A handful of Folk Fest visitors leave several pounds lighter.It Runs in the Family: Volunteerism has kept the Mercer Museum’s Folk Fest going for 30 years in Doylestown, Pa.
By: Amy Brummer
It finally seems safe to say winter is behind us. That means it is time to open windows, tackle spring cleaning and put away coats and sweaters. As days get warmer, the idea of a thick, cozy sweater or a heavy wool coat is enough to make a person itch. But, historically, this was exactly the time when people were thinking about them.
In 18th- and 19th-century America, thinking ahead was crucial. Next winter’s sweater depended on wool harvested the previous spring. At the Mercer Museum’s Folk Fest, which takes place on the museum grounds in Doylestown, Pa., May 10-11, sheep shearing will be one of several historic trades demonstrated.
Doylestown resident Don Nehoda will be giving Folk Fest audiences a firsthand look at the process during this year’s event. Mr. Nehoda became interested in sheep shearing in his youth while he was a member of the 4-H club. By age 16, he and a friend were branching out on their own, shearing sheep at local farms. In addition to owning a greenhouse business and coaching track, Mr. Nehoda is a sheep owner himself, which gives him plenty of opportunities to keep his skills sharp.
The process, he explains, follows a fairly standard pattern honed over the many centuries.
Sheep were one of the first animals to be domesticated, and their use by humans for food and clothing dates back to the Stone Age. Wool is considered to be the first fiber used in textiles. Remnants of woolen fragments have been found in ancient Egyptian and Babylonian tombs and ruins.
According to the Kentucky Sheep and Wool Producers Association, trade in sheep and wool has been marked with advances in breeding for food and fiber, as well as restrictions on export and production throughout history. As countries such as England and Spain gained great wealth from their woolens trades, they imposed stiff penalties on those who would weaken their control. From the 12th century until 1786, exporting sheep from Spain was an offense punishable by the death penalty. In 14th-century England, King Edward III banned the import of woven goods and foreign wool.
These restrictions ultimately carried over to the New World as the British sought to keep control over the industry and the colonies. It was illegal for colonists to trade in wool or export woolens. This would eventually become one of the factors that fanned the flames of the Revolution.
Watching these animals grazing quietly, it is difficult to imagine the profound impact they have had on culture and politics. Watching them as they are shorn, it is especially baffling, considering the amount of individual effort needed to supply an industry of its size.
While Folk Fest usually focuses on the use of 18th- and 19th-century tools to demonstrate trades and crafts, Mr. Nehoda will use electric shears. He explains that from the late-19th to mid-20th century, the shearing device was a chain-based mechanism operated by a hand crank. Prior to that, hand shears were used.
Mr. Nehoda begins the process by sitting the sheep on its haunches, which looks as if it would take a fair amount of coaxing.
"It is all in experience in knowing how to put them down and set them," Mr. Nehoda says. "You sit it up and you start at the top of the chest and you do the belly, and that opens up everything so you can get to the wool. You have to have a clean edge to start with."
This part is important because an animal has to be relaxed and comfortable to keep it from becoming stressed. He explains that a larger sheep may need to be positioned a little differently to ensure there is no pressure on its lungs. If it has trouble breathing, it may begin to thrash, stiffen, or in the worst case, go into shock and die.
The animal’s comfort is a deciding factor in selecting the time of year to shear. Once winter has passed, it is warm enough that sheep don’t need their coats, but not so warm that they get hot and agitated during the shearing. That is why once Mr. Nehoda begins, he likes the process to be as quick as possible, and why he sticks to a time-honored pattern.
"You take the belly off," he says, "do a couple passes around the back right leg and up around the tail. You turn it a little bit and do the other leg, that leg you can clean out all the way. From there, you still have it sitting up and you come up the throat and the back of the head, the side of the face, then a couple more passes along the throat. Then you turn it some more, do the back of the head, down the back of the neck and then you do the front shoulder, then you lay the sheep down on its side.
"You start right at the belly where you have cleaned everything out and you come up the side, across the belly up to the shoulder, then you go two strokes past the belly to the center of the back. Then you sit it back up, pull it toward you and start going down the other side on a diagonal toward its tail so you get the shoulder, then down across the chest to the back leg."
The whole process takes him between one and five minutes. While Mr. Nehoda notes some people mistakenly believe sheep will die if they are not shorn, he says it is a good practice to keep them clean and healthy. The annual ritual is also good for humans, not only for the materials it provides, but as a reminder that even with our technological advances, we still rely on the gifts of nature to make our lives more comfortable.
Folk Fest takes place on the grounds of the Mercer Museum, 84 S. Pine St., Doylestown, Pa., May 10, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and May 11, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission costs $8, $6 for Bucks County Historical Society members and ages 6-17; free under age 6. Family passes cost $20, $15 for Bucks County Historical Society members, and include Mercer Museum admission. Free parking at Fonthill Museum, East Court Street and Route 313, Doylestown, with wheelchair-accessible shuttles running every 10 minutes. For information, call (215) 345-0210. On the Web: www.mercermuseum.org

