Historic Treasure of the Week - May 12, 1991
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
Historic Treasure of the Week - May 12, 1991
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
Giant 88-year-old gourd awaits gawkers
There are gourds and then--there is a gourd!
With the coming of warm weather when thoughts turn to planting and gardening, it seems appropriate to feature this historical treasure which many years ago was a gardener’s bonanza.
This gourd was grown in 1903 in the vegetable garden of David Starkey, a farmer in Vigo County.
Roy E. Starkey, who is now 85 years old, graciously told a bit of history concerning the subject. He remembers that his grandfather was a truck farmer who lived in Prairie Creek, then called Middletown. He raised potatoes, onions and other vegetables, loaded them onto a wagon pulled by his horse, Prince, and headed for Shelburn and Farmersburg where they were sold. He also had bees and sold honey. David Starkey, a versatile man, made watch fobs out of mussel shells and raised some cotton.
One day one of his gardening experiments produced a gourd which measures slightly over 5 feet in length. Being justly proud, its grower put his initials, "D.S., 1903," with gilt on the gourd.
His grandson, Roy, had it in his home for years. He remembers it sometimes hanging on a hook--sometimes leaning in a corner. Last summer, grand niece Sara Davis, gave the giant gourd to the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley.
There are two types of gourds: ornamentals and lagenarias. Ornamentals are soft skinned and have brightly-colored patterns of orange, green and yellow. Lagenarias, also called hard shells, dry to a natural tan.
The historical treasure is a hard-shell gourd, commonly called a Hercules War Club gourd. These are said to reach a maximum length of 3 feet. This particular gourd surpasses that figure considerably.
Through the years, hard-shell gourds have had various uses. The Iroquois Indians used hard-shell gourds in their making of masks.
Pioneer craftsmen fashioned utensils and musical instruments from them. After soaking the gourds, removing the outer skin and drying them, the gourds could be made into tureens, ladles, bowls, scoops or even birdhouses.
In Appalachia, evidence of hand-crafted gourd fiddles can be found in several museums. The oldest documented example is shown in the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tenn. It is a fiddle made by Frank Couch in about 1840. The fiddle has a wooden fingerboard.
This 88-year-old gourd is still leaning in a corner, only now it can be seen by all visitors to the museum’s country store.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.