Welcome to all our new subscribers! I am running a limited series on the occupations of our pioneer settlers before returning to Revolutionary War soldiers and other topics. Thanks for all the compliments on this series and I hope you enjoy them! Sandi TIP #163 - GRANDPA WAS A FULLER - GRANDPA WAS A CAT WHIPPER! A fuller was the individual who cleansed woolen cloth of grease and compacted the fibers thus raising the nap. This applied to both the home weavers or the professional weavers; the wool all had to have special treatment. Many of you farmers know about threshing parties. There used to be fulling parties in the olden days. All the friends and neighbors were invited who wished to participate and the people sat in a circle. They stomped on the wool which had been saturated with soapy water. This was a lot of fun, but it really didn't do a very "professional" job. It was awfully hard on feet and floors, too! Fulling mills began operation with the oldest known one being established in 1864. To full wool, the following had to be done: The cloth was thoroughly washed in hot water and soap to get as much dirt and grease out as possible. From there it was carried to a trough called a "beating trough" with fuller's earth and was "thumped" mechanically hour upon hour. Other fullers used pestles which fell into a trough and were raised up and down by cams called tapped arms. Fuller's earth is an absorbent clay which is normally green. It did an excellent job of pulling the natural grease from the wool, but then this had to be washed out of the cloth. The cloth was then stretched while wet on tenter frames to eliminate wrinkling and to maintain its shape. When the cloth was completely dry, the fuller hung the cloth over specially designed rods and he started currying the cloth. A special tool was used for this by mounting on a handle less than a dozen dried seed pods. The pods were covered with hooked spines which raised the nap of the cloth. Trimming was sometimes necessary if the fibers were not the same length. In addition to his regular duties, fullers often side-lined as woolen cleaners for the citizenry. He used fuller's earth, ox gall and even egg-yolks to get out those tough spots. GRANDPA WAS A CAT WHIPPER! Why mean old Grandpa we might say! Not exactly. A shoemaker had many titles throughout history including being known as a cordwainer in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Then his title became "cobbler", "botchers" and other titles. A shoemaker who didn't work out of a shop, but traveled the countryside was a "cat whipper." He was not always held in the highest esteem by the citizenry over the years. It appears that he loaded up his equipment and rode by horseback from town to town, or more likely by mule. Some cat whippers who might have had a little more financial backing carried a folding bench or chaise with him thus requiring a rig of some sort to carry the equipment. It was too big to be carried in a regular saddle bag. Some put the bench in a wheelbarrow. The children and women folk loved it when the cat whipper came to town. He would set up his equipment in the people's cabins and a time of gossip normally transpired. He loved to talk and he worked slowly. He resoled shoes, and fixed up any old shoes that still had some "life in them." He replaced the shoes that were beyond repair. If someone needed shoes and had none to model after, he would be forced to whittle a pair from white pine as a mold. Both shoes were identical - there was no left and right show. The cat whippers' shoes were extremely heavy but he had a market. He would sew a sole on them with linen thread. (c) copyright 14 July 1998, Sandra K. Gorin, All rights reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Sandi Gorin - A Proud Kentucky Colonel PUBLISHING: http://members.tripod.com/~GorinS/index.html BARREN CO WEBSITE: http://ww4.choice.net/~jimphp/barrenco/ PRAYER&PRAISE: http://www.listbot.com/subscribe/prayerandpraise