For a full list of entries, contributors, and more, visit the Encyclopedia of American Folk Art web site. This is the first comprehensive, scholarly study of a most fascinating aspect of American history and culture. Generously illustrated with both black and white and full-color photos, this A-Z encyclopedia covers every aspect of American folk art, encompassing not only painting, but also sculpture, basketry, ceramics, quilts, furniture, toys, beadwork, and more, including both famous and lesser-known genres. Containing more than 600 articles, this unique reference considers individual artists, schools, artistic, ethnic, and religious traditions, and heroes who have inspired folk art. An incomparable resource for general readers, students, and specialists, it will become essential for anyone researching American art, culture, and social history.

La Crosse Fish Decoys is the first and only book covering this subject matter. It should interest fish decoy collectors, hobbyists, fishermen, and anyone interested in a hobby that has a solid financial return. The heyday for spearfishing in La Crosse, Wisconsin, was 1890 until 1938, when spearfishing was banned in that region. Thus given the age of the decoys used, little is known concerning their makers. Indeed, all of the known La Crosse fish decoy makers are deceased. This book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides a brief history of the La Crosse region from its earliest days until the present time with emphasis, when appropriate, to the sport of spearfishing. Chapter 2 discusses the development of the technique of spearfishing from its Asian origins and contrasts the American Indian approach to spearing to the white mens modification of it. In Chapter 3,The Mississippi River is discussed and its effects on spearing in the La Crosse Reach. The heart of the book is Chapter 4, when seventy-one known La Crosse decoy makers biographies are presented along the discussion of their decoys, not to mention, photographic examples of their work. Chapter 5 gives a photographic review of fish decoys which imitate actual fish species. Chapter 6 provides photographic example of La Crosse spears used by fishermen, and documents both known and unknown speak makers. Finally, Chapter 7 reviews La Crosse cheater decoys, jig sticks, lures, and decoy-holding boxes to round out the book.

This volume supplements the acclaimed three volume set published in 1986 and consists of an annotated listing of American Studies monographs published between 1984 and 1988. There are more than 6,000 descriptive entries in a wide range of categories: anthropology and folklore, art and architecture, history, literature, music, political science, popular culture, psychology, religion, science and technology, and sociology.

This first-ever encyclopedia of the Midwest seeks to embrace this large and diverse area, to give it voice, and help define its distinctive character. Organized by topic, it encourages readers to reflect upon the region as a whole. Each section moves from the general to the specific, covering broad themes in longer introductory essays, filling in the details in the shorter entries that follow. There are portraits of each of the region's twelve states, followed by entries on society and culture, community and social life, economy and technology, and public life. The book offers a wealth of information about the region's surprising ethnic diversity -- a vast array of foods, languages, styles, religions, and customs -- plus well-informed essays on the region's history, culture and values, and conflicts. A site of ideas and innovations, reforms and revivals, and social and physical extremes, the Midwest emerges as a place of great complexity, signal importance, and continual fascination.

Folk art is as varied as it is indicative of person and place, informed by innovation and grounded in cultural context. The variety and versatility of 300 American folk artists is captured in this collection of informative and thoroughly engaging essays. American Folk Art: A Regional Reference offers a collection of fascinating essays on the life and work of 300 individual artists. Some of the men and women profiled in these two volumes are well known, while others are important practitioners who have yet to receive the notice they merit. Because many of the artists in both categories have a clear identity with their land and culture, the work is organized by geographical region and includes an essay on each region to help make connections visible. There is also an introductory essay on U.S. folk art as a whole. Those writing about folk art to date tend to view each artist as either traditional or innovative. One of the major contributions of this work is that it demonstrates that folk artists more often exhibit both traits; they are grounded in their cultural context and creative in the way they make work their own. Such insights expand the study of folk art even as they readjust readers' understanding of who folk artists are.

Describes the lives and achievements of American Indians and discusses their contributions to the world.

Fish decoys were originally used by Native and Early American ice fishermen to lure food fish within range of their spears. Carved and painted to mimic the appearance and behavior of prey for pike and muskies, the hand-crafted fish decoy has become enshrined in American culture as a treasured form of traditional folk art. Although the practicality --and sanity--of ice fishing with spears is up for debate, traditional fish decoys have been the subject of a recent surge of interest and have become highly sought-after, both as collectables and to be used under the ice. If you're someone who appreciates traditional American folk art and you want to learn to carve your own fish decoys, then this is the book for you. Life-long fisherman and decoy-carving instructor James Cottle makes it fun and easy to get started, with detailed instructions, contextual information, history lessons, and tool tips and techniques. This book contains 22 traceable patterns for decoys including trout, perch, bass, suckers, pike, muskies, sunfish, and walleyes, plus a mouse and a frog. Every step of the process is described clearly, with instructions that will guide you through cutting, carving, weighting, painting, and adding fins and tail to your decoy. Then it's ready to use--on your mantel or underwater. With color photographs of finished decoys and tips for developing your own painting style, this is the definitive guide to making your own traditional fish decoys.