During the 18th and 19th centuries, dairy farmers used prints and molds to decorate their butter. Each farmer used a different print that was specific to individual farms. Often, shoppers linked quality to a particular butter print. In addition, printed butter sold for more money than the unmarked alternative. Aside from brand identification, butter molds and prints afforded a creative outlet for farmers and craftsmen in the Pennsylvania farming community. Initially, prints were crafted by farmers and wood carvers on the farm. They carved the prints by hand from boards or blocks of wood. Beginning in the early 1800s, craftsmen began producing a wide variety of prints. During this period, prints were often made using a lathe. Later, the craftsman would hand carve the design. Pennsylvania German butter print patterns usually bear motifs inspired by nature, the most popular being the tulip. However, birds and farm animals often appear as well. [General information from State Museum of Pennylvania ]
Early American grave stone designs; [a pictorial presentation of the often forgotten folk art in the early graveyards of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and in Virginia]
Cover title: Grist mills of early America and today.
Original ed. c1978 by Elmer L. Smith.
Summary
"This book focuses on the small neighborhood grist mills which emerged in America and seeks to portray the role they played in the daily rural living. Our space does not permit featuring many of the remaining relics, but the attempt is to offer evidence of the significance of such enterprises as early mechanical sources of energy, as sources of community development, and the relation to industrial and technological advances." [introduction]
Contents: Lanterman's Mill Ohio/ Milling Beginnings/ Early Water Power/ The Mill Stones/ Wheels In Many Industries/ An Iron Making Village/ Modernization/ A Famous Old Working Mill/ Wind Instead of Water/ Down East Windmills/ Little Holland in Michigan/ Amish Energy/ Typical Mill History: Springwell Forge/ Osceola Mills/ Bread And Muffins/ Mountain Mills/ Mill Your Own/ Folklore and Legend/ Inland Mills/ Two Centuries of Muddy Creek Mill.
