Happy Holidays!

Village Craftsmen continues to offer fine quality American-made handcrafts even in the winter season. Our store on Howard Street is open Tuesday - Saturday from 11 am until 4 pm. Of course, our on-line store is also open. Our store on Howard Street will be closed December 24 & 25 so we can celebrate Christmas with our families, but will reopen on December 26. We will close for the season on December 31, and  will re-open again mid-March, 2016.

Also, this is our last blog post for 2015. Posts will resume on January 4, 2016. We hope you enjoy reading our blog throughout the year.

Until next year, we wish you all a Happy Winter Solstice (December 22)....

....The Merriest of Christmases (December 25)....

....and all good things in the New Year!

Many thanks to all of our readers and customers for a wonderful 2015. We are looking forward to seeing you all again in 2016!!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Spencer's Market

This is our latest post about Ocracoke landmarks named for prominent islanders...Spencer's Market.

Spencer's Market is the location of two eateries, an antique shop, a sunglasses shop, a realty, golf cart rentals, and studio apartments. But who is Spencer?

Not so very long ago, on that corner (NC 12 and School Road), stood the home of islanders Herman (1906-1981) and Flora Burrus (Flossie) (d. 1976) Spencer. Flossie was the daughter of Joseph M. Burrus, keeper of the Ocracoke lighthouse from 1929 to 1946.

Herman was a fisherman and bird carver. For many years Village Craftsmen sold small hand-carved seagulls and pelicans that Herman made.

Herman also had a very dry sense of humor. He came by one afternoon with some birds to sell as we were filling a galvanized tub with water. We stepped inside to look at his carvings. After negotiating about his birds for about 40 minutes (including neighborly chatting), he turned to leave. On his way to the door he off-handedly remarked, "I reckon that galvanized tub is about filled up by now." Of course, it had been overflowing for more than half an hour!

Herman & Flossie Spencer Home (Photo by H. Raup, c. 1975)

The last folks to live in the house were Herman and Flossie's daughter, Gaynelle, and her son, Ricky. Gaynelle is well-known on the island as a baker of delicious fig cakes. She and Ricky also preserve figs that we sell in Village Craftsmen. In addition, Ricky works for the NC Ferry Division and at the Silver Lake Motel.

The house has been moved down the street. Today it is painted red, and houses the Ocracoke Pizza Company.   

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.         

Oyster Roast

One of the highlights of being on Ocracoke Island during the winter is the annual Oyster Roast sponsored by the Ocracoke Working Watermen's Association. Typically scheduled for late December (after the Christmas holidays), hundreds of islanders and visitors gather at the Fish House where makeshift plywood tables are piled with steamed, freshly harvested oysters.

Photo Courtesy Ocracoke Island Realty

Boiled shrimp is usually available for those few folks who are not keen on oysters. Van O"Neal often provides his famous fish stew, as well. Of course, there are plenty of hush puppies and, to wash it all down, beer or soft drinks. After you've had your fill, you can stroll down to the Watermen's Exhibit at the Community Square for a decadant dessert.

If you will be on the island later this month, check around the village for the dates of this year's Oyster Roast. You won't want to miss it!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Looking to Thee

The Methodist Church was the center of community activity in my grandparents' time. My grandfather, Homer Howard, and my grandmother, Aliph O'Neal Howard, were active members of the congregation. (Click here to read my history of the Ocracoke Methodist Church.)

Grandfather Homer served in the United States Life Saving Service. Returning from beach patrol, he customarily rode his horse down Howard Street. Cousin Blanche remembers listening to him singing as he passed in front of her house. Last month Blanche sang one of the hymns she remembers hearing my grandfather singing (she says he had a beautiful voice). The hymn was "Looking to Thee," written in 1911.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Alphaeus Philemon Cole

According to Wikipedia, Alphaeus Philemon Cole (July 12, 1876 – November 25, 1988) "was an American artist, engraver and etcher. He was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and died in New York City. ... At the time of his death, at age 112 years and 136 days, Alphaeus was the world's oldest verified living man."

