Sunshine Slim's Embroidered Shirt

 

This embroidered shirt was worn by a country singer nick-named "Sunshine Slim Sweet" (his real name was Harley Sweet). Unfortunately, there wasn't any information about the person who made the shirt, but it appears to be hand-embroidered with multiple shades of green and red embroidery thread. It's not so much a practical garment as it is a costume of sorts. The style for country singers at the time was to wear western, cowboy style clothing. Slim wore this particular shirt with cowboy boots and a hat while he sang on the Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round country music radio show in 1945-46.

Country music is a hugely important part of the culture and history of Appalachia. Folk and country music largely originated in Appalachia. In fact, the Mid-Day Merry-Go-Round was a popular broadcast that was located in Knoxville, TN.

Held Captive

Recently our class had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee. We got to explore the grounds that contained many different artifacts and buildings collected over the years by the founder of the museum, John Rice Irwin. The museum is laid out in such a way that you actually feel as though you have traveled back in the time.

Below is a picture of the Jail Cells located beside the display barn. They were taken from the old jail located in Madisonville, TN. They date all the way back to 1874. This makes the cells 138 years old. They measure in the small size of 6ft. x 9ft. They  could house up to  four prisoners at a time. Inside were four metal bunks that would fold up during the day to give the prisoners more space, and then would fold down at night to sleep on.

If I had to go to jail today, I would feel like I am staying in a luxury cell compared to what they had to stay in many years ago. The depressing small space would make anyone want to behave.

Lyndall "Granny" Toothman textile

Display of lyndall toothman weaving skillGranny was born in a log cabin in Greenbrier County, West Virginia on May 1, 1910. She grow up in a poor home and she did not  learn to spin. She did not start spining till Teddy Roosevelt made the WPA program. Which is a program that take poor moutain peaple and teach them forgotten skills. Granny been spinning, weaving, and teaching people how to weave since than. Granny challenge herself and stated weaving strange matiral. The image show a display case she made with the picture of what animal the matiral came from. She became so good that people challenge her to wear things. For example one day during a demotration a man came up and challenge her to spin his beard and she did.

Journal 4: Metal in the Museum of Appalachia

Our feild trip to the Museum of Appalachia was a beautiful discovery of the culture of the Appalachain Mountains.  I found how a plethora of materials used today were used then and how beautiful they still appear today.  

My main focus was metal and I found many guns and rifles used this material for practical purposes and decoration.  I learned that during the time the rifles were made, the more decoration and the fancier your gun, the better off you were.  

The guns were welded, made and owned by the locals of the time period ranging from the Revolutionary War to the 20th century.  The main type of metal used was iron.  The gun's uses vary from "squirrel rifles" to "hog rifles" and everything in between.  The use of these guns also show evidence of times of war and the need of protection while living in the Appalachains.  The museum is great for exploring the past of this area. It was great to see how home-made objects can sometimes be so much better than machine made objects even through the test of time.  The use of metal during this time was not only practical, but it seemed to also be a status of wealth.  The guns of Appalachia were more of a prized possession in the area due to their neccessity.  

Journal 4: Wood at the Museum of Appalachia

On the field trip to the Museum of Appalachia, it was my mission to find how the Appalachian people used wood. Obviously, people back then knew how to work with wood and applied it to almost everything as it was a readily available resource and fairly easy to work with. Before arrival, I had decided to try and find the most interesting ways they used wood whether it was practical or not.

Appalachian Mouth Bow

The Mouth Bow is an instrument resembling qualities of the guitar and harp. The player would hold one end of the bow in their mouth and hold the other end in their hand. Using their bottom lip in combination with widening and closing their mouths and plucking the string, different pitches of sound start to resound.

Alex Stuwart, Lawrence Warwick, Eli Stooksbury, and Carlock Stooksbury are some of the very few "modern" mouth bow makers. Mouth bows are typically carved from red cedar wood and are strung with wire, most commonly taken from the door screens.   

Peach Seed Carving

  Homer Blevins of Oak Ridge has made use out of eating peaches by carving intricate images into the peach seeds. Peach seed carving isn't a craft in high demand or at all popular among the Appalachian people simply due to the amount of patience and craft it takes to poduce such an object. Never the less, peach seed carving is a prime example of how the Appalachian people use readily avaliable reasources to meet daily needs or to simply pass the time.  

Mouth Bow exhibit at the Museum of