This absorbing and profusely illustrated book describes in detail scores of early American tools and the wooden and metal artifacts made with them. Informally and expressively written, the text covers bulding tools and methods; farm and kitchen implements; and the tools of curriers, wheelwrights, coopers, blacksmiths, coachmakers, loggers, tanners, and many other craftsmen of the pre-industrial age. Scores of pen-and-ink sketches by the author accurately depict "special tools for every job," among them a hollowing gouge, hay fork, cornering chisel, apple butter paddle, boring auger, mortising...

When this book was first published in the mid-1950s, the author was concerned that such functional structures as the American barn and the covered bridge would soon give way to progress and be replaced by "modern" elements. Today, a number of these sturdy, beautifully proportioned barns and bridges are still standing monuments to the skill and keen eye of their original builders. This lovingly written book, accompanied by more than 75 of the author's own sketches, provides a reliable record of those vanishing forms of architecture. Accurate line drawings depict a variety of barns, such as...

A delightful blend of serious meteorology and beautiful illustrations, this informative book displays the many talents of Eric Sloane. A writer, landscape painter, weather forecaster, and authority on early American history, Sloane takes readers with him on a voyage of discovery as he traces a single air mass from the Canadian Rockies to northern New England. A vivid narrative and the author's own pen-and-ink sketches describe the progress of the air mass over America, and tell about its encounters with other elements of weather systems and with Americans from a variety of backgrounds.

For his fifteenth birthday in 1805, young Noah Blake's parents gave him a little leatherbound diary in which he recorded the various activities on his father's farm. This reprint of an actual early nineteenth-century book provides today's readers with a delightful rarity -- a view of bygone days through the eyes of a young boy. Eric Sloane has taken the notebook with its brief comments and expanded the daily entries with explanatory narrative and 72 of his own remarkable drawings.
Verbal and graphic sketches detail the construction of an entire backwoods farm as well as such common tasks...

The old-time country store was more than just an emporium. With its pot-bellied stove and barrel of common crackers within reach of whoever had the time for chatting, this time-honored institution was also a general meeting house, a public forum, and an entertainment center. With words both wise and droll and his inimitable line drawings, Eric Sloane recreates the flavor of the country store in all its delightful moods and poses. Includes sage opinions on everything from the American necktie, almanacs, and capitalism to "the good old days." 55 illustrations.

-The book has a real reference value, but it will also offer ... hours of enjoyable reading.- -- Library Journal
From flying kites in early spring to hunting and fishing during the glorious days of Indian summer, author Eric Sloane takes readers through a year's activities as he applies his reverent touch to yet another fascinating aspect of early American life. From -sugaring-time, - spring plowing, and June weddings, to strawberry picking, weeding season, the fall harvest, and cider-making, his winning book recalls the rustic endeavors of not so long ago, when the time of year...

"Amateur weather forecasters (which includes just about everyone) will find this volume an informative and entertaining account of the why and how of the weather." The Nation
In simple language, Eric Sloane explains the whys and wherefores of weather and weather forecasting and does it in a style that's universally appealing.
With humor and common sense shining through in a book that's also lively and informative, Sloane shows readers how to predict the weather by "reading" such natural phenomena as winds, skies, and animal sounds. This beautifully illustrated and practical...

"This book is about once-upon-a-time in America." -- Eric Sloane. Writer and artist Eric Sloane had an abiding love for America and worked throughout a long and productive life to capture the American spirit in word and picture.
The America Sloane loved was rooted in the simple virtues of our native soil: love of freedom, respect for the individual, sensible frugality, and determined self-reliance -- all of which went to make up what Sloane perceived as our true American heritage.
Nowhere is this heritage more amply portrayed than in the work and ways of the early Americans in our...

Eric Sloane always asserted that "Drawing clouds and sky is an important part of art study," pointing out that nearly every great picture features sky space. With this intelligent and insightful primer, he sets out to help art students master the art of painting the heavens.
One of the first books of its kind, Sloane's guide to drawing clouds and sunsets does much more than teach you how to draw. Before the sketching even begins, he describes various kinds of clouds -- cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and other formations -- and offers homespun techniques that add texture and realism to cloud...

A delightful mixture of early American know-how and good old-fashioned gentility, Eric Sloane's Do's and Don'ts captures the spirit of bygone America in words and pictures. Combining two of the beloved folk historian's nostalgic how-to guides, this collection offers vintage, homespun advice that recalls "the joy of doing things not just the old-fashioned way, but plainly the right way."
A shining historical gem, this little book of American lore recalls a more kindly, less hurried time. Lovingly gathered by "Mr. Americana" himself from colonial-era almanacs and diaries, hundreds of...