 feet long and built with the material someone found around his home or farm.  From the number of cars it must have been done over many years of cold winter nights.  While crude by today's standards, people are amazed by the detail and handiwork required to accomplish such a feat.

Automobiles: 
During high school, 1954-1957, a friend's brother built a riding, one person, model T.  It had 4 bicycle wheels, a lawnmower engine, metal body, sliding convertible top and ran.  While some made fun of him (one of the geek types), he was proud of accomplishing something no one else in town had done.  And done with the little money he earned.

Flour Sack Dresses:
During the 1930's the flour companies shipped their flour in cloth sacks printed like the cotton fabric you would buy at the store.  Thrifty housewives used these sacks to make dresses for their little girls and other needed items around the home.


Doll Houses:
My late Father-in-law, Bob Herrick, was a produce manager by trade, but enjoyed working in the garage.  After retirement they moved to Oregon where scrap wood was plentiful.   He found a travel trailer company scrap pile, collected and filed the clear wood by size and length, filling a whole wall of his garage with boxes.  From this supply he built doll houses for the grand-daughters, daughters  (see Intro to Building a Diorama) and even some for sale.  His greatest one was a three part, eleven room, Victorian, done on commission.

Conclusion:
The collective thing for all these is that they used material found, not bought.  A make-do attitude of self reliance born out of hard times.  A lot of the joy of building these Folk Crafts was more in the doing than in the finished product.  They weren't built to be sold, but to be built, maybe given away, maybe just kept.