Scarecrow Face Paint

Creatures made of straw, dressed as goblins or other dark spirit forces have long been part of folklore agricultural America. They were designed to scare the intruder as crop-eating birds and animals, and thieves who steal the products of the garden. In some cases, it was believed that the abundance of scarecrows as advocates encouraged. Throughout history there have been protectors of the culture that may invite the divine blessing of the gods as food Priapus, the Greek god of farmers. In all cases, so inviting or frightening, scarecrow had important work to do, they took care of the crops when the farmer was not far.

Historically, the bogeyman that we have here in America has a strong kinship with the spirits of other scarecrow worldwide. As a protector of crops has been the bugbear of the Slavic develop "minds of the field." Starch Polish (spirit), for example, had the reputation of using riddles and hard questions about the suspected thieves with threats of disease for intruders who answered incorrectly.

The spirit of Russian soil polevoj past the forest on the ground at noon and punished those he found damage to crops.

Centuries before scarecrows appeared in the fields, however, the task of scaring the crows were handled by children. According to "scarecrow" (Storey Books) by Felder ground, Captain John Smith and his crew reported settlers in Virginia observed that "small round huts woven of vines and bark perched on wooden posts. They soon discovered that was one of the children and fall main tasks was to hide in the houses until the crows basket and deer came into the fields to eat. "

It was noted that the children would then chase the intruder, making loud noises and drums to keep them away.

Modeled on the Indians, British colonists took to hanging strips of cloth and animal skins in their fields. In the 17th century, these early scarecrows, dressed in discarded clothing, began to become more human.

Thomas Jefferson mentions three of them in the Farmbook, a guide to the farm, he published in 1826.

In the 19th century, the American scarecrow began to be used for decoration as well as for practical reasons. Creative expression is more widespread and as the modernization of agricultural techniques such as chemical farming on the horizon, the harvesting of these figures evolved into a more decorative and artistic work, including appearances in films.

The most notable is in The Wizard of Oz. He scarecrow, looking a bit like the cornfield in Kansas scarecrows that are perched on posts so that they can be seen above the stalks of corn, Guides Dorothy is lost to the Emerald City where she finds a way back home. But before the film classic The Scarecrow came a silent film by Buster Keaton in 1920 featuring a scarecrow who comes to life and gets in the way of the machine that has forever changed the agricultural landscape.

scarecrow today is in many harvest festivals and school gardens throughout the country. Dressed realistically the best clothes, hand-painted faces and sculpted body wire, definitely scare sinister faces red and black claws, or oddly placed on a bicycle or foster care, such as picnics, they create a unique landscape garden - on the porch and in the garden - that is memorable.