Some campaigner questions!!

[A7X]

~I was just wondering if a soldier did not have access to a toothbrush, was there anything else he would use, or were there homemade ones.

~Also How do you make a homemade pencil or writing utensil.


~Jonathan Kroppmann

[Corn]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

Just a hunch but my guess is scrub the chompers with a rag and use a toothpick.

As for homemade writing utensils, I'd think that pencils were prominent and easily attainable enough that no one would have to make a homemade one.

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

~I was just wondering if a soldier did not have access to a toothbrush, was there anything else he would use, or were there homemade ones.

A chewed twig (willow is often mentioned) was the most common means that I've seen, either in diaries or in use by the local old timers.

Also How do you make a homemade pencil or writing utensil.

A quill and homemade ink would probably be simpler, less messy, and more common, than trying to make your own pencil with graphite or some other material. Bob Sullivan has some nice hints about quills (and writing with them, it's an acquired art very different from those of use used to ball-point pens nowadays) at his articles page (http://www.sullivanpress.com); homemade ink can be made from iron salts, or certain berry juices (pokeweed or pokeberry is often cited).

Tom

[Matthew.Rector]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

Aside from a twig or toothpick, I have read that sassafrass roots were commonly used as well.

[County Militia]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

As others said, I've read that the soldiers used twigs to clean their teeth.

As for writing tools, I'd assume you could carve yourself a slender pencil-like stick and if you could come by unk or had the means to make ink yourself, you could dip your "pencil" into the ink and use it as a quill - just without the feather.

[Jimmayo]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

Sometimes lead would be melted or shaped into a 2 or 3 inch slender piece pointed at the end. This can be used as a pencil. Have found these in Confederate sites but can't ever remember finding one in a Union spot. I suspect pencils and pens were scarcer to the average soldier in the Confederate Army.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

As for writing tools, I'd assume you could carve yourself a slender pencil-like stick and if you could come by unk or had the means to make ink yourself, you could dip your "pencil" into the ink and use it as a quill - just without the feather.

I'd go for a reed or something similar that's hollow, rather than a stick. Without the reservoir, the ink isn't going to flow for more than a few letters. A reed pen is cruder than a quill pen, but even upscale people might have been aware of the concept through William Blake's poem:

And I pluck'd a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,
And I stain'd the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.

On another note, I've used charcoal from the fire to draw pictures on rocks or boards. It works very well for drawing, but has much too coarse a line and is too smudgy for writing anything beyond the graffiti level.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Pvt_M]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

you can also make ink by boiling walnuts, it doesn't take more than ten minutes. Although the smell is a bit unpleasant, it works well

[PogueMahone]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

I suspect a man without a pencil would borrow one from a man with a pencil.

Same can't be said of a toothbrush for every application.

[Prodical Reb]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

A soldier could fashion one from 1 of the 40 pieces of lead in his cartridghe box. Just shape into a long slender shape w/point. Viola' a lead pencil. (Lead is very maleable) Cartridges were always available free of charge!

[bAcK88]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

Cartridges were always available free of charge!

Not really. I don't have the figures at the moment, but the Army of Tennessee started to charge soldiers for missing or lost cartridges during the winter of 1863-64 in Dalton.

[Busterbuttonboy]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

Jonathan
I would highly recommend reading the book Foul Bodies by Kathleen Brown.

http://books.google.com/books?id=I10Wz2yBUPkC&dq=Kathleen+Brown,+foul+bodies&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=zwO6_zsP2S&sig=ddqmmDqVk5s7mNK2eeqj5wtBCsw&hl=en&ei=vvrYSvf7DoKsNrOPtd0H&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=&f=false

You are ok and well within reason to be carrying a toothbrush for a mid 19th century military impression.

[Clsinclair]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

When I was a child (still am in some ways) my g grandmother Doster would have me to chew a sassafrass root and she would use it as a tooth brush. I would stay with them some summers and the Dosters lived off the land with no modern conveniences. A snake in the attic controlled the rat problem.

[lojafan]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

I've heard that Abe Lincoln himself, as a child, used a stick that had been charred in a fire.

[D.W. Scalf]

Re: Some campaigner questions!!

I've heard old timers in my family talk about using a small piece of a branch to clean their teeth as children.

I've also heard willow mentioned, but I suspect any non-toxic and non bad tasting variety would do.

Take a twig a little bit smaller than your little finger. Use a pocketknife to fray the end. It might then sort of resemble the end of a small paint brush. Use and freshen up the bristles as needed. I've tried it, and it works well.

Straw also works well for dental floss ;)

While it wouldn't be uncommon for a soldier to have a proper toothbrush(imho). You must remember that some of these fellas were from so far back in the woods that they might not have ever even SEEN a toothbrush, much less scraped up a few cents(or dollars) to BUY one. I think twigs are a great substitute, and another way to show the public how resourceful our ancestors were.

Just my 2 cents...

D.W. Scalf