Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1901-01-31
CARVING BUTTERNUT PINS.

CARVING BUTTERNUT PINS.
nished 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 to handle. 1t did not fasten the
voluminous collars of the period, nor
was it equal to holding down the stiff
crayats. The usual way of wearing
it was to stick it upon the bodice a
little below the throat, well toward
the left. Popular girls often boosted
a dozen of the pins, and went decked
with them as a warrior with his med
ais.
The fashion prevailed nightly in
the middle west, where the butter
nut grows Justify. When Kentucky
and Tennessee, both debatable lands,
but in the main under federal con-
troll took up the fad, black walnuts
were substituted for the butternuts,
and they made even handsomer pins.
1t is a commentary on the then pre-
vaiIing 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 ard
amusing work was little short of a
godsend.
These southern butternut pins had
overshadowing rivals in the black
iewelry, which came out of northern
prisons. The 10000 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 gut
tapercha 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 wisdom. to spend
as much time as possible over each.
one. With infinite pains and patience
deft-fngered prisoners scraped out
rings, shaped the rings properly TO
fit some well-remembered finger and
then began inlaying them on top
with bits of shell or bone or 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 re-
ceived 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 a two-bladed knife, and darn
ing needle punch, sent 20 his baby,
whom he had never seen, locket
formed of two biggish fiat buttons
inlaid around the edges with points
of pearl, and with a pearl star in the
center. The two were ingeniously
cased with a strip OF tin cut from a
sardine box and beaten into rim
shape. 1t was held together at the
bottom by the wire that served as
hinge. At top there was black
ring cut out of a waistcoat button,
with pearl dots inlaid all round. II
worked in a looped wire which ran
through the casing tin. Inside the
locket was lined with faded red vel
vet. that had originally done duty in
a daguerreotype case. The lining and
the inlaying were held in place with
clue. which the locket maker had OBJ
tanned by saving the bones of his
meat ration for a week, and boiling
them steadily for day and night
A favorite ring device was double
heart inlaid between a star and
crescent moon. Two hands closely
clasped ran the double heart hard.
The fancies in earrings and brooches
were various. The commonest ear
ring was a half moon, shaped from
n button edge, inlaid with pearl dots
or tiny stars and finished with a
beaten silver wire clasp to go through
the ear. Others had a round black
knob upon the silver ear piece, with
O cube pendant, inlaid with stars,
moons, hands, hearts, even heads,
upon it's 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 UNI
derlafd with bits of gilt paper tim
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 a white cross upon the upper
side. Other smaller books were made
for watch charms or pendants to
necklaces, and not a few bore almost
microscopic monographs.
Drums, tambourines and banJoes
were all improvised in the camp. but