Almost as soon as the war began, the South experienced shortages of many basic necessities. The war effort took priority, and the civilian population had to rely on alternative sources for food, clothing and medicine. On September 9, 1863, the Fayetteville Observer reprinted the article below from the Richmond Whig. The article gives detailed instructions for making shoes from squirrel hides. NOTE: A “decoction” is a liquid extract derived from boiling down plant or animal matter (I had to look that up).
Squirrel Skin Shoes. – Squirrel skins tacked down to a board, the hair next to the board, with hickory ashes sprinkled over them for a few days, to facilitate the removal of the hair, and then placed in a strong decoction of red oak bark, will, at the end of four days, make excellent leather, far stronger and tougher than calf skin. Four skins will make a pair of ladies’ shoes. We hear that the ladies of some of the interior counties are wearing these shoes, and find them equal in softness and superior in durability to any other. The longer the skins are left in the decoction of bark the better the leather. By this plan anybody may have a tanyard, and make their own leather, as the skins are easily and cheaply procured, and any vessel holding a gallon will serve as a vat. Any one will do well to try it.
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