Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-04-23
The Fairy Bridal.
Old Times.

member there were but few machines in the
| country; before railroads were built we had
bur little commerce and few stores. Every
man was expected to have home of his own,
or rent one, and each man was expected to
know how to build cabin and make what
furniture he requ red; if he wanted Chin
ney 10 his house, he would get out the rock
to build it with. I can remember seeing
large troughS near some of the buildings,
and being informed that they were the family
tan-yards The farmer killed his beef, took
the hide and made it into leather that would
out-last half dozen pair of shoes made
from the cooked leather we get nowadays.
Those hides would remain in the tannery for
years till they were thoroughly tanned: under
the modern process the leather is cooked, not
tanned.
After the leather was finished, the same
man made all the shoes for the family ;some-
times a stray shoemaker would come along,
with his kit of tools tied up in his leather
apron and swung across his back, and want
to make shoes for Il few days; sometimes the
neighbors would hire him for while. When
we came to this country we brought boots,
shoes and other wearing apparel, enough,w we
thought, to last us three or four years: but
we soon found in this rough country, with
the rough work, that clothes and shoes did
not last as long as in the East on those old
cleared farms and in the school-room; so, as
we could not send back for new supply and
| have them come by express, as now, we had
| to do as others did-learn to make our own.
1 remember father made his own lasts, boot
| tree, and shoe bench, in fact the whole outfit,
| for his motto was: "Where there is acill
| there is ,cdy." Do you want to know how
those shoes looked? Well, the first pair
would not have taken the premium at Fair
but they were a good deal better than none;
| and after walking in the mud a few times,
you wouldn't know but that regular shoe
maker had made them. One of our neigh
bors who lived six miles away-that wasn't
far, then-needed a pair of shoes, SO he
bought some leather and made a last-shoes
| were made on one last, so you could change
every morning; the shoe you wore on your
right foot yesterday was changed to the left
| to- day-then they wore even. l happened
| into his house just as he was finishing the
second shoe, and such shoe! l just "hol-
| Tered" and laughed. Did he get mad? Not
| n bit. He said, "You needn't laugh; this is
| heap better'n the t'Other.' | said, Lets
see the other" He replied, ITS buried out
| in the lot" I said, "Let's dig it up" but he
answered, mo, sir; let her be there"
We laughed little over our own mistakes
but then practice makes perfect; we all got
so we could make very decent looking shoe,
before the necessity was removed. And SO
| it was with good many of the comforts and
| necessities of life. want to tell the young
| folks about full suit of clothes made bv a
young man, who was quite a genius in his
way. He got the idea he could make suit
| that would ,cear, and not cost him cent fol
material. In the first place, he took his gun
| and killed the deer, then dressed the skins
| nicely; next he spread each skin on a smooth
plank, and, with dye made from different
barks, striped the skins with line dipped in
the dyes. Those for the coat, vest and pants
| were made in plaids, as you see many suits
| now. That for the shirt was another pat
tern: but the browning glory of the whole
suit was his hat. He took oat straw, and
beginning with the crown, wound them
round and round with stIings-tying half
| knot at each pair Of strings; these pairs of
strings were about three inches apart. When
| he had reached the desired circumference,
he then turned down the side, and then the
| brim. He fitted covering over the whole,
with the fur side of the skin out. This he
combed one way until he had a good nap.
He cut and fitted his suit, and made it him
self-even his shirt had plated front. The
first time he appeared in it in public was at
big quarterly meeting. A few steps away,
you would think he was dressed in the height
of fashion; he was the observed of all OBJ
servers. He fairly took the shine off the
rest of us; but the best of it was that
some Of us young men followed his eX-
ample, so far as the coat and pants were con-
| cerned. The best pair of pants ever wore
were made from the skins of two old bucks I
| killed. Now. YOU may laugh, but it was good
enough then, for it was the fashion, and
don't know as the fashions were much more
to be laughed at than some of the present
time. Fashion governs the world; il makes
no difference how your apparel looks, or
what it is made of, so 'tit's the fashion,"
| At every home large or small cotton
| patch was to be seen, the women raised and
| picked the cotton and then invited the neigh
Dor women to come and help seed 1t. As
thage ware 10 cotton gins, tho seeda bad to