The Sidney herald., 1956-09-27
Bill Lassey
Sees Turkish
Rug Making
Bursa, Turkey
August 80, 1856

August 80, 1856
Dear Friends:
l found out a few days age
how they make those Flying
Carpets" you have all heard
about. We visited the village here
in Bursa province which makes
the finest rugs in all of Turkey.
l have wondered how they make
these magnificent carpets and ii
was very interesting to find out,
The same village is the birth
place of Celel Bayar who is now
president of Turkey. Naturally
they r quite proud. They have
marked the house where he was
born with a large placard and
intend to make a museum of it
sometime soon.
Surprisingly the best rugs are
made by young girls Is to Ia
years old. The reason is because
their fingers are very nimble and
their eyes sharper than an older
person. 1t takes about two months
to make a first quality rug and
far more patience and skill than
most people are capable of.
No two rugs r the same.
Each is made from a different
pattern and each design is Gre
ated by a former art teacher who
started the rugmaking. The viii
lage has been making these rugs
only since 1853 and can now
produce about 500 per year, each
valued at from 800 to 1000 Ira.
This is equivalent to $290-$360
at the official exchange rate. All
rugs are the same size, approxi-
mately 3h by 6h feet. 1t takes
each girl from two months to one
year to learn how. She attends a
school which is sponsored by a
large bank and is paid by the
bank for the rugs she makes while
she is at the school. After she
completes the course, she is given
a loom so that she can continue
making rugs in her own home.
The village now has about 100
None of the carpets are made
by men. They r too busy work.
ing in the fields and as / under
stand it are not nearly as good
at it as the women are. Here
is one place where the women
have it over on the men.
This village is probably one
of the most wealthy ones in
Turkey, partially because of their
rug-making but also because they
grow some of the finest eating
olives in Turkey. There is cleo
a sewage disposal system
and they have the distinction of
being the first village to have a
bank of their own. It's population
$500, which would be a good
sized town in the U. S. l am
always amazed by the popula-
ion of the towns and villages
1ere because the actual area
covered by them is comparatively
small much smaller than a
own of the same population
be in the U. S.
Most of the streets are very
narrow and the houses are built
very close together. Most of
hem are two or three stories
Ugh and often two or more gen.
,rations of one family.
Very few of the Turkish viii
ages have electricity but four
arge power dams are now under
obstruction SO it shouldn't be
cry many years before many of
hem will be bright with light
d windows. In recent years many
'illagers who can afford it have
purchased radios by battery.
his is quite something for them,
ust as it was for Americans a
years back.
During the past week, l also
listed an ancient city in which
very famous church construct
d more than 1900 years ago is
ocated. In this church our cal
ndar was changed to its present ]
0rm. In the Bible the city is |
eferred to as Nicaea.
AS we approached the town '
re could see a huge wall built
y the Romans about the time
{ Christ. It entirely surrounds