The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-18
CIVIL WAR TIME ORNAMENTS.
Ingenuity Displayed by Prisoners in
Northern Camps.

CIVIL WAR TIME ORNAMENTS.
Ingenuity Displayed by Prisoners in
Northern Camps.
From the New York SUM
Throughout 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 senti-
ments. How why is immaterial but in
the Northern States the butternut was
accepted as a symbol of Democracy, but
ternut coiored jeans as the proper uniform
OF the rural Democratic voter and a but
ternut breastpin as the hall mark OF that
voters sweetheart.
Although it was handmade and home
made the butternut breastpin was not so
| bad artistically. In the rough it was a
section, perhaps eighth of an inch deep,
sawed from the middle of butternut, and
showing the four heartshaped interstices
for the lobes of the kernel. as we'll as the
| fine, Jagged indentations of the outer
shell. Saving it out was difficult job;
| about one nut in twenty got sawed with
out 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 ill to handle. 1t
did not fasten the voluminous collars of
the period, nor was it equal to holding
down the stiff cravats. The usual way of
wearing it was to stick it upon the bod
| ice little below the throat, well toward
the left. Popular girls often boosted
dozen of the pins, and went decked with
them as 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 hand
somer pins. 1t is a commentary On the
then prevailing 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 com.
bination they decked their womankind.
Time was so tense then, measured indeed
by heartbeats. that any sort of light and
amusing work was little short of god
send.
These Southern butternut pins had over
shadowing rivals in the black jewelry,
which came out of Northern prisons. The
II, 600 odd men who went from Fort Don
resource in carving and inlaying rings,
pins. and brooches, made from hard black
guttapercha buttons. They had only their
pocketkniveS and pocketkniyeS even were
by no means universal Buttons were not
easily come by. SO it was the part of !
wisdom to spend as much time as possible
over each one. With infinite pains and
patience. deft- fingered prisoners scraped
out rings, shaped the rings properly to
q oil cd
began inlaying them on top with bits OF
shell or bone or mother-of-pearl. The |
mother Of-peari came out of other but
tons bought from the friendly suffer.
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,
evidently nothing more than pastime work,
but some of it reached the level of artistic
handicraft and was, drawbacks considered
really wonderful. One man. working with
only two-bladed knife. and darning |
needle punch, sent to his baby. whom he |
had never seen, a locket formed of two
biggish fiat buttons. inlaid around the |
edges with points OF pearl. and with a
pearl star in the centre. The two were
ingeniously cased with a strip of tin cut |
from a sardine box and beaten into rim ]
by the wire that served as hinge. At the |
top there was n black ring cut out of a |
waistcoat button. with pearl dots inlaid |
all round. 1t worked in looped wire |
which runs through the casing tin. Inside
the locket was lined with faded red vel
vet, that had originally done duty in a
dagucrreotype case. The lining and the
inlaying were held in place with glue. !
which the locket maker had obtained by
saving the bones of his meat ration for
week and boiling them steadily for a day
and night.
The fances in earrings and brooch
es were various The cOmmonest ear
ring was half moon, shaped from
button edge. inlaid with pearl dots or
tiny stars and finished with beaten silver
wire clasp to go through the ear. Others
had q round black knob upon the silver
ear piece, with cube pendant. inlaid 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 were
big buttons, carved into delicate openwork
and underleid with bits OF gilt paper. tin
foil. or silk. Others were cut In points or
scallops around the edges or else inlaid in |
points. Still others were shaped into books
presumably Bibles, and had white cross
upon the upper side. Other smaller books
were made for watch charms or pendants
to necklaces, and not a few bore almost
monograms.
Drums, tambourines, and banjos were all
imprOvised in the camp, but the greatest
musical triumph was fiddle. The man
who made it worked with a caseknife
smuggled away from mess. earned his
wood by voluntary help to the commissary,
and made his glue by boiling bones with
a bit of sheepskin thrown in. He was six
at work before he was ready for
the strings. Though he had no patterns
other than the memory of his beloved in
strument 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 cOmmissariat horses TO fur
nish forth his bow he was easily the hap
niest man in all the camD i