Preview
Photo Credit
Autumn Blaylock, Collections Intern, University of Arkansas Museum
Object Date
c. 1906 or earlier
Object Type
Biological Matter, Manufactured Tools
Date
2025
Description
“Some of the old granny women still administer gunpowder and water to women in labor, believing that it stimulates the muscular contractions which expel the child...”
This gourd flask holds remnants of gunpowder and was gifted by the donor Jake O. Ry alongside a tin of Remington’s Central Fire gunpowder in 1906.
While both the original owner and artisan a mystery, the gourd flask is inscribed with the initials of R.A.T and features a rawhide stopper. This object is part of a great tradition of gourd craft within the Ozarks and the Americas as the tradition can be attributed to several indigenous nations as far back as nearly 10,000 years.4
Just as the gourd functions outside of its original intended purpose, gunpowder operates similarly within medicinal folk beliefs in the Ozarks5, focusing specifically on the practice of administering a mixture of gunpowder and water to women in labor. While there is no distinct medical research supporting this practice, midwives and “granny women,” as Randolph refers to them, alike believe that the mixture acts to stimulate muscular contractions and thus expel the child.6
4 Webb, Emily. “All in Gourd Fun.” Lees McRae University, November 17, 2022. https://www.lmc.edu/about/news- center/articles/2022/all-in-gourd-fun.htm.
5. Randolph, Vance. “Ozark Superstitions.” The American Journal of Folklore 46, no. 179, March 1933.
6 Randolph, Vance. “Ozark Superstitions.” The American Journal of Folklore 46, no. 179, March 1933.
Object Housed
University of Arkansas Museum
Object Accession Number
0006-0001-0063
Donor
Jack O. Ry
