The bundle below resembles the reeds seen in the Old Bullard photo. Naomi J Broom Straw by Michelle Lyle, www.flickr.com   

One of my cousins in North Carolina tells methat the photo looks like one that he has of a machinethat was used to sew straw hats,bags,mats etc. Thereneeded to be a stiff form ring to stictch around and this is what the reed looking things are supposed to be.His wife emailed the photo to a natural history magazine/TVshow in hopes that she will get a definitive answer.Karen Kerr