Trip to the Museum of Appalachia

Our trip to the Museum of Appalachia was very entertaining.  I loved how the area was very big and there were so many things to discover there.  I loved the home-like atmosphere.  Some of the many highlights in my opinion though include the wall of verious instruments (some that I had never even heard of or seen before), the old-time feeling, the small houses furnished with things that would most likely be seen at a house from that time period, and of course, the animals roaming around the large fields.

It was difficult to focus on one of the person's work in general because there were so many different arts and crafts to pick from.  However, Dollie Hoskin's work stood out to me.  She was a basket waever from the Appalachian area who was born in 1922.  Below is a picture of Hoskins with a basket that she wove.

Hoskin's remembers working on baskets from an early age, especially in the 1930's when she began to really love basket weaving both as a hobby and as a job.  She stated that she weaved with her family and friends in her spare time.  Baskets would be sized small, medium, or large, depending on what was going to be the use of the basket.  In those days, tuberware, grocery bags, or other types of bags were not made, so the only solution to holding anything was a basket.  This made Hoskin's hobby and job an important one.  She remembers her baskets being used every day, whether it was to store other craft materials, hold food for dinner, or simply to sell for other items.  She says that she would frequently go to the store with her baskets and trade them for food or other neccesities that were available to her for her work.

In earlier times, the baskets included a cotton or wool lining in it, but what made Hoskin's baskets different were that they were made out of corn husks.  This way, she could make a sturdier basket that could hold more goods.  Some examples of corn husk baskets are shown below.

The corn husk baskets are unique to Appalachia because this is likely where they were first made.  Corn is frequently grown in the Appalachian area and the people there were very sufficient in using the resources without wasting many things.  Besides corn being a good vegetable to eat, the husks were also good for making things such as the baskets.

More information can be found here about Dollie Hoskins:

http://www.museumofappalachia.org/Basket_Collection.html