Bottle Trees

What does an old Captain, think about on a rainy spring day, when its better to be ashore that upon the water? Well today along with the house chores and laundry, I decided to clean up bottles for my bottle tree. Now some amongst you may wounder, why on earth would you display to the world your empty bottles in your very yard? Well I will attempt to explain.

   

Although glass was made deliberately as early as 3500 B.C. in northern Africa, hollow glass bottles began appearing around 1600 B.C. in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Clear glass was invented in Alexandria around 100 A.D.

 

Soon around then, tales began to circulate that spirits could live in bottles - probably from when people heard sounds caused by wind blowing over bottle openings. This led to the belief in "bottle imps" and genies (from the Arabic word djinn) that could be captured in bottles (remember Aladdin and his magic lamp? This story originated as an Arabian folk tale dating back thousands of years, even before clear glass was invented). Somewhere in there, people started using glass to capture or repel bad spirits. The idea was, roaming night spirits would be lured into and trapped in bottles placed around entryways, and morning light would destroy them.

A common story is that the superstition came to the rural south with the slaves from Africa. It was thought that a tree with bottles in ones yard would keep the bad spirits, or haints, from entering ones house. This was adopted by all peoples of the region and even grew in popularity during the great depression time frame. The most favored color for this became blue.

"Haint blue" is a vivid color commonly found on window shutters, doors, and porch ceilings all over the world, especially in Southeast United States, the Caribbean,and sub-Saharan Africa. More concept than specific color, it ranges from light or "baby" blue to periwinkle to blue-green.

By the way, some references claim that because lime was a common ingredient in early paints, it would keep flies, wasps, and other insects from landing on the painted surfaces, which is one reason ceilings were painted with it. Modern paints, which don't contain lime, are probably no longer effective as insect repellents based on color alone.

 

And the word "haint" is not an African term; it is from the same root word as "haunt" - most likely from the German/French/Middle English "hanter" (c.1330), which meant to stalk, to make uneasy, to inhabit. The verb was first recorded 1590 in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The noun meaning "spirit that haunts a place, ghost" is first recorded 1843, originally in stereotypical African-American speech.

 

Also referred to as the poor mans stained glass, if you chose to make a bottle tree, you can use any color which suits your fancy. Bottle trees are mentioned by some of my favorite authors, very prominently by Eudora Welty, and James Lee Burke. I like the stories and the lore, and if my bottles offend you, don't look at them, just know I'm safe in my haint free zone.

 

Old Captain sends..

 

Information provided from "Bottle Tree History" by Felder Rushing.