The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-08-17
A LEAF FROM THE PAST.
waen a New Straw Hat Was a Novel and
Treasured Possession.


In the early part of the last century
there were fewer factories in this Il
try than now, and many things were
made by hand which to-day are the
work of machinery. This was espe.
cially true of the braid for straw hats.
Rye straw was commonly used. al
though wheat was also i'll demand. But
the rye straw had longer stems and
was more easily handled.
In driving along country roads, in
Massachusetts particularly, late in the
summer, one would see great bundles
Of the straw hanging on the fences to
dry. When the sun and wind had done
their share of the work, it was placed
in casks where sulphur was burning
until it was bleached to a pale yellow.
Then it was split into narrow widths
suitable for braiding.
The daughters Of farmers did not
have many pennies Of their own in
those days. and all were eager to earn
money by braiding straw. Every lit
tie while men would pass through the
villages, calling from house to house
and buying the straw braid. They
paid two cents a yard for it.
"District school, was in session only
six months Of the year-the rest of the
time the children helped their mothers
with the housework. When that was
done they took up their braids for
amusement and occupation. So much
a day every girl expected to do as her
daily stint" She would carry it down
by the brook or up in the apple tree
when the summer days were long; or
during the stormy hours Of winter she
would 60 with it to the old attic where
the swing hung from the cobwebbed
rafters. But all the time her fingers
must work busily, lest the men should
call for the braids and find them un-
finished.
The factories where the straw was
sewed were in the large towns. The
simplest hats were Of the braids alone.
More elaborate ones had a fancy cord,
also OF plated straw, sewed on the
edge of the braid. This straw was
made by the old ladies. Grandmothers
and ,greataunts whose eyes were too
dim to sew would take their balls of
straw with them on neighborh0od
calls. While they chatted together,
their hands would be weaving the
yellow strands in and out, fashioning
the dainty cord.
The price paid for the cord was only
half a cent a yard, but this was better
than nothing to those danes Of a by
gone generation.
A poor country girl would begin to
think of her hat from the time of
s~eed-sowing. All summer she would
watch the billowy grain. When it
was gathered and only the empty
stalks were left, she would tie them
into bundles and hang them in some
sheltered nook to dry. Bleaching, split
ting and braiding-these she did her.
self.
When the braids were finished and
sent to the factory, how impatient
she waited! Perhaps grandma contrib
uted some Of the cord she had made
last winter that the new hat might
be more beautiful. At last the hat
came home, and then what tryings on
there were before the old gilt-framed
mirror in the parlor! How lovingly
its owner handled it as she placed it
this way or that on her curly head.
Oh, a new straw hat was indeed a
thing we'll worth having in those days
of the long ago.-Adele H. Baldwin, in
ST Ninhnlas