Gourds as canteens

[Old Reb]

I have seen references to gourds being used to carry water when canteens were unavailable. I would think that this was mostly early war, but am not certain. Also, how were the gourds carried? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[KarinTimour]

Dear Tom:

I've got a gourd that I use to carry water at events -- mind you I'm a civilian, but I know they used gourds before and after the war, and I suspect that those soldiers who used them had done so as civilians.

The type of gourd you want is called a "bottle gourd" and it resembles what I've heard called "Martin gourd". Martin gourds, or at least the ones that I've seen have a large bulbous bottom, and taper towards the top, so you can hollow out the bottom part and put a hole in it and hang it in a tree to attract Purple Martins. My bottle gourd has a definate "hour glass shape" and holds a little over a quart of water. The upper portion holds about half a cup, the rest of it in the bottom section.

I was given mine as a gift when I was in Louisiana, so I got it when it had been dried, hollowed out and even had a cork in it. I tied a strip of homespun around it so that I could wear it around my shoulder and I've never looked back. Mine was treated with beeswax, which tends to loosen up and come free -- every so often I get a mouthful of wax clumps along with the water.

I don't know much about gourds, and this one is holding up very well after about 5 years of use, but I know that sooner or later it's going to bite the dust, so I've been gathering information about them.

Some have said that you need to let it dry on the vine in the fall -- don't know if this is true or not. I've also heard that one of the ways of loosening up the gourd innards in the bottom "section" of the hourglass is to jury rig a tube of some sort on the end of a Dremel and attach a piece of weed whipping string. Sounds good, but I've never tried it. Might be the answer to cleaning out gourds, or just something someone thought up to see if I'd believe them..... Once you get the innards out of the gourd, the jury seems to be divided on whether to warm up some beeswax and swish it down in there to seal it. Mine was and it's served me well.

If you do find someone who sells them, or if others know where I could get a replacement, I'm interested in all leads.

I can't stress enough how much I really bless the friend who gave me this -- it's one of my most favorite and useful reenacting tools.

Sincerely,
Karin Timour
Domestic Arts and Honorable Trades Society
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[tmdreb]

Karin,

Try Ebay for gourds. A search will bring up a good quantity of gourds that are already dried and ready for some final finishing for use as a canteen. They even have "canteen gourds" that really look a lot like a Federal smoothside tin canteen. Good news is, they sell for very cheap. If you wanted, you could set up a whole company with them for the price of one good tin canteen. It looks like you'd need to cut off the stem, cut a whole for a cork, and line it with beeswax before use. Personally, I'd rather just deal with the dried product than wait almost two years to let some dry before they can be used.

[Alamo Guard]

[QUOTE=tmdreb]Karin,
Just buy two gourds, cut the side off one and make the "camp dipper" for your water. They were used alot for water barrels and "ollas", clay water containers here in the southwest.

[KarinTimour]

Dear Tom, Phil and Dusty:

I scoped out the gourds on Ebay and I think you're totally right, this is the way to get something to start working on. While a dipper is a nice idea, I'm not often near open water sources where I could use it. I have learned that I must have a water source with me all the time, or I get caught up in whatever I'm doing and forget to drink enough water. Given the several layers of clothing I'm wearing, it's a set up for heat stroke. The first year of my reenacting, at every event they carted at least one or two women off in ambulances with heat stroke because they didn't drink enough water. I started to think that it was a normal part of civilian reenacting. It was a very salutory lesson -- the one event where I hadn't thought through an appropriate water container I definately didn't drink enough and got extremely dehydrated.

But I'll keep the gourd dipper idea in mind if there is an event upcoming where we have to furnish a kitchen, as there are some very interesting looking gourds on those ebay listings.

Sincerely,
Karin Timour
Domestic Arts and Honorable Trades Society
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[huntdaw]

This discussion has been interesting from the civilian point of view. I have also seen gourds used as water containers and they are fine indeed.

However, the original question regarded military use I believe and I am also curious as to whether there is documentation of such use. I would not be surprised to see early militia or units like the Missouri State Guard having individuals equipped with gourd canteens but is there evidence of that being so or any other use of such things later in the war?

[Yellowhammer]

Tom,

In your post, you state, "I have seen references to gourds being used to carry water when canteens were unavailable."

We had a lengthy discussion on this last year and nobody was able to come up with any documentation for the military use of "gourd canteens" so I'd be very interested to hear what references to said use you have found.

Thanks,

[Old Reb]

Mr. Stillwagon,
By Grand Daddy called it spliting hairs, but I will refer to it as semantics which is the meaning and changes of meaning pertaining to words. The word I used was "references" which means to mention, or to direct attention or thought, or to make an allusion, which is a casual mention of an incident either directly or by implication. I did not use the word documentation in my post. I would not have posted the question if I had had documentation, for there would have been no need for the knowledge since it was already at hand. As for the lengthy discussion made previously on this forum, I did not see that discussion and since the former information is no longer available, I had no knowledge that the discussion had been covered. The reference to gourds being used by Civil War soldiers was made in response to reading the guidelines for an event being posted on
the events forum. I certainly would like documentation concerning gourds being used. Since a reference can have many meanings and not to be confused with documentation, I was only asking a simple question and looking for help. I will certainly be more careful with my word choice when using this forum in the future. I will also do the best I can to see if I can find some documentation concerning the use of gourds to carry water by Civil
War soldiers. Thank you Mr. Stillwagon for the pendantic response to my humble post.

[tarwater_mess]

I have seen references to gourds being used to carry water when canteens were unavailable.

"Seen" implies documentation.

[Old Reb]

Seen implies I saw reference to it. As previously stated, the use of a gourd in place of a canteen was listed under the guidelines for an event in the event forum. Saying I have seen is the way many of us folks down in the deep South say things. I apologize for misleading anyone or getting their hopes up that I somehow had knowledge and documentation that they do not have. I am certain that if they had such documentation, they would have kindly answered my question in a civil manner and without implied insult. Now, back to the original question: I have seen listed under some guidelines that gourds are acceptable as a substitue for canteens. Does anyone know or have documentation to this reference. Humbly, I ask.