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ephemeralfolk.bsky.social

@ephemeralfolk.bsky.social

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Seasonal bot that posts daily photos and text from Avon Neal and Ann Parker's classics "Scarecrows" and "Ephemeral Folk Figures." Text may contain outdated language. Bot maintained by @fruitbat.bsky.social.

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ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 2h

PLATE 37. Three small boys sneaked out a pair of their father's pajamas to cover this frail little scarecrow. They gave him a terry-cloth head, topped it with a knitted cap, and painted on a face that looks curiously like their own. Two daubed their signatures onto the hanging board, but their art surpassed their writing so no one can make out the names.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

PLATE 35. The period-piece costuming of this gyrating dervish was no doubt discovered in an attic trunk. She has already danced her head off but refuses to stop, courting the wind as it rocks her contorted body back and forth. It is certain that no birds would raid this garden as long as she stands there doing her thing.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

PLATE 34. There is an essence of "scarecrow" about some straw-filled figures as they stand, poor but dignified, among rows of young corn. The old-fashioned shirt and faded overalls have obviously seen years of toil, probably in this very field, before arriving at their ragged end, and the dilapidated hat is shredded beyond description, but the total effect makes sense to the crows.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

PLATE 33. Solidly ensconced in an asparagus bed, this gaily colored lady scarecrow waves her arms to keep birds away from the adjacent garden. Her flowerpot head is veiled by an old curtain, and her shawl is a braided rug. The shredded parasol does little to shield her from the sun, but it ripples in the breeze and keeps eager birds at bay.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

PLATE 32. At the edge of a cove along the Connecticut coastline where real pirates may have once cavorted, this florid-faced ruffian stands defiantly daring all intruders-furry, feathered, or otherwise. He was constructed by a Yugoslavian-born gardener who took great pleasure in his annual scarecrow creations, planning them months ahead and down to the last detail. This fierce fellow seems as intent upon guarding buried treasure as his master's garden.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

PLATE 31. Last year's dried cornstalks flesh out this rain-coated figure. With a scarf wrapped about his head, he has weathered a summer storm until it has brought him to his knees.
Now, wind-wounded and weary, he is crawling to the shelter of new corn.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

PLATE 30. An old gray sweatshirt with slat-stretched arms is hung over a flowerpot to create this scarecrow's simple lines. It is propped up and guards nothing more than a field of clover. In place of a head it has a stick wrapped in silver foil which glitters mystically in the sun.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

PLATE 29. Whoever designed this sloe-eyed beauty gave her a rim-wracked bucket for a bonnet and a flowery oilcloth cloak. Her body is only a slanted post, but it glides gracefully along the garden path as she models these latest fashions. Her professional name, according to the signature beneath her stiff paper face, is Agnes Twitchell, but the sun is rapidly bleaching that to oblivion.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

PLATE 28. This contemplative figure seems more likely to court butterflies than scarecrows as it glides softly among clustered garden flowers. Its fetching costume is no more than a textured bathrobe and an old kitchen apron tied into a bonnet shape.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

PLATE 27. This cocksure dancer advances with upraised arms that flutter loose sleeves in the wind. It seems that he has been staked out to guard a tumbled wall, but that is futile so he has turned his talents to scarecrow choreography.

000

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

PLATE 25. There is enough
Shaker-like simplicity about this austere cruciform to suggest unintended poetry as it stands silhouetted against an ominous sky. Its white cotton shift is flimsy attire for the impending storm but it renders an unforgettable graphic image.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

PLATE 24. Careful costuming plus an alert expression gives this perky little scarecrow a dapper look completely in keeping with the neat vegetable patch he administers. He stands firm at the gate, leather-jacketed and hard-hatted, his peg leg rooted in the earth, ready to brandish his crutch at the first sign of intrusion.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

PLATE 23. The mid-August sun casts a short shadow as this spindly effigy thrusts out its arms in resignation over the parched acre of sand it has failed to preserve. Its sparse frame and bloated belly suggest slow starvation. Its hollow-eyed babushka-covered head is a battered bowling ball.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

PLATE 21. This exotic, multi-appendaged Kali of the fields, waves her arms ceremoniously in a warm spring shower. Raindrops cling to her many fingertips like precious jewels, while the scent of blossoms perfume her lush domain. Her porcelain pot face hides demurely beneath the drooping brim of her enormously peaked straw hat, the kind worn in far-off islands of the sun. The idea of a six-armed scarecrow graphically changes this form into a beautiful ephemeral folk figure.

PLATE 22. This is a rear view of the Kali-like figure in Plate 21.
She has been left standing far beyond any practical purpose, and has weathered magnif-cently. Her snow-laden arms flail the frigid air like a spectral windmill with furled sails.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

PLATE 20. Posed stiffly in a patch of knee-high corn this caricature of a lordly gentleman peers at his new surroundings through a bleary monocle. A weather-beaten rubber mask gives him the grotesque features that keep all woodchucks and crows at bay during his summers visit down on the farm.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

PLATE 19. Bib overalls with galluses and assorted pockets for plug tobacco, binder twine, a dollar watch, a pocket knife, and a big red bandanna used to be the farmer's common uniform.
Nowadays one sees them few and far between, least of all on ragged scarecrows. However, a faded, baggy pair turn up on this hard-working fellow, and their worn and dusty essence inspire an old-fashioned confidence that such pastoral scenes still exist in this hectic world.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

