THE POWER OF IRON
Iron is the main strategic source of the traditional civilization. It was used as raw material for weapons, tools and objects of domestic use.
The variety of iron made objects and the special craft knowledge led to several blacksmith branches. Locksmiths made padlocks, door locks, bolts, keys, door bindings and even doors. Boiler makers produced and tinned copper or cast iron vessels with or without feet: pails, trays and boilers. More specialized branches were the hook-makers, and wire makers, and the greatest prestige had the armourers. The most numerous were the rural craftsmen, the furriers, present in every settlement. Their main job was to make horseshoes and furriery nails. Due to their capacity to mend and to make tools and agricultural accessories, they gained social prestige, their workshop becoming the central place of the village. SzP
THE LIFE OF WOOD
The wood, offered in abundance by the woodlands of Satu Mare, is the defining element of the traditional culture and it is used to be the main source for material needs. Wood is the raw material for the devices of the traditional culture: presses, mills, lathes, car and its wheels, pulleys and mediaeval war machines. The wood architecture of our region has realized treasured monuments like houses for living and wood churches. The wood also widens its range of use to objects of domestic use, tools, furniture, cases, spoons, bowls, salt cellars and gourds. We cannot miss the musical instruments out of this list, specially the flutes, which are so specific to the traditional life.
It is to be noticed the difference between the tools and domestic objects made within the autarchic homesteads and the art in the handicraft woodwork. The differences focus on the functional destination of the objects, the essence of wood and the technique used. Beside carpenters and architects specialized in wood buildings, it is worth to mention the joiners, producers of furniture, of doors, window frames, and other functional parts inside the house. The fir tree or oaken shingle is made by a shingle splitter; spoon makers obtain spