Carved Kitchen Utensils

[Ms Bear]

About 7 or 8 years ago I went to a Craft Fair at War Eagle, Arkansas and there was a booth with a banner from Howard, Kansas.  They were selling wooden kitchen utensils carved from (I think) Osage wood.  Is there another name for Osage trees?  I bought one because it was from the town my father was born in and have it hanging in my kitchen.  Not used but looked at often.

I don't remember the name of the people that had the booth but they said their son carved the utensils.  Just wondering if anyone knows who they were and if they still go to the Craft Fairs.

Ms Bear

[Wilma]

The Osage Orange tree is commonly known as hedge trees here.  They have thorns and produce a softball sized fruit that we call hedge apples.  About the only thing the hedge apples are good for is to feed the small varmints during the winter.  They are hard and full of seed that germinate really good.  Thus, our pastures are full of hedge trees if control isn't used.  The wood is very hard and when freshly split open, a bright yellow.  It burns very hot, but pops and sends sparks everywhere.  It isn't a good fireplace wood.  My husband has made some small hand tool handles from it and once made a replacement part for the back of a drawer that wouldn't stay on it's runner.  As far as I know the part is still working.

As to who from Howard might have made the tool that you bought, someone else might have an answer.   

[genealogynut]

In this small "burg" that I live in, the kids love to use the hedge apples for Halloween.  They gather them up by the bushelfuls, then take them to the "main drag" and dump them out into the street and run over them, making a big mess.   Too bad someone doesn't make them clean it up.

[Wilma]

That, too, Lois. 

I forgot the most important thing.  The trees make very good fence posts, withstanding rotting for many, many years.  In the pasture we used to own, there was a row of old stumps of the trees that had been cut for posts that had been there for as long as I or the previous owner could remember.  When a hedge tree is cut, if it isn't desired for it to grow again, the stump has to be treated to prevent regrowth.  There was also a row of trees that had been cut for posts and wood and allowed to grow again.  At that time, the regrowth was ready to cut for posts and good, big posts at that.

I think the Osage Orange was introduced to Kansas by settlers just for the purpose of hard wood posts as Kansas was pretty much treeless due to fires and wood being the only fuel available at that time.

[genealogynut]

Weren't the hedge trees used quite a bit during the dust bowl years (early 1930's?) to help keep the soil from blowing so bad?  We notice now that farmers are doing away with most of the hedge rows.  (They may be sorry)

[Marcia Moore]

OSAGE ORANGE TREES – Did you ever wonder where the hedge trees in this area came from?  J.W. Stephens, who lived one mile east of Fiat, was responsible for bringing them to this area.  On March 3, 1885, Stephens advertised in one of Severy's newspapers, the Southern Kansas Journal, that he had 200,000 Osage Orange plants for sale.  First class yearlings sold for $1.25 per thousand and second class yearlings at $1.00 per thousand. 

[Joanna]

I don't know who makes things from hedge around here, but my husband had a craftsman from Oklahoma stop by the farm once and ask permission to gather some up.  He brought some sample wooden "flowers" and other small things that he made later, and showed the beautiful long bow he had made too.

I know that the wood is also called "bois d'arc" (sometimes pronounced Bow-Dark) and it was used to make bows.  It can be a beautiful orange colored wood when finished out, and I've always figured that's where the "osage orange" name came from.

I once saw a show on television (I think it was Trading Spaces) where the carpenter was going on and on about this beautiful orange wood that he'd found, how wonderfully tough it was and what great grain it had.  The only trouble was that it cost a fortune because this 'ba-duke' wood had been imported from Austrailia.  That made me laugh for weeks!

[Wilma]

The hedge trees were planted in a row along a boundary line, providing ready to fasten to fence posts (no digging post holes).  They were useful in anchoring the soil and breaking up winds.  More useful, though, were the rows of different kinds of trees that were planted in an attempt to save the blowing soil.  They were also planted along fence lines, four and five rows deep.  I think they were called windbreaks, doing just what their name suggested.  Breaking up the winds that picked up and moved the soil from Oklahoma to Nebraska and back again.  A lot has been written in history about the dust storms.  The ones I remember weren't as bad as the ones written about.  I do remember hurrying to bring in any clothes that might be on the clothesline and closing windows just as if a rain storm were coming.  My mother tucked towels and cloths in any cracks to prevent the dust from sifting in.  In fact, the memory is so clear that my throat has become dry & tickly.   Must go get a drink of water.

[Marcia Moore]

There is a man who lives in Newton, and owns a home at Climax, that makes furniture out of old hedge trees.  His name is Tim Hartlep.  His furniture is sold under the business name of Elegant Rustics.  His website address is: http://www.elegantrustics.net/other%20works.htm

[Wilma]

Isn't this interesting?  I just remembered that my husband also replaced a pocket knife handle with hedge wood.  When sanded very smooth it was quite attractive.  I think I kept that knife but am not sure where it is.