Native Alaskan Basket and the Swastika

               The object we’re going to focus on now has an interesting history with a lot of mixed reviews. The basket, pictured to the right, is woven out of grass which is really impressive in itself. The fact that it was woven in the 1920’s and is still in such great shape is even more impressive. This basket in particular is from a Native Alaskan tribe but exploring further, one could find many similar creations from Native tribes all the way to the Southwestern U.S. 

               Putting the craftsmanship aside, let’s look at the symbol that is on the basket. It’s one that we all most likely recognize, the swastika. This symbol has taken on different meanings for millennia but today, really just one sticks out. The swastika was used by Adolf Hitler in the 1930’s and 40’s as a symbol of the Nazi Party’s dominance and now it is linked to the atrocities that group committed. There is much more to the history of the swastika symbol, however.

               It’s probable that many of you have learned what the symbol originally meant and perhaps even to whom. The swastika, meaning “good fortune” or “well-being,” symbolizes these ideas and, for many people, invokes very positive emotions and reactions. The symbol is also very old! It has been found in remains from the Bronze Age in parts of Europe, as well as ancient Persian and Indian sites. The swastika is also used in Jain and Buddhist traditions, two religions originating in East Asia. It even enjoyed a spike in popularity in the late 19^th and early 20^th century in most western countries, U.S. included. Pictured to the right is a Coca-Cola watch fob designed like the swastika. The symbol was very much normalized and still a very positive image up until it was co-opted by the Nazi Party.

               In the late 19^th century, a German archaeologists names Heinrich Schliemann found many artifacts in what is today Western Turkey that had the swastika symbol on them. He made the connection between those artifacts and similar ones with the swastika found in German pottery and proclaimed the significance of the symbol to the Germans’ Aryan ancestors. It’s important to note that the connection was helped along by German historians who were translating old Indian Sanskrit and noticed similarities between that language and German. They concluded that Germans and Indians must have a common ancestry and imagined a race of white god-like warriors that they called Aryans.

               In the 1930’s Adolf Hitler co-opted the swastika, called the Hakenkreuz, which most of us are more familiar with today as the black swastika in a white circle with a red background. The connection between the swastika and the evil committed by the Nazis was forever sealed in contemporary and material culture after that. 

               Despite the unfortunate reputation the symbol has gained since World War II, it can still be found in modern contexts, conveying the positive meaning of well-being. Jains and Buddhists still interact with the symbol on holy sites and within various traditions. The symbol is also still used in a popular design known as the Greek Key pattern (seen below). That pattern can be found on many tiles, decorative arts and textiles. 

               As I’m sure we all have experienced at some point, symbols can have significant impacts on our lives and the way we view groups and historical events. They pervade every area of life: advertisements and business logos that make us want to buy their products, the elephant and the donkey of the major political parties that annoy us, traffic signs along the road that keep us safe, and so many more. And it’s by using these symbols as a lens that we can understand societies from thousands of years ago and that future generations will understand us. Also, who knows what common symbols that we see today will change with time? What will the $ symbol mean one thousand years from now. Or, what about the American flag? For religions, it is probably really hard to imagine symbols like the crucifix or the Star of David changing significantly, but I bet that’s how people felt about the swastika. That being said, even today, those symbols mean different things and cause different emotions for different people.

 

There is always something more to the objects, words, and symbols that humans have interacted with for thousands of years. In the Farm House Museum, we love talking about these things and of course, telling stories too. The next time you want to stop in for 5 minutes or 50, feel free. We’d love to have you!

The Farm House Museum is open Monday – Friday, 12 to 4 p.m.

The Broncho Buster - Frederic Remington

               We’ve all seen the old Western films in which cowboys and vigilantes take on the Wild West. This version of the West had gun duels, bank robberies, and a really eccentric but hard-working, masculine dominated society. This image makes for great movies but what the West was actually like has been a hot-button topic among historians. I won’t try to answer the question of what the West really was because people much smarter than me have written many books on the topic. What we’re going to look at is what happened that made people believe and enjoy this idea of the lone cowboy and mountain men who charged forward in the name of Manifest Destiny!

               But first, our object!

This is The Broncho Buster a sculpture created by Frederic Remington. The copyright is from 1895 but there’s an interesting timeline for this piece that I’ll get into a few lines down. The sculpture is cast bronze from one of the originals that Remington created. Take a good look at the sculpture. Depicted is a rough and tough gentleman atop a bucking horse. Every inch of this sculpture screams rugged, from the detail to the action depicted. Look at how much detail Remington put into the muscles and mane of the horse and also the clothing and facial features of the cowboy. Remington said of The Broncho Buster, “Only those who have ridden a bronco the first time it was saddled, or have lived through a railroad accident, can form any conception of the solemnity of such experiences. Few Eastern people appreciate the sky-rocket bounds, grunts, and stiff-legged striking.” This rich detail is something you can see in all of Remington’s artwork, whether painting or sculpture.

