The Log Cabin Living: Artifacts from 19th Century Life exhibit at Job Carr Cabin Museum encourages visitors to take a closer look at more than 20 objects in the museum's collection.
Standing inside Job Carr Cabin Museum, you might look up and notice three large tools displayed on the wall. One of these tools is a scythe. A scythe features a curved blade fitted at an angle to an attached curved piece of wood. Some scythes, like the one in the museum's collection, also include handles for better blade control.
The scythe on display in Job Carr Cabin Museum. This tool does not include any identifiable marks regarding its origin or manufacture.
People use scythes to cut ground-level vegetation, primarily for harvesting grain. The person harvesting, called the reaper, would hold the scythe wooden handles while the blade stayed close to the ground to cut the grain. The reaper swayed in a steady rhythm and did not have to bend over to harvest the grain like with other methods such as the sickle. A second person, called the binder, followed behind to collect the harvested stalks from the ground.
It is unlikely that Job Carr was harvesting grain in Tacoma. He did, however, assist the Byrd family with their grist mill at Chambers Creek. One of his many talents was as a millwright, including dressing the burrs of the grain grinder. By the late 19th century, Tacoma became a leading center of flour mills and wheat exports to Asia.
The millstone used in grinding grain at Byrd Grist Mill displayed outside the Fern Hill branch of the Tacoma Public Library. A heritage marker notes that the mill was built in 1857 at the head of Chambers Creek.
In addition to harvesting grain, a scythe could be used to cut fresh grass or straw to fill a mattress, like the one on the rope bed at the museum. While many modern beds are constructed with foam mattresses and metal springs, the antique bed at the museum is put together in a different way. The mattress is a large cloth sack filled that was filled with gathered materials, such as straw, leaves, wool, or feathers. The mattress bag, also known as a tick, was often made of canvas, linen, or cotton.
A side view of the straw-filled canvas tick on the rope bed at Job Carr Cabin Museum.
In the 1800s, people might have had multiple mattresses stacked on their bed to create a more comfortable sleeping space. The mattresses required regular care to remain in good condition. The tick would be shaken and turned frequently to keep the bedding fluffed and cozy. Eventually, the filling would compress and deteriorate, so the tick needed to be emptied, washed, and refilled at harvest time with soft, fresh material.
In the 1870s, spring coils were introduced to mattress design, followed by foam mattresses in the 1950s. These advancements meant that mattresses no longer needed to be refilled regularly with straw or other materials for a good night's sleep.
Take a closer look at the Museum's scythe in this short video:
Sources
“The Cradle Scythe or Grain Cradle.” Madison County Historical Society, Madison County Historical Society, madcohistory.org/online-exhibits/farming-in-madison-county-before-1900-introduction/the-cradle-scythe-or-grain-cradle/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
Fairlie, Simon. “Notes on the History of the Scythe and Its Manufacture.” The Scythe Association, The Scythe Association of Britain and Ireland, 2006, scytheassociation.org/history/.
Highland, Margaret Adams. "An Elaborate Pile of Comfort: Making the Bed in the Days of Horsehair, Straw, and Feathers." Mansion Musings, Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum & Gardens, 4 Mar 2023, https://mansionmusings.wordpress.com/2023/03/04/an-elaborate-pile-of-comfort-making-the-bed-in-the-days-of-horsehair-straw-and-feathers/.
Kane, Kathryn. "Before the Box Spring: Mattresses in the Regency," The Regency Redingote, 16 Oct 2015, https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/before-the-box-spring-mattresses-in-the-regency/.
“Scythe.” Britannica, Britannica , 7 Oct. 2023, www.britannica.com/topic/sickle-hand-tool.
"Scythes, Sickles, and Mr. Tusser." The Palouse Heritage Blog, Palouse Heritage, 12 Jun 2020, https://www.palouseheritage.com/blog/tag/Scythe.
About the Author
Madeline Teddy completed an internship with Job Carr Cabin Museum in Fall 2023. She was a graduate of University of British Columbia majoring in history and classical Near Eastern religious studies. She hoped to take her studies further and become a museum curator.