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I was curious about this line in one of the letters cited: >Gutapercha ring making is all the go now by the men and some of them are making really beautiful on

I was curious about this line in one of the letters cited: >Gutapercha ring making is all the go now by the men and some of them are making really beautiful ones. So wikipediaed gutapercha, which turns out to be a tree. The same name is used for a latex made from the tree. This material made undersea cables possible in the early days. But I was curious: why rings? Well, it might have something to do with the caning of Charles Sumner in 1856. Brooks, a pro-slavery U.S. representative beat Sumner, an abolitionist representative, nearly to death on the Senate floor with a gutapercha cane. Brooks' colleagues then wore necklaces with rings made from the shattered cane. So that letter might've come from a Confederate soldier.

drewcoo 2y ago
That author: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/heartsill-william-williston https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/heartsill-willia... The mention of Mr. Lynch a line or so earlier was another threat of violence on the prisoners. "Lynch" was still relatively new at the time, too: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lynch%20law https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lynch%20law
willwagner 2y ago
I believe the same tree was used for manufacturing golf balls for a time. Before that golf balls were originally made with leather stuffed with feathers but transitioned to be the "gutty ball" for 50 years or so until they transitioned to rubber and more modern materials.
jacobolus 2y ago
Apparently in POW camps the confederate prisoners made gutta-percha rings (also crosses, etc.) out of gutta-percha buttons, as a way to earn some money. https://archive.org/details/immortalcaptives00josl/?q=gutta-percha https://archive.org/details/immortalcaptives00josl/?q=gutta-... Seems like gutta-percha rings became a confederate symbol. https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/9949365958702959 https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/994936595870295... https://books.google.com/books?id=PUZyui6tt98C&dq=Gutta-percha&pg=PA465 https://books.google.com/books?id=PUZyui6tt98C&dq=Gutta-perc...

drewcoo 2y ago

That author: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/heartsill-william-williston https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/heartsill-willia... The mention of Mr. Lynch a line or so earlier was another threat of violence on the prisoners. "Lynch" was still relatively new at the time, too: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lynch%20law https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lynch%20law

willwagner 2y ago

I believe the same tree was used for manufacturing golf balls for a time. Before that golf balls were originally made with leather stuffed with feathers but transitioned to be the "gutty ball" for 50 years or so until they transitioned to rubber and more modern materials.

jacobolus 2y ago

Apparently in POW camps the confederate prisoners made gutta-percha rings (also crosses, etc.) out of gutta-percha buttons, as a way to earn some money. https://archive.org/details/immortalcaptives00josl/?q=gutta-percha https://archive.org/details/immortalcaptives00josl/?q=gutta-... Seems like gutta-percha rings became a confederate symbol. https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/9949365958702959 https://esploro.libs.uga.edu/esploro/outputs/994936595870295... https://books.google.com/books?id=PUZyui6tt98C&dq=Gutta-percha&pg=PA465 https://books.google.com/books?id=PUZyui6tt98C&dq=Gutta-perc...