PLATE 18. Often the simplest of discarded garments make picture-book impressions. A moth-eaten moose-and-snowflake patterned sweater with its arms unraveled almost out of existence and a lady's peaked hat from the 1930's gives this scarecrow its singular attraction. The well-kept garden offers mute testimony to its effectiveness.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

PLATE 17. There is a simple elegance in the folds of this old fur coat as it clings to a rough wooden cross, its waist gathered in with binder twine, and exposed to all weather. Months of alternating sunshine and rain have given it a rich patina and transformed it into a beautiful graphic image.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

PLATE 16. An almost lifelike quality is realized in this unusual manikin by the use of a trans-parent, molded plastic mask.
On wet days, the hat and black vinyl raincoat glisten shiny new.
The field has long since gone to weeds, but this sinister scarecrow remains with its gloved, string-slung hand extended in a deceptively friendly gesture, as though welcoming all comers-even crows.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

PLATE 14. This black-robed figure had served his scarecrow's purpose the year before, and has ended up by being used to buttress a sagging post. The unintended effect is startling beyond belief. It is reminiscent of a medieval religious procession with a cross-bearing penitent making his way slowly over a stubbled field.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

PLATE 13. If scarecrows are ordinarily thought of as emaci-ated, then here is an enormous exception. Constructed over an abandoned set of concrete steps, which her makers consider an eyesore, this fat lady presents a truly bizarre appearance. Much concern and planning has gone into her costume. Her glistening face is made of silver foil wrapped around a bundle of rags and framed by a frilly tulle hat. The jeweled medallion, that hangs from her neck, is a circular highway reflector. A flat kitchen sponge is strapped over her shoulder like an old purse. If her decorative qualities seem grotesque, her workaday job is even stranger, for she is delegated to keep birds away from the ragged plastic flower growing from a waterpipe stem. She performs this task un-flinchingly, squinting endless hours through empty eyeglass frames.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

PLATE 12. The well-known nursery rhyme which begins, "There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile," immediately comes to mind at the sight of this propped-up figure. Like his namesake, he appears to be making his way across an open field on a pair of unreliable, straw-stuffed legs-perhaps to a little crooked house.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

PLATE 11. There is something of the gallows about this rude figure suspended from a tree limb. An old man made it of rags and double-crossed laths. Others hung in the same garden, but this one has a cowbell around its neck that tolls mournfully as it sways in the wind.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

PLATE 10. Scarecrows are crisp and neat in early spring. This truck patch dude with his face painted on a length of board inclined his head as he posed to preserve the proud moment for posterity. By late summer there would be little resemblance to this photograph, for by then he would be faded and generally bedraggled by the elements.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

PLATE 9. Rising abruptly from a clump of black-eyed Susans, this pot-headed overseer has just put a flock of crows to raucous flight. His dark hat and windbreaker prepare him for all weather while his stoic features, traced with care to conform to the kettle's distorted surface, suggest an unassailable haughti-ness.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

PLATE 8. An empty bleach jug turned upside down provides the touch that gives this gentle bean patch sentinel a character beyond the simple stick-and-rag figure it might otherwise have been. A felt-tipped marking pen produced an indelible face to withstand the weathering effects of sun and rain.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

PLATE 7. A field of poppies seems hardly in need of a scare-crow. Perhaps his gaunt spectre was left over from some previous planting, or maybe it was made for the sheer joy of creating an image that would transform an already lovely scene into something slightly more. It stood through all seasons like a black-garbed monk preaching sermons to the flowers.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

PLATES 5 AND 6. These two
Gargantuan effigies dwarf the landscape as they stalk the furrows of a newly-planted field, daring any creature to trespass against their strict domain. They are stationed facing each other from opposite ends of the clearing and seem fully capable of communicating in stentorian voices if the occasion demands it. One wears a velveteen smock and the other a corduroy robe-fine clothing even for such trustworthy wardens.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

PLATE 4. This stern figure sports a delicate touch-a pearl hatpin stuck into his sweat-stained hatband. A white vinyl bag stuffed with grass forms his head while the facial features and stubbled beard are crudely daubed on with black paint. He appears quite menacing as his crossed eyes search the heavens for crows.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

PLATE 3. Sometimes scarecrows appear as airy spectres wafted through rows of tassled corn. This one's faded housedress, tied to the bare bones of a crossed stake and draped to catch each vagrant breeze, suggests a cape-like elegance. The din and dazzle of aluminum pie tins dancing through breezy sunlit mornings are enough to keep garden pests at bay.

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

PLATE 2. Scarecrows made by children tend mostly toward simple designs. This not unfriendly guardian of the family raspberry patch has a stuffed paper-bag head and a face sketched in with crayon. It is direct and unassuming, and proved wholly effective throughout the season.

000

ephemeralfolk.bsky.social @ephemeralfolk.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

PLATE 1 (frontispiece). From a distance this fantastic scarecrow looks like a turbaned Turk hawking his wares in the marketplace. However, a closer look reveals him for what he really is—a marvellous straw-stuffed assemblage of sun-faded apparel craftily arranged over a wooden frame. He has an actual mop of hair and a hank of wall insulation for a moustache. His Cyclopean eye roves the sky for birds as his glittering pie-tin cymbals strike muted music in the air.