74/131/22

A prodder used in making rag rugs for making holes in the backing of the rug and drawing the wool through. From circa 1825
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 dates from circa 1825. It is carved from ivory and is made in three parts which screw together. It is part of the Hemeon Collection of rug-making tools and thrift rugs, and is associated with the samples 74/131/41, 45, 52, 65, 66, 71.

MERL Catalogue Form (temporary) – ‘Object name: PRODDER // … // Notes: This prodder is made from carved ivory c.1825. Shaped with sharp pointed end, and a wide point at reverse end – two halves unscrew to reveal a third flat wide point. // Found at jumble sale, Mrs Hemeon.’, 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.

1825 - 1825