Wood carving is perhaps one of the oldest forms of art that
originated the first time a human shaped in a decorative manner a piece of wood
with a sharp stone. Whittling developed when sharpened metal knives were used
to carve a hand held piece of wood making Whittling one of the earliest forms
of carving.
In the United States Whittling was most prevalent in the
century between 1865 and 1965. The Civil War brought together men from
different states and territories in a melting pot kind of gathering. Sitting
around the campsite the soldiers would relax by talking, playing cards, writing
letters and some would be whittling. The folding jack knife was common among
the soldiers who, if one had a knife one was prone to whittle. Some soldiers
who were more proficient at whittling would teach others to whittle walking
sticks or canes, animals, human figures, spoons, smoking pipes and whimsies
like wooden chains, ball in a cage, fans and puzzles. A soldier from Maine would teach a soldier from Ohio how to whittle a particular object. A
soldier from Georgia would
show a soldier from Tennessee
how to whittle. This was repeated over and over in the melting pot of the
casual school of whittling.
After the war the returning veterans brought their whittling
skills back home amusing and teaching the children of their community the art
of whittling. Some of the veterans would leave home in search of work and
adventure. They were the migrant or itinerant laborers of their day who
traveled to where ever their was work be it on the railroad, lumbering, farm
harvest labor, ranching or construction. After the work was done at night,
whittling was one of the activities. Once again, a whittler would show and
teach another want-to-be whittler the tricks of the trade. These itinerant labors
often traveled from one job to another, one section of the country to another
in a melting pot of meeting new people and passing on or learning the whittling
activity.
Farm laborers were first called “Hoe Boys” because they
carried their hoe with them to do agriculture cultivation. That term was
shortened to “Hobo” who became one who traveled to find work and work when he
found it. Many hobos whittled and would trade their whittlings for food and
other necessities. Some of which became known as “Tramp Art.” Of course hobos
would teach others whittling skills who in turn would pass it on to others. It
may have been a hobo who taught Ernest Warther of www.warthers.com how to
whittle a working pliers out of wood. Whittled pliers became the novelty trademark
of Ernest Warther, who carved the history of steam locomotive trains that are
housed in the Warther’s Museum in Dover ,
Ohio
Whittling can be called the common man’s art or “folk art”
because is was done by folk without academic education in the arts but who
wanted to fulfill a creative urge to create something with their own hands and
creative ability. Whittling was an inexpensive way to make things that cost
only the investment of time. So if someone needed a decorative walking stick or
cane, one could whittle one that was unique and one of kind. A love spoon could
be whittled as a gift to a sweetheart. A wooden animal or bird could be
whittled for a child’s toy. An Indian figure could be whittled to immolate the
cigar store Indian at the tobacco shop. All of these examples were whittled by
the common folk as a folk art whose value was more a sentimental novelty
created by the old vet, or Uncle Charlie, or the kid down the street or the
traveling hobo.
Mid-century, the Boy Scout movement gained in popularity.
Whittling was one of the skills taught to Boy Scouts. Ben Hunt, who taught
whittling to the Scouting program, wrote several books and had whittling
articles with projects published in the Boy Scout’s magazine, “Boys Life.” E.
J. Tangerman, another author on the subject of whittling published books and
articles in Popular Science type of magazines and even a whittling handbook for
Remington Knife Company. Both knife companies and Popular Science types of
magazines would conduct national contest for whittling entries.
The last quarter of the century experienced World War II
where the “Greatest Generation” carried the home grown skills of
make-do-with-what-you-have-to-work- with into another melting pot that changed
the way of life. Whittling was still an activity of this time as a carry over
for the self reliant days of the Great Depression. Almost every boy, out of
necessity, carried a pocketknife and if a boy has a pocketknife the boy is
prone to whittle. So all who grew up during that time of great struggle was
accustomed to whittling and how to use a pocketknife.
Following World War II the GI Bill allowed many veterans to
receive a college education along with the great housing boom with growth of
the suburbs and migration from the farms. Manufacturing, construction and the
economy grew along with vacation and leisure opportunities which all added to
less and less hands-on pursuits like whittling.
1965 ended the “Whittling Century” for the emphasis shifted
to the electronic age with less hands-on activity to more entertainment
pursuits. Industrial and manual arts ceased to be offered in school curriculum.
City and suburban life style done away with the farm chores, out door life and
making things with one’s own hands. The availability of more entertainment
orientated merchandise took the place a boys rite of passage to have a pocket
knife and thus there was less exploration into whittling.
Woodcarving in general had a spurt of growth during the mid
1970?s with woodcarving clubs springing up all over the country. Most of the
larger clubs sponsor annual wood carving shows. The National Wood Carvers
Association grew in international membership and publishes a bi-monthly
magazine entitled, “Chip Chats” having a membership of approximately 30,000.
Woodcarving seminars taught the art of carving all kinds of subjects and
numerous books of the subject of woodcarving became prevalent. Carving tools
became more available supplementing the lowly pocketknife for the classical
carving tools. The carving knife became one among the many tools the carver
would use to carve various carving projects. Whittling took a back seat as
being too amateurish and an old man’s activity of “whittling away time.”
Even though woodcarving grew after the 1965 benchmark year,
yet almost all the participants in woodcarving were those who grew up in the
latter half of the Whittling Century carrying with them a love for making
things with their hands and the joy of using a knife for whittling. The average
age of woodcarving club members today is probably seventy years of age. Even
though the woodcarving community of clubs and enthusiasts seek to recruit
younger people and are more than willing to teach the art of carving and
whittling, yet the younger generation have little interest in hands-on hobbies
or of things associated with the old days, like collecting pocket knives.
Whittling, one of the first and foremost folk arts, along
with the noble and yet lowly pocket knife continue to carry a mystique of a
love for the sentimental journey of traveling back to the simpler time of one’s
youth. And that is not all that bad for such memories are lasting like the
initials carved in the trunk of a tree or the wall of the barn.
