OWASCO - Martha Shaw is a transplant. Not just from Long Island, where she lived before moving to Auburn, but seemingly from the 19th century.
The Auburn resident and retired Union Springs school teacher is a rarity in these modern times, preferring to darn socks by hand rather than use a sewing machine, and she practices other homemaking methods that many would consider quite outdated.
Shaw was on hand at the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum on Saturday morning to take part in Thread Day, an event put on by the museum that saw demonstrations and exhibits by several local artisans who practice old-fashioned ways of using cloth and other household materials.
Thread Day included demonstrations on basket-weaving, using a spinning wheel and apron-making, among others.
“The idea for this all started out on a whim,” Shaw said from the museum on Saturday morning.
While organizing the event, she said, she realized that many people today don't realize exactly how thread, cloth and straw were used in the past.
“If I want a basket, I can just go out and buy one,” she said.
In the past, she continued, people didn't have that luxury, having to make most household products by hand, she thought a demonstration of those methods would be useful at the museum.
One of the exhibitors was Jack Bailey, who along with his wife, Karin, was there to demonstrate ways of harvesting Angora rabbit fur.
The couple, who reside in Lyons, raise several breeds of Angora rabbits, including English, giant and French.
The Baileys had several rabbits on display, including a giant Angora, from which Karin said fur can be collected every 12 to 16 weeks. The fur is then spun into thread that is used for sweaters and other clothing, she said.
Also on hand was Barbara Stith, who exhibited her collection of aprons that date back over 100 years.
Stith, an Auburn resident who works at Seymour Public Library, said that many of the more than 100 aprons in her collection have been passed down for generations through her family.
Next week at the museum, a group from SUNY Morrisville will renovate the herb garden behind the facility to make it accessible to the handicapped, said George Culmer, the director of the museum.
Shaw was on hand at the Ward O'Hara Agricultural Museum on Saturday morning to take part in Thread Day, an event put on by the museum that saw demonstrations and exhibits by several local artisans who practice old-fashioned ways of using cloth and other household materials.
Thread Day included demonstrations on basket-weaving, using a spinning wheel and apron-making, among others.
“The idea for this all started out on a whim,” Shaw said from the museum on Saturday morning.
While organizing the event, she said, she realized that many people today don't realize exactly how thread, cloth and straw were used in the past.
“If I want a basket, I can just go out and buy one,” she said.
In the past, she continued, people didn't have that luxury, having to make most household products by hand, she thought a demonstration of those methods would be useful at the museum.
One of the exhibitors was Jack Bailey, who along with his wife, Karin, was there to demonstrate ways of harvesting Angora rabbit fur.
The couple, who reside in Lyons, raise several breeds of Angora rabbits, including English, giant and French.
The Baileys had several rabbits on display, including a giant Angora, from which Karin said fur can be collected every 12 to 16 weeks. The fur is then spun into thread that is used for sweaters and other clothing, she said.
Also on hand was Barbara Stith, who exhibited her collection of aprons that date back over 100 years.
Stith, an Auburn resident who works at Seymour Public Library, said that many of the more than 100 aprons in her collection have been passed down for generations through her family.
Next week at the museum, a group from SUNY Morrisville will renovate the herb garden behind the facility to make it accessible to the handicapped, said George Culmer, the director of the museum.
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