Object number
82/5/1-24
Creator
Description
This is one of twenty four wooden clothes pegs. They were made by the Orchard family of Gypsies who lived in the area around Holsworthy, Devon. The Orchard family sold them to Mr Geoffrey Cooke, the owner of the Post Office and General Stores in Pyworthy, near Holsworthy, Devon. The donor purchased them from Mr Cooke's Post Office on 5th January 1982. Mr Cooke had been unable to sell them prior to that as he found that his customers preferred the more modern plastic or wooden spring pegs. Around 1930 pegs of this kind were the only ones generally used in the Holsworthy area and were sold by the Gypsy women, who also sold tea cloths, or through the local ironmongers.
Physical description
24 clothes' pegs: wood: metal; good condition.
Archival history
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: Pegs // Accession number: 82/5/1-24 // Classification: DOMESTIC Cleaning laundering // Negative number: // Acquisition method: Gift // Acquired from, date: C A Jewell, [...] // Store: // Condition: Good // Recorder, date: DJE, 20.7.82 // Description: Twenty four wooden pegs // Dimensions: each peg is roughly 12cms long. // Associated information: Purchased by the donor at the post-office and general stores at Pyworthy, Devon, Jan. 5 1982. The owner of the post-office, Mr Geoffrey Cooke, bought them from the maker, one of the Orchard family of gypsies but had been unable to sell them. The Orchard family have been settled in the Holsworthy parish of Devon for three generations. // References:', MERL miscellaneous note – 'Clothes pegs. // Made by one of the Orchard family of Gypsies who have been settled in the Holsworthy parish of Devon for some three generations. // The pegs were purchased at the Post-Office & General Stores, Pyworthy, Devon [2 or 3 miles west of Holsworthy] on January 5th 1982. // The owner of the Post Office, Mr Geoffrey Cooke, reported that he had been persuaded to buy them from the maker but found that his customers preferred the more modern plastic or wooden spring pegs. // The pegs are very well made. Considering the apparent affluence of this family of Gypsies (one of which is a popular after-dinner speaker dispensing traditional wisdom & a good deal of blarney) I can only believe their making represents simply a useful way of passing the time. // Fifty years ago pegs of this kind were the only ones generally used in the Holsworthy area and were hawked around by the Gypsy women (who also had a strongly selling line in tea cloths) or through the local iron-mongers.'
Production place
Holsworthy
Production date
1980-01-01
Object name
Material
Technique
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Associated subject