The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-16
CIVIL WAR TINE ORNAMENTS.
Ingenuity Displayed by some OF the Prisoners
In the Northern Camps.


Througho the latter half Of the Civil War
several hundred thousand women in the North
and South wore brooches which were in a way
significant Of their sentiments. How or why is
immaterial. but in the Northern States the but
ternut was accepted as a symbol OF Democracy,
butternut colored jeans as the proper uniform
Of the rural Democratic voter and a butternut
breastpin rs the hallmark OF that voters sweet
heart,
Although It was handmade and homemade
the butternut breastpin was not so bad artistiCal-
~. In the roughit was a section, perhaps an eighth
of an inch deep. sawed from the middle OF n
butternul, and showing the four heartshaped
interstices fsr the .obes OF the kernel, a. well
as the fine, Jagged inden'ations OF the outer
shell. Saving it out was a difficult job: about
one nut in twenty got sawed without breaking
After the saving the kernel was picked out.
both sawed surfaces were polished with glass and
sand paper. then vanished or. better. rubbed
down with shellac, The rough edge was scraped
clean, but left in its natural darkness. After the
vanishing and rubbing down it only remained
to add a pin and catch. The butternut brooch
was i'll 10 handle. II lid not fasten the volumi-
nous collars OF the period nor vast equal TO hold
ing down the stih Cravats. The usual way OF
wearing il was TO stick II upon the bodice a little
below the throat, we'll toward the left. Popular
girls often boosted dozen of the pins. and went
decked with them az a warrior with his medals,
The fashion prevailed nightly in the Middle
West, where the butternut grows Justify. When
Kentucky and Tennessee, both debatable lands.
but in the main under Federal control took up
the fad, black walnuts were substituted for the
butternuts. and they made even handsomer
pins. IL is a commentary on the then prevail
ing state Of things that the old men made the
breastpins, which were given by lads too young
to fight to young women Of every age, The
old men lacked occupation, the lads lacked skill
In combination they deCked their womenkind.
Time was so tense then. measured indeed by
heartbeats. that any sort OF light and anus
ing work was little short of a godsend.
These southern butternut pins had over
shadowing rivas In. the black jewelry. which
came out n Northern prisons The 1900
odd men who went from Fort Donelson to Camp
Douglas found a great resource in carving
and inlaying rings, pins and brooches. made
from hard black g~uttapercha buttons. They
had only their pocketknives, and pocketknives
even were by no means universal. Buttons
were not easily come by. so it was the part Of
over each one. With infinite pains and patience,
deft-flngered prisoners sCraped out rings.
shaped the rings properly TO III some we'll
them on top with bits Of shell or bone OF mother
%of-pearl. The mother-of- pearl came out Of
other buttons bought from a friendly sutler.
Prisoners who had friends within the Federal
lines received money from them. and divided
with, their fellows whose homes were farther
south
Much of the button carving was rude, evil
IDENTIFY nothing, more than pastime work, but
craft and was. drawbacks considered, really
wonderful, One man, working with only a
two-bladed knife, and a dsrning. needle punch.
locket formed Of two biggish fat buttons.
inl9id around the edges with points q, pearl,
%lq "i nse a d~sFi 't case d w, With Sem a Strip in Of t ti0
cut from a sardine box, and beaten into rim
shape. was held together at the bottom
was a black ring cut out OF a waistcoat button,
with. pearl dots inlaid all round. II worked
In H. a I I9Iidd T fSe S ISsEei r %ss tG IISss w lhS GSssdinSS
red velvet, that had originally done duty in a
daguerreotype, case. The lining and the in
laying were held in place with glue, which the
locket maker had obtained by saving the bones
of his meat ration for a week, and boiling them
steadily for a day and night.
A favorite ring device was a double heart
inlaid between a star. and a crescent moon.
Two hands closely. clasped ran the double
brooches were various. The oommonest ear
ring was q halt, moon, shaped from a button
nnished With a beaten silver wire clasp 10 go
through the ear. Others had a round black
knob upon, the silver ear piece, with q cube
pendant, inla d with stars. moons, hands, hearts,
even heads, upon its various sides. Round
brooches were high in favor with the whole
World then, So many Of the black brooches
work and underlaid with bits Of gilt paper,
tinfoil or silk. Others were cut in points or
N'HllopN dTnllHu. Ine edges, OF else nIal0 IN
points. still others were shaped into books,
presumably Bibles. and had a white cross upon
the upper side Other smaller books Were made
for watch charms or pendants 10. necklaces.
and not n few bore almost microscopic mono
grams.
Drums. tambourines and banjos were all
imprOviSed in the camp. but the greatest mu-
steal triumph was a fiddle. The man who made
from mess, earned his wood by volunteer help
TO tbs commissary, and made his glue by boil
ing bones with n bit of sheepskin thrown
in. He was six months at work before he was
ready for, the strings. Though he had no
pattern other than the memory of his beloved
instrument at home he kept the right pro-
portions and turned out a recognizable fiddle.
When he had bought strings Of the sutler and
plundered enough hair from the tails OF COM
missariat horses TO furnish forth his bow he
was easily the happiest man in all the camp.