Books & Articles
- 1959 spring issue of Pennsylvania Folklife,
"Tramp work: Penknife plus Cigar Boxes" by Frances Lichten,
Pennsylvania Folklife Society, Vol 10, No. 1*
Magazine article explores "tramp work". The
argument is made that tramp work was popularized in German Pennsylvania by
wandering German immigrants and was possibly unique to these communities.
"the carver might be found adding his minute chips of
cedar to the litter of shavings on the floor of a farm workshop whose amiable
owner had provided him with a night’s lodging, meals and some discarded (cigar)
boxes in exchange for a piece of his tediously produced handwork and the latest
reports on the doings in the countryside through which his wanderings took
him"*
"I have been told by someone who remembers the old-time
vendors of edge-carved work (it is she who called it "tramp work")
that these old fellows used to inquire of the customers they met on their
rounds weather they had any boxes or bits of broken mirror to give away."*
Tramp work
objects are understood to be made from recycled cigar box wood using a variety
of carving techniques. Techniques include the edge carving (notch carving) that
we associate with tramp art today but also include the decorative carving that
defines other types of folk art objects. This allows for a broad definition of
tramp work.
- *1969 March issue of Spinning Wheel the National
Magazine about Antiques, "Tramp Art" by Lester Breinnger Jr., 1969
Everybodys Press and In 1974 the above article was republished (minus a few photographs)
as a chapter in the book Spinning Wheels Antiques for Men, edited
by Albert Christian Revi; Everybodys Press. This book is likely
easier to find than the magazine.
Magazine article that offers a broad definition of
tramp art (though all of the illustrations are what we would call tramp art
today i.e. objects that are edge / notch carved and made of layered cigar box
wood.)
"Tramp Art, a name applied to the numerous articles
turned out by the gentlemen of the leisure set, appears to have its heyday
between 1880 and 1914. Itinerants were the most numerous and productive in
these pre World War 1 years. Among the items produced were animals in the
round, bird trees, Noah in the Ark,
Christmas yard animals and houses, wooden chains, handsome walking canes and
cigar box treasures. Such keepsakes were also turned out by prison inmates as
well as hobo roamers of our countryside"*
Breinnger notes that tramp art can be
found throughout the Northeast United States and Canada and offers an important
observation concerning provenance
"Signed, dated specimens exist and may enable the
collector to learn about the maker by inquiring of oldsters in the
community."*
- *1971 Incredible Collectors, Weird Antiques and Odd Hobbies
by Bill Carmichael, Prentice-hall Inc
Book includes a chapter on tramp art and makes
the argument that tramp art was made and popularized by, tramps.
"Tramp art? Loosely speaking, this is a colloquialism
employed by many antique collectors to describe the odd-looking "dust catchers"
or "gaudy junk" which professional vagabonds, hobos, gentlemen of
leisure, prisoners, and just plain down-and-out bums carved out of bits and
pieces of spare wood (usually discarded cigar boxes and packing crates) and
gave to housewives in exchange for food and lodging."*
The author offers an argument that tramp
art is uniquely American though largely ignored and despised by many antique
enthusiasts
"tramp art is authentic Americana in every sense of the word; and to
date no one has ever seriously contested the validity of this claim." …
"the critics of this school of primitive handicraft refer to it
slightingly as either "early attic" or "late monster".*
Offers a very broad definition of tramp
art that would include objects decorated by edge carving (notch carving) and
pyramiding. Described as tramp art are objects such as carved canes and
penknife carved chains that today might be described as whimseys. Illustrated
as tramp art is a hand carved toy circus.
- *1975 Tramp Art An Itinerant’s Folk Art by Helaine
Fendelman, E. P. Dutton & Co.
The first book devoted to tramp art and remained the
standard collector reference for decades. Lots of photographs. Argument made
that tramp art is anonymous and was largely popularized by immigrant itinerants
in the United States
and not by hobos. Acknowledges that tramp art is found in several other
countries including Canada, Germany and Scandinavia.
"Tramp art is an itinerants art form; therefore there
are no written records of the carvers’ work. The gossip and hearsay of this art
form became the facts; misconceptions became truths."*
"The tramp of the nineteenth century was an itinerant
craftsman, a peddler of his own skills. Included in this category are the
"Wanderburschen" (German wandering apprentices) who had been lured to
this country by the job opportunities. When jobs did not materialize, or when
the spirit compelled him, the man tramped the countryside in search of work.
His name, a tramp, was not a derogatory term but a literal name for what the
itinerant craftsman was doing to try to earn a living."*
The author offers a narrow definition of
tramp art. Tramp art describes objects that are edge carved (notch carved),
made in layers (forming pyramids) out of cigar box wood. Exceptions to, and
variations of, this definition are explored. A notable variation called
"crown of thorns" is included as being a form of tramp art.
- *1980 Collecting American Craft Antiques by William C.
