> > Those old bricks came from several sources, but most of them are obviously hand made. About half came from an old dorm that was being torn down at UT, and rumor has it that they were made by slave labor prior to the War Between the States. And they might not be the oldest in the stack.
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> Weird. I was just thinking about bricks. Somewhere, there was a story about a man who was one of the last brick-makers in America: the last, that is, who made bricks by hand. He was a very old man, and I think he was taken to Africa by some NGO to teach people there how to make their own bricks and build with them. Apparently, it's a dying art, and one that is something that cannot be learned from a book.
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> The story stuck with me as we've been talking about the dying arts: breadmaking, quilting, etc., many of which are having a resurgence. Does anyone know of whom I'm speaking? I'd love to hear the end of the story.
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> te "butcher, baker, candle-stick maker" ach
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That's a good story. I'd like to hear the rest of it too. I understand there is a trend toward that kind of thing. You are aware of the boom in quilting, and I don't think Native American crafts are made in Japan anymore. My contribution to the trend is small, but I did show my grandson how to make a slingshot from a maple fork, rubber bands from an innertube, and a shoe tongue. He has a factory made "Wrist Rocket" but liked the homemade one better.

I read recently about a group of civil engineers who went to an earthquake-prone area in South America to show the locals how to build building that won't crush you in an earthquake. Instead of heavy, brittle adobe bricks they used bambo plastered with mud. The walls were stronger, thinner, less labor intensive, and if they fell on you in a 'quake, you would not likely be badly injured or killed. They were using technology and materials that were available in the area.

Speaking of bricks, there are a number of Mexican masons working in this area. Anybody who has traveled in Mexico knows that they have a lot of skilled masons. I really like the way they can use native rock in combination with bricks, so that a wall becomes art.

I try not to wander too far off the subject. I really do.
Howard