One of Alphaeus Cole's patrons was Ocracoke Island part-time resident Sam Jones, a colorful island character who built Berkley Castle, Berkley Manor, and several other distinctive structures.

According to an article in the October, 2010 issue of Virginia Living magazine, Sam's patronage of Alphaeus Phelemon Cole resulted in a CBS TV national interview with the famous portrait artist. When the interviewer asked Cole about affairs he may have had with his models Sam Jones became incensed and "emerged from backstage brandishing a broom and began swatting the interviewer and the production crew. The interview was unceremoniously aborted."

You can read more about Sam Jones here:  http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news012111.htm.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Where is This?

The following photo was taken by Henry Raup sometime between 1974 and 1978. I believe these two modest rental cottages were built from lumber salvaged from the old Navy barracks.

Today, this small home (below) sits where the cottage above (left) was located. I believe this home was built around the original cottage, which still remains part of the structure.

Notice how much the landscape has changed. Where once there was just sand, yucca plants and sand spurs, there is now grass and cedars.

Can any of our readers identify where this cottage is?

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

What & Where

Not long ago, as I was biking around the village, I noticed this lonely structure sitting in a now-empty lot. Although island residents and many long-time visitors to Ocracoke will know what this is, I suspect there are some of our readers who will be puzzled.

If you do not recognize this object, you can learn what it is, and see photos of many more, here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news102110.htm.

For those of you who can identify this structure, I wonder if you know where it is located. If you think you know, please leave your answer in a comment.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Talking Backwards

"It's pretty some [an island expression meaning 'very pretty'] outside today," you might here an islander say. Looking out the window, you notice only rain and wind. It may seem odd, but you immediately understand that the speaker is using irony.

Talking backwards, or speaking in opposites, is a common linguistic usage on the Outer Banks. Walt Wolfram and Jeffrey Reaser comment on this in their book, Talkin' Tar Hell, How our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina.

On page 120 - 121, Wolfram and Reaser use the adjective "greatest" as an example, by quoting Ann Rose from Harker's Island (Ocracoke Islanders use this word just as they do on Harker's Island). Ann explains that the statement, "That crowd had the greatest time," doesn't necessarily indicate a positive observation. "It coulda been that maybe they were fussing about something and feuding and hollering and screaming and whatever, but 'greatest' means like intensity, you know."

Wolfram and Reaser go on to explain that "talking backwards" and other distinctive linguistic devices help set Outer Bankers apart from the mainland. They promote social solidarity, and promote the preservation of a unique culture.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Lighthouse-Inspired Poems

Today I share excerpts from four lighthouse-inspired poems (there are many more).

Lead Kindly Light, by John Henry Newman, 1801-1890:

Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!

The Lighthouse, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882:

And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!

Photo by Lou Ann Homan

Pharos Loquitor, by Sir Walter Scott, 1771-1832:

Far in the bosom of the deep,
O'er these wild shelves my watch I keep;
A ruddy gem of changeful light,
Bound on the dusky brow of night,
 
Let the Lower Lights be Burning, by Philip P. Bliss, 1838-1876:
 
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Early Lighthouse Lamps

In past posts I have written about the Fresnel Lens, a technological leap in navigational lighting. A Fresnel Lens, invented in 1822, is a glass dome of prisms and bull's-eyes. Light is concentrated at its center into parallel rays that are intensified with a magnifying glass.

Click here to read more about the Fresnel Lens and the Ocracoke Lighthouse: http://villagecraftsmen.blogspot.com/search?q=fresnel.

