Yap Session no. 1 - Tramp Art

Hey, It's Kali! This is blog #1 and I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

I wanted to share an art style that has been at the center of my obsession for quite a while. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you know, you know: Tramp Art. Whenever I get the chance to find pieces like this out in the wild, I collect them for our home. I feel so lucky to have a partner who also appreciates this elaborate and heavily decorated art style.

Footed Tramp Art Box c. 1800's - $500

Tramp Art has captivated me for years because of its historical and artistic act of resilience. I think most folk art is an act of resilience - handcrafted beauty made with little to no means. Proof that art is like a weed and can grow in almost any circumstance. But Tramp Art really kicks it up a… notch?

get it? notch?.. ok cool.

Tramp Art Pedestal Box c. 1920 | $350 at auction

There’s an elaborate intricacy to Tramp Art that I can’t peel my eyes away from. Every notch is carved carefully by hand, usually from materials that were just lying around - cigar boxes, packing crates, scrap wood, tin, or bone. Most American pieces were created between the late 1800s and the mid-1900s.

Tramp Art is a working-class art form - a craft brought to America by German, Polish, Norwegian, Scandinavian, and Austrian immigrants who came here to work as farmers, miners, or laborers. These pieces were created as a way to use waste, work with their hands, and find beauty within tough circumstances - especially during the Great Depression.

Tramp/Prison Art Vanity - $650

Closely related to Tramp Art is its cousin: Prison Art. Prison Art takes inspiration from Tramp Art and uses similar construction techniques, but with materials available within prisons - most commonly wooden matches. It’s a more modern interpretation of tramp art, with many pieces made during the 1960s and ’70s. While the work was created while the artists were incarcerated, it doesn’t take away from the intricacy and artistic thoughtfulness of the craft.

Not too long ago, I found a Prison-Art piece of my own - a matchstick picture frame with two small mirrors on either side. The shopkeeper was surprised by how excited I was to find it and told me it was made locally in South Carolina by a man previously incarcerated in Columbia, SC. He created the frame as a gift for his wife, and she sold it to the shop many years later. I don’t know the exact date it was made, but I’d guess late 1970s. The shopkeeper joked that it would be funny if Dylan and I put a picture of ourselves in it “because it was made by a prisoner”… not sure what his deal was, but yes - Dylan and I now proudly live inside the frame. 😂

I hope you enjoyed this first little blog and maybe grew a new appreciation for Tramp Art. It’s incredible how many pieces have survived across decades - some for over a century. If you’re curious about the origins, methods, or myths surrounding Tramp Art, here’s a 1959 magazine article worth reading:

https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=pafolklifemag

Next blog might be about barn quilts and how they’ve made an impact across different communities. We’ll see where the wind takes me. If you’ve read this far - wow, that’s so nice of you. Here’s a little secret code to get a gift for reading about my autistic hyper-fixations: Tramp10

See ya next time!

-Kali