|
|
|
March 13, 2000
Stepping back in timeBy TONY ZIEBOL Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM -- Greg Wagenaar was taking shop in high school and disliked the way his teacher worked with the wood using modern instruments and how the final product looked. He and his father, Howard, decided to go back in time to find their way of working with wood. Back to the 19th century. At the Black Powder show at Turner Hall Sunday, the Wagenaars were busy making hammers, pitchforks and other items out of wood. They call themselves woodwrights. "A wright is a builder," Greg said. "A woodwright is kind of a jack of all trades." The duo works with a lot of tools not found in modern time. Greg said he has done a lot of research in books to find out how things were done in the past. In the 1980s, the Wagenaars were living in Texas and Howard joined a San Antonio historical society, which lit the fire for what they do now. Now based in Arlington, S.D., they build and sell many different items. "We basically do custom work," Greg said. "If you have plans that you want made, we can probably make it for you.." Howard said most of the stuff they do is pre-1840s, from the colonial period to the frontier period. "It's just a lot of fun," he said. "We have a good time." Even the Wagenaars' clothes were from a different age, hand-made shirts, short pants and stockings. Howard said the clothing is mostly French, from the 1700s, portraying a poor woodwright and not a rich cabinet-maker. "As a poor person, you wore what was available," he said. "If it can be made by hand, we can wear it." The Wagenaars weren't the only ones at the Black Powder show dressing for the occasion. Exhibitors upstairs wore buckskin shirts and pants, along with many other items from historical periods. Many different kinds of crafts and merchandise were available for purchase. There were antique rifles and knives, Indian chokers and artwork, fur pelts and antlers, and even books written from a historical setting. It was like taking a step back in time, if only for a few hours.
|