Lincoln exhibit and a rag rug

The Faces of Lincoln exhibit is currently showing at the Jasper County Historical Society Museum. The Museum is open on Saturdays this month from 10 am until 1 pm.

On Tuesday night the Historical Society had an open house and a meeting, and I wandered over to see the exhibit and listen in on the meeting. Below you can see part of the exhibit. It was prepared by the Indiana State Museum, and is a traveling exhibit.

You can see the meeting in progress to the right of the exhibit below. I listened with one ear and also skimmed some of the back issues of Vintage Views. I stumbled on an article by Beulah Arnott telling of her experiences teaching at the South Newton Township School, which I wish I had seen earlier. She taught there five years and then moved to a teaching job in Rensselaer.

After the meeting was over, some of the people played with an old loom that was set up to make a rag rug. Do you remember them? I have not seen any lately, but my mother used to buy them when I was a kid. There are two pedals that control the strings. You pass the material between them.

And then you compact it by pulling a board forward. Then you use the pedals to reset the strings, and repeat the whole process. It does not look like it would take very long to weave the rug. The hard part would be to set up the strings and to cut up the material into strips and put it on the spool.

If you want your own loom, you might check Irene's. Last time I visited, they still had an old loom for sale.