Ketchum Jr.; E. P. Dutton & Co.
A Book with a section on tramp art that offers a
narrow definition
"it is a unique form of wood crafting, used for a
variety of items from knickknacks to furniture, in which thin strips of wood
are put together in layers, then cut and shaped to create an illusion of
depth."*
A subsequent section offers instructions
on how to make a one layer tramp art box. The reader is left with a small
confusion as the layers of tramp art are cut and shaped prior to assembly
(unlike the above description).
The author mentions the origins of tramp
art and concludes its roots are found in Germany. Problems with the hobo and
itinerant theories are discussed and the author makes the argument this is a
"working class craft"
"Tramp art then, was evidently created by many
craftsmen, most of whom were probably working class artisans who devoted their
spare time to what they regarded as a hobby."*
- *1995 Hobo & Tramp Art Carving An Authentic
American Folk Tradition By Adolph Vandertie & Patrick Spielamn: Sterling Pub.
This book explores the author’s
fascination with the tramp or hobo culture of the late 1800s and early 1900s
and provides "how to" instructions for making a tramp art frame, a
chain from a single piece of wood and other whittling projects. Vandertie is an
accomplished carver, a master carver of what we would call "whimseys"
what he calls "hobo art".
"…whittling makes up one of the original forms of
American folk art or hobo art. Hobo art consists mostly of objects that contain
the ball-in-the cage or the chain"*
The authors offer a narrow definition of
tramp art (utilitarian objects decorated by notch carving and layering
(pyramiding) and includes "crown of thorns" as a variation of tramp
art. They argue that-
"…tramp art, was produced by these anonymous artisans
in the hobo jungles of the U.S.
but was introduced in the early 1860s by German and Scandinavian
Wanderbuersons, of wandering apprentices. These men – the trampers –
popularized chip carving as they traveled the U.S. countryside in search of jobs
or in the pursuit of the Vagabond life."
- *1998 Tramp Art One Notch at a Time by Clifford A. Wallach & Michael Cornish;
Wallach–Irons Publisher
A book devoted to tramp art with lots of
photographs and historical facts. The authors open this work with an important
argument.
"Tramp art in its full flower, after 1880, was an
internationally popular craft. … Tramp art seems to have arisen spontaneously
wherever cigar smoking was fashionable."*
The authors describe tramp art as a
"democratic craft" available to a wide range of crafters of various
skills, requiring the simplest of tools. The work, life and craft of several
dozen tramp artists is explored, giving the book a basis in fact rather then
conjecture and leads the authors to conclude:
"…evidence tends to picture tramp art as a mostly
home-based stationary craft"*
The authors offer a narrow definition of
tramp art that describes objects that are decorated by notch carving and
pyramiding. They cover all the variations of technique, form and materials.
"Crown of thorns" is included as a form of tramp art.
Recommended collector reference
- *1999 Tramp Art A Folk Art Phenomenon by Helaine Fendelman
& Jonathan Taylor;
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, publisher
The author Fendelman wrote the
authoritative book on tramp art in 1975 and revisits it in this book
with a co-author. Lots of photographs and historical facts. As the previous
book seemed conclusive these authors ask the important questions, provide
evidence and framework for discussion, yet, hesitate to draw dogmatic
conclusions.
"Although the fertile ground of Germany and northern Europe
appears, by all evidence to be the home of tramp art, work that is similar and
some times the same is found elsewhere."
"…the edge carving and layering of tramp art was
learned as an oral tradition from father to son, traveler to local resident,
neighbor to neighbor, and friend to friend."
The authors discuss the lack of
references in literature to tramp art, during the time of this craft’s
popularity and conclude-
"…it seems that tramp- art construction was too
familiar to be discussed, except in passing, even in northern Europe,
where it probably originated."
The authors offer a narrow definition of
tramp art (objects decorated by notch carving and layering) and discuss the
variations and exceptions. "Crown of thorns" is not covered in this
discussion. Recommended collector reference
- Webmaster's comments and
conclusions:
Just as you should never judge a book by its cover – please
read the above articles and books in their entirety to place these excerpts in
context. From the above chronology, we learn that there has never been
agreement on a definition of tramp art. Disagreements abound about who
practiced this craft and it’s origins.
Within this web site, we define tramp art
as a woodworking style, driven by the cigar box. We profile a different type of
tramp art called "crown of thorns". We offer a narrow definition of
tramp art that does not include the variety of objects that several of the
above authors consider to be tramp art; we consider these types of objects to
be the cousins of tramp art. We call tramp art a misnomer and offer tramp art
objects by identified makers.
If the term
"chipwork" rather than "tramp art" had become the
convention and had we followed the advice in 1969 of Breinnger, that the makers
of the craft might be known, then tramp art might not remain the anonymous
craft that it has become today.
This web site is an on-going work, a
snapshot of our understanding at a given moment.
