“Hoss Chestnut Weather” & Pincushions | Sayings of the Oracle

Excerpts from “Sayings of the Oracle,” Yankee Magazine, May 1951, and Yankee Magazine, May 1957. MAY 1951 Vermont: Dear Oracle: … It is a trend of extravagant times, I maintain, that the old-fashioned pincushion is no longer in the home! Old Yankee thrift dictated the slogan: “See a pin and pick it up.” … Today miles of brass are lost and thrown away as pins! —D. deP. Answer: You’re right, by Judas! We remember cleaning out the old house where our grandparents lived and finding half a dozen pincushions filled with pins. We also found a ball of string the size of a nail keg, a pickle barrel two-thirds full of cork stoppers, and five barrels of empty bottles. A box stall in the barn was half-full of old shoes, broom handles, rusty baling wire, and the remains of 14 pairs of old overalls, all saved through the years by these thrifty souls, and we wonder what the devil for!

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MAY 1957 Michigan: Dear Oracle: … What does the expression “hoss chestnut weather” mean? Answer: Old-timers used to believe that if a man carried a hoss chestnut in his pocket it would stave off rheumatism. Our old grandfather, who would be about 120 years old today if he were alive, would always grunt that “a man needed his hoss chestnut” if the weather got cold and damp. Get more good advice at: newengland.com/Oracle

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