Hetchels-Toolsday

Happy Toolsday, Folks!

Hello readers! I’m Carlie, and I’m the Agricultural Exhibit Designer at the Backus-Page House Museum. Throughout the summer, I'll be sorting through various tools in the barn to get ready for the exhibit! Every Tuesday I’ll be sharing some of what I learned on our blog!

I've noticed that a common theme for tools in the 1800s was that they definitely looked like they could be used as a weapon. Clearly, function was more important than beauty in the agricultural world, a big jump from today where you can purchase bedazzled tools if you want.

The Hetchel (sometimes called a hackle or a hatchel) was used to detangle flax fiber in a way it could easily be spun into yarn. 

The sticks pointing out of the base are actually nails, and came in a variety of sizes. When the yarn needed to be very fine, a hetchel that had nails that were very close together. However, to reach a state where the thin hetchel could be used, the flax first had to be pulled through a wider toothed hetchel. 

When I read this description, I compared it to brushing hair. I have very thick, curly hair. When I use a large brush, my hair is detangled, but still keeps the curly shape. However, when I use a comb, my hair is separated more rigorously, and feels much softer.

The process was long, but necessary. First, someone would have to break off the hard shell on the outside of the flax. Only then could the flax be pulled through the tool in order to divide the material inside.

The result was two different fibers. 'Tow' referred to the material that was caught and remained inside the nails when the process was completed. 'Line' referred to the long strings of fiber that had been combed through. Both were used to create yarn, although they were very different end products. Yarn made from tow was often very coarse, while yarn made from line were highly valuable. 

With all of that work to do, if someone forget a step, they'd probably get a lot of "flax".

If you want to learn more about the tools here at the Backus-Page Museum, or want to come see our collection with your own eyes, then come to out our Civil War Reenactment on July 27th and 28th.  See you then!