Chippewa Valley Museum — PO Box 1204 — Eau Claire WI 54702 — (715) 834-7871 — info@cvmuseum.com

Pastry Brush

Emilia Kosman
Boyceville, Wisconsin

Emilia Kosman was born in Blatnica, Slovakia, in 1908. She moved to Boyceville in 1950 to be with her husband. She brought many skills to her new home, such as feather work, knitting, crocheting, drawn work, rug weaving, and drawnwork. (Drawnwork is ornamental needlework done by drawing threads to form lacelike patterns.)

Mrs. Kosman used two household items she learned to make as a child. She bundled a dozen or so short goose feathers to make a pastry brush. She squared off both the quill and the feather ends. She used them to grease pans, or to coat pastries with egg white or oil. She also used a large wing feather to dust or sweep ashes out of her woodstove.

Mrs. Kosman died in 1990 at the age of 62. She is buried in the Kosman family plot at Boyceville's Tiffany Cemetery. Neighboring family plots belong to the Yamriska, Riek, Davik, and Kopas families. In the 2000 census of the village of Boyceville, more than fifty respondents claimed Czech or Slovak ancestry.

Try it yourself!

Different ethnic groups would use what they had to make tools and equipment for many household tasks. A Bohemian family in northern Wisconsin would raise geese so they would have an abundant supply of feathers. Goose feathers were used in feather beds and pillows. One other item they made with the larger feathers was a pastry brush that they used for their baked goods.

Get Ready, Get Set...

You need ...

a half-dozen 7- 8" feathers

scissors

36" piece of colorful string

thick "tacky designer glue" (like Aleene's), which is available at craft stores

ruler

...Go!

Directions

With your scissors, cut the feather-barbs from the stem of the feather until you have a clean stem 4" from the quill end (point) of the feather.

Grab the feathers together into a bunch.

Wrap the string around the bunch, at the 4" mark. Tie in a double knot.

Wind the string around 4-5 times.

Weave the string over and under the various feathers in different patterns all the way down the stalks of the feathers.

Put a bit of glue on the end of the string and weave it into the woven strings.

cutting the feather-barbs from the stem

 

starting to weave the string through the feathers

the completed pastry brush
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