               From the copyright date of 1895 to about 1918, there were a few different waves of copies being made of The Broncho Buster. Overall, about 160 were made while Remington was alive so those would be the most authentic and would’ve had his approval before being sold. After his death in 1909, about 300 more were made that didn’t have his touch on them and there are some differences in the quality with this batch.

               Let’s put it in context and answer our question.

               Around the turn of the century, there was a shift in the view of the American West which is when we see the lone ranger and gunfights in the middle of towns show up in pop culture. Before that, people were pretty realistic about what was actually happening in the West. The only way for the typical family to survive on the frontier was by building a community. You needed neighbors (even if they were a few miles away) to make it very long in the rough environment. Eventually, people – especially on the East coast – heard stories about the few who did venture out into the unknown like fur traders and mountain men and that’s where the image of the lone wanderer came in.

               Remington held an interesting place in this transition. Originally an East coaster himself, Remington moved around the West (Illinois, Montana, Kansas, Missouri), striking out on his own before moving back east to Brooklyn, NY to attend art school. He found that interest in the dying West was coming back which led his art to sell widely. Remington’s style was very naturalistic and always focused on the people and animals of the West. This was in contrast to other famous artists who depicted the vast, empty landscape in their works. Remington’s style became very popular with his art showing up in Harper’s Weekly and he was contracted to head Westward to produce more. Remington also wrote quite a bit and along with Owen Wister, wrote “The Evolution of the Cowpuncher,” in 1893. This novel was one of the first descriptions of the mythical cowboy in American literature and came before Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis (if you aren’t familiar with this, definitely look that up because it was instrumental in how the idea of the West and Manifest Destiny became solidified for much of the 20^th century).

               I encourage you all to stop into the Farm House Museum to take a close-up look at The Broncho Buster because it really is an amazing sculpture and the detail is worth a thousand words. This sculpture by Frederic Remington resonated so much with the American West that when the Rough Riders returned east, they presented their leader, Theodore Roosevelt with a copy. Seeing the lifelike detail and vigorous movement captured in The Broncho Buster, is worth every minute.

              

The Cider Press

               If you want a piece of early machinery that really defined the way people lived for centuries, take a look at this one. The cider press has had a special place in American history from the first day that Europeans settled here all the way into the 20^th century and even today. Pictured here is the cider press at the Farm House Museum. This particular press was manufactured by the Whitman Americus Agricultural Company, patented in July 1874. How could you not want to buy a heavy duty piece of machinery from a company with “Americus” in their name? If that doesn’t sell it for you, look at the materials it’s made from. Oak is a very durable type of wood so you know they mean business using it here. Then there’s the dark and tough cast iron that makes up the moving parts. The cider press sort of reminds me of the early Americans: they focused on function and hard work…and alcohol.

               Before I get into the history, let’s talk about how it actually works. Apples go into the opening at the top while someone is constantly turning the crank. The crank turns a wheel that has teeth and edges cast into it so it mashes up the apples into chunks smaller than a golf ball. This process continues until the mash fills up the cloth-lined barrel underneath it. At that point, the barrel is slid over, underneath the corkscrewed press. A top is placed on the apples and the wheel is turned, like tightening a screw, to slowly crush all of the juice out of the apples. The juice seeps out through the cloth, onto the bottom tray and then it pours out and people collect it in whatever container they’re using. That cider is then loaded into barrels to ferment. Here’s the link to a YouTube video of someone doing it! CLICK HERE They took the easy way out and used a motor to turn the crank.

               Since I mentioned alcohol before, I should give it the attention that is due. The cider made with a press like this in the 19^th century and earlier was not meant to just be apple cider. Hard cider (alcoholic) was the main drink for Americans since they settled here in the 16^th century. The grains and barley used for beer could not easily grow in the tough climate and soil of the east coast and the distillation process for liquor was too much work to be doing in what was considered the frontier. Apple trees were the perfect candidate and so it was common to see orchards on everyone’s farms and apple cider in every meal. (The picture to the left is from an 1880 issue of the magazine “American Agriculturist”) The average person in 1750’s Massachusetts drank over 35 gallons of cider per year, even the kids! As I’m sure you know, it’s not because people were bad alcoholics back then but water could not be trusted. The likelihood of there being some disease or bacteria in water was extremely high. Apparently, John Adams (second president) drank a tankard of cider with his breakfast every day! 

               The sharp decline of popularity for cider came in the 20^th century for two main reasons. Many German and Eastern European immigrants flooded into the country and they preferred beer. That, combined with better refrigeration technology, allowed beer and liquor to become the choice drinks. On top of that, cider did not recover as well as beer and liquor after Prohibition ended in 1933. Any orchards that survived the sudden drop in demand began cultivating sweeter apples for cooking and snacking and sweeter, non-alcoholic cider. In a way, we can thank Prohibition for the mass popularity of sweet apples, apple pie that actually tastes good, and good old apple cider. 

               Hard cider took a tumble in popularity in the first 30 years of the 20^th century: will it ever make a comeback? Yes, arguably it’s happening right now. Think of the commercials you see and how many new ciders there are popping up. It’s really strange how fads will come and go and then come back without people even intending it. It makes me think of that phrase that no one can quite figure out who said it: history doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.