The British Columbia Folklore Society

Material Culture.

Material Culture is a branch of folklife that includes such things as:

Quilting, pottery, woodworking, wood and stone sculpting and general crafts, the full extent of which can best be seen in books on folkart. Two books on Canadian folkart that might interest the reader of these pages are:

From the Heart. Folk Art in Canada. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta, Mar. 7 - May 2, 1983, and other museums. Illustrated with Colour and b/w photographs. Includes bibliography and index. Canadian Centre for Folk Culture Studies. McClelland and Stewart Limited. Toronto, and the National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada. Ottawa, 1983 256pp.
McKendry, Blake. Folk Art: Primitive and Naive Art in Canada. Illustrated with Colour and b/w photographs. Methuen. Toronto, 1983. 288pp.

Material Culture includes decorative ironwork (weathervanes, iron “Ghost Catchers” on roof ridges and the like) together with weaving styles; and the woven pattern itself might well belong to one person or family. The folklore relating to working with the raw material of yarn and wool (carding, waulking, and dying etc.) in the process towards weaving and knitting, treads a fine line between Material Culture and Occupational Folklore.

What is Folklore?

Occupational Folklore.

Oral Literature.

Social Customs.

Home Page.

Website Index.