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RAG RUG WEAVING IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 1930-1970

Tecza, Ashlee R.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1185901168

Abstract Details

2007, Master of Arts, University of Akron, Family and Consumer Sciences-Clothing, Textiles and Interiors.
My grandmother, Angela Benicki Pazco Tecza, wove rag rugs on a Studio four-harness loom in Erie County, Pennsylvania, from the late 1930s until the 1970s. Using E. McClung Fleming’s artifact study model, I began research on rag rug weaving in northwestern Pennsylvania with analysis of extant artifacts, her loom and several rugs. Oral history interviews with other weavers from the same area helped me set her rag rug weaving activities into a cultural perspective. I compared my findings to those of Geraldine Niva Johnson, who completed an in-depth study of rag rug weaving in western Maryland in the 1970s. My findings regarding reasons and motivations for weaving were similar to those reported by Johnson. My oral interviews provided information on rug weaving in Erie County, Pennsylvania, from 1930s to the present day. I discovered that in the earlier decades, the decisions to weave rag rugs were often based on economics. Weaving rag rugs served several purposes in the life of farm women, like my grandmother. It was economical, and for many of those who lived during the depression era, it was a way to reuse household textiles. By weaving rag rugs, my grandmother was able to recycle clothing worn by any of her thirteen children and create something aesthetically pleasing for the farm home. Other women, in the early years, wove to supplement family income. Those who began weaving in the 1960s to 1980s usually did so for artistic reasons. They found it to be a satisfying hobby and often used their products as gifts for family and friends. Women of all decades found the rag rug weaving craft particularly suitable to home life and important for self-satisfaction and self esteem. The methods they used to learn and practice their weaving craft, and the ways they used the resulting rag rugs supports Johnson’s belief that rag rug weaving should be considered a folk art.
Virginia Gunn (Advisor)
109 p.
Folklore
rag rugs; weaving; Northwestern Pennsylvania; oral history

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Tecza, A. R. (2007). RAG RUG WEAVING IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 1930-1970 [Master's thesis, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1185901168

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Tecza, Ashlee. RAG RUG WEAVING IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 1930-1970. 2007. University of Akron, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1185901168.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Tecza, Ashlee. "RAG RUG WEAVING IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 1930-1970." Master's thesis, University of Akron, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1185901168

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1185901168
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.