74/131/18

A prodder used in making rag rugs for making holes in the backing of the rug and drawing the wool through. Part of the Hemeon Collection
A prodder, a tool used in making rag rugs for making holes in the backing of the rug and drawing the wool through. This prodder is factory-made and is stamped 'Pat. 278280'. It consists of a hollow metal point with threading holes, set into a round wooden handle, and is used with a metal attachment in the shape of a long pin which pushes into the tube and holds the material through the eye. The prodder is part of the Hemeon Collection of rug-making tools and thrift rugs, and is associated with the samples 74/131/41, 47, 52, 65, 66, 71.

MERL Catalogue Form (temporary) – ‘Object name: PRODDER // … // Notes: This prodder is ‘factory-made’ – consisting of a hollow metal tube with pointed end, and threading holes – set into a round wooden handle. To be used with metal attachment (long pin) which pushes into tube and holds material through eye. // The method of use is as for 74/131/14 [“The prodder is usually a short tube of metal sharpened to a point at one end with a hole or holes perforated through the side of the tube above the point at depths suitable for gauging the size of the loops. The tube is set into a wooden handle, and the yarn is threaded through the hole in the tube and taken out at the point. The design is drawn on the back of the canvas which is kept uppermost, and the prodder is pushed through from the top; the yarn is then caught by the left forefinger and thumb and held firmly while the prodder is withdrawn, and moved a stitch further on.” // From “The Country Woman’s Rug Book by Ann Macbeth.]’, MERL Miscellaneous Note, Greta Bertram, 10 December 2013 – The Hemeon Collection of rug-making tools and thrift rugs (74/131/1–74) was put together by Maidie F. Hemeon. Mrs Hemeon was interested in the tradition of ‘thrift’ rugs – rugs made using old fabrics and home-made or home-adapted tools. This type of rug has many names, including ‘rag’, ‘proddie’, ‘peggie’, ‘hooky’, ‘proggy’, ‘clippy’ and ‘bodgy’ rug. These rugs became widespread during the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century, but by the 1920s the craft was dying out except in areas of poverty or where tradition had a stronger hold. The necessity for thrift during World War II brought a brief revival, but it did not last long. Mrs Hemeon published a letter in the June 1970 edition of the Women’s Institute ‘Home & Country’ magazine in which she expressed her ambition to trace and preserve all the tools used in the craft before it was industrialised. She hoped to build up a display of samples, materials, tools and coloured photos of finished work in use, for demonstration, exhibition and educational purposes, and to simulate interest in making rag rugs as a living craft rather than as the remains of a dead one. She received many donations in response to the article, and in due course the collection came to MERL. It is likely that some of the samples in the collection were made by Mrs Hemeon. Further information can be found in the MERL Archives, D79/31.