But what methods were used to illuminate American lighthouses prior to 1822? Below is a partial list, in chronological order, of various devices and mechanisms:

• Simple pole lights upon which were burned bales of pitch-soaked oakum (loose fiber obtained by untwisting old rope).
• Tallow candles set in chandeliers and enclosed in a lantern room (until the mid-1700s).
• Oil Lamps 
• Simple, open reservoirs filled with oil (whale oil was most highly prized) into which several cotton-rope wicks were placed. 
• Pan lamps: enclosed trays with as many as two dozen wicks. Some lighthouses suspended more than one pan lamp in the lantern room. "Compass lamps" were round.
• Bucket lamps: larger devices that could hold as much as two gallons of oil, with numerous metal spouts into which were threaded thick rope wicks.
• Argand lamps: invented by French physicist, Francois-Pierre Ami Argand, employed a much cleaner burning hollow wick encased in a metal tube, and a glass chimney.
• Reflector lamps: an Argand lamp with an added silver-coated parabolic reflector.
• Winslow Lewis lamps: an Argand lamp modified with a convex, bottle glass magnifier.

For fuel, kerosene replaced whale oil after the Civil War, and Fresnel lenses replaced other devices by the mid-19th century. Fresnel lenses remain the "gold standard" and are still in use in US lighthouses today.

Eventually all lighthouses were electrified. The Ocracoke lighthouse was fitted with a Fresnel lens in 1854, and electrified in 1929.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Yaupon Tea

Yaupon holly grows wild on Ocracoke Island.

Many of our readers know that islanders have traditionally used the dried leaves, which contain caffeine and theobromine (an alkaloid found in conventional tea and chocolate), to make a local tea substitute.

Native Americans were the first to discover yaupon tea. Some sources identify yaupon tea as the "black drink" used in purification rituals. Because the ceremonies involved vomiting, Europeans gave yaupon its Latin name, Ilex vomitoria. However, yaupon does not have emetic properties unless drunk in great quantities, or in combination with other substances made from roots and herbs, and/or after fasting.

Village Craftsmen often has locally harvested yaupon tea for sale. Try it sometime. It is quite refreshing.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Island Christmas Events

If you are on the island this week and/or next, be sure to take note of the following special holiday events:

• Saturday, Dec. 5: Ocracoke Preservation Society Historic Homes Open House, 3 to 5 p.m. The historic Emma & Simon O’Neal house, 458 Lighthouse Rd., and the Felix & Sue Fleig House (circa 1950s),107 Live Oak Rd. will be open for viewing.
• Sunday, Dec. 6: 2 p.m. Cookie swap. Ocracoke Community Library. Bring a dozen take a dozen. 
• Monday, Dec. 7: United Methodist Women’s Potluck Dinner, Ocracoke Community Center; 6 p.m. 
• Tuesday, Dec. 8: OPS Wassail Party and Lighting of the Community Tree; 5 to 7 p.m. 

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm. 

The Great Swash

Wind, waves, tide, time, and humans are constantly shaping and re-shaping the Outer Banks. The Great Swash (35°09'21'N 75°51'30"W) is the name given to an area on Ocracoke (see screenshot below) that half a century ago was rarely dry, almost continually awash with tide.

Not surprisingly, the Great Swash is the site of Old Hatteras Inlet. Today, however, that area has been stabilized by the construction of a barrier dune between NC Highway 12 and the Atlantic Ocean. The casual visitor would not recognize this as an area that was at one time marsh and wetlands.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.

Wreck Diving

Numerous vessels have wrecked along the Outer Banks. The web site, http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/, lists 70 ships that sank in the month of December (between 1818 and 1982), including a half dozen lost at Ocracoke (http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/calendar/december.html).

Photo courtesy www.nc-wreckdiving.com

As the web site points out, "Bathed by the clear, warm waters of the Gulf Stream, the coast of North Carolina offers some of the best scuba and wreck diving in the United States. Whether interested in sight-seeing, underwater photography, maritime or military history, a technical diver or just beginning, from Cape Hatteras to Cape Fear, the abundant marine life and numerous shipwrecks of North Carolina offer something for scuba divers of all interests and skill levels."

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of Capt. Horatio Williams and his schooner, the Paragon. You can read the story here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news112115.htm.