I believe gourds and hard-shelled squashes were made into useful items by the old boys quite a lot. I have a few references, and have made several simple things and include them as part of my kit. They work as needed and have held up remarkably well.
The Pennsylvania Gazette
January 10, 1740
ON the 29th of December past, the House of William Harrison, on Passyunck Road near Philadelphia, was broke open, and the following Goods taken out, viz. ...an India Calabash that holds better than a Jill and shap'd like a Pear, tip'd with Silver and a Silver Screw with a Cork set in it for the Top;
The South Carolina Gazette
December 23, 1745
...Account of the Cultivation and Manufacture of the INDIGO”¦. After it was beat upwards of an Hour it began to grain, which was perceiv'd by the Liquor's changing its Colour and from green becoming of a blewish Cast, and also by taking up a little of the Liqour in a Calabash and holding it in the Light,
The SOUTH-CAROLINA Gazette
April 8, 1756
The CURE for the Bites of a RATTLE-SNAKE. as discovered by Sampson, a *****: For which Discovery the Province purchased his Freedom, and allows him on Annuity”¦. Said Sampson is the same ***** who used frequently to go about with Rattle-Snakes in Calabashes , and who would handle them, put them into his Pockets or Bosom, and sometimes their Heads into his Mouth, without being bitten.
THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE
August 27, 1767
Saturday last, between 2 and 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we had a severe gust of rain and hail, with lightning, when a rick of hay, of upwards of 30 tuns, on Greenwich island, was struck by it, and set on fire; which being observed by a man standing under another rick, he ran to a house and informed the people thereof, upon which one Joseph Johnston climbed up the rick, with a calabash of water, and being assisted by some others (who by that time had got a ladder) they with their hats applied the water so fast that in a short time the fire was extinguished.
Journal of Wm. Calk, on his way to Kentucky, one of the first settlers:
thursd 30th [April, 1775] --We set out again & went down to Elk gardin and there suplid our Selves With Seed Corn & irish tators then we went on a littel way I turnd my hors to drive afore me & he got scard ran away threw Down the Saddel Bags and broke three of our powder goards & Abrams beast Burst open a walet of corn & lost a good Deal & made a turrabel flustration amongst the Reast of the Horses
Notes on The Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1763 to 1783”¦” by Joseph Doddridge
The furniture for the table, for several years after the settlement of this country, consisted of a few pewter dishes, plates and spoons ; but mostly of wooden bowls, trenchers, and noggins. If these were scarce, gourds and hard shelled squashes made up the deficiency.
From Women in the Texas Revolution, Mary Sheer:
In 1831, on the San Bernard river in Texas, Noah Smithwick dined with the family of Thomas B. Bell, all "dressed in buckskin," ranged on stools around a clapboard table in a "little pole-cabin," eating from wooden platters with cane forks and their butcher and pocket knives, and drinking milk from cups of "little wild cymlings, scraped and scoured until they looked as white and clean as earthenware."
My projects, several of which have been in use for 20+ years:
http://s881.photobucket.com/user/Spence_2010/slideshow/Gourds
I’d be interested in any references anyone might have, and also any ideas for other useful gourd projects.
Spence
The Pennsylvania Gazette
January 10, 1740
ON the 29th of December past, the House of William Harrison, on Passyunck Road near Philadelphia, was broke open, and the following Goods taken out, viz. ...an India Calabash that holds better than a Jill and shap'd like a Pear, tip'd with Silver and a Silver Screw with a Cork set in it for the Top;
The South Carolina Gazette
December 23, 1745
...Account of the Cultivation and Manufacture of the INDIGO”¦. After it was beat upwards of an Hour it began to grain, which was perceiv'd by the Liquor's changing its Colour and from green becoming of a blewish Cast, and also by taking up a little of the Liqour in a Calabash and holding it in the Light,
The SOUTH-CAROLINA Gazette
April 8, 1756
The CURE for the Bites of a RATTLE-SNAKE. as discovered by Sampson, a *****: For which Discovery the Province purchased his Freedom, and allows him on Annuity”¦. Said Sampson is the same ***** who used frequently to go about with Rattle-Snakes in Calabashes , and who would handle them, put them into his Pockets or Bosom, and sometimes their Heads into his Mouth, without being bitten.
THE VIRGINIA GAZETTE
August 27, 1767
Saturday last, between 2 and 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we had a severe gust of rain and hail, with lightning, when a rick of hay, of upwards of 30 tuns, on Greenwich island, was struck by it, and set on fire; which being observed by a man standing under another rick, he ran to a house and informed the people thereof, upon which one Joseph Johnston climbed up the rick, with a calabash of water, and being assisted by some others (who by that time had got a ladder) they with their hats applied the water so fast that in a short time the fire was extinguished.
Journal of Wm. Calk, on his way to Kentucky, one of the first settlers:
thursd 30th [April, 1775] --We set out again & went down to Elk gardin and there suplid our Selves With Seed Corn & irish tators then we went on a littel way I turnd my hors to drive afore me & he got scard ran away threw Down the Saddel Bags and broke three of our powder goards & Abrams beast Burst open a walet of corn & lost a good Deal & made a turrabel flustration amongst the Reast of the Horses
Notes on The Early Settlement and Indian Wars of Western Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1763 to 1783”¦” by Joseph Doddridge
The furniture for the table, for several years after the settlement of this country, consisted of a few pewter dishes, plates and spoons ; but mostly of wooden bowls, trenchers, and noggins. If these were scarce, gourds and hard shelled squashes made up the deficiency.
From Women in the Texas Revolution, Mary Sheer:
In 1831, on the San Bernard river in Texas, Noah Smithwick dined with the family of Thomas B. Bell, all "dressed in buckskin," ranged on stools around a clapboard table in a "little pole-cabin," eating from wooden platters with cane forks and their butcher and pocket knives, and drinking milk from cups of "little wild cymlings, scraped and scoured until they looked as white and clean as earthenware."
My projects, several of which have been in use for 20+ years:
http://s881.photobucket.com/user/Spence_2010/slideshow/Gourds
I’d be interested in any references anyone might have, and also any ideas for other useful gourd projects.
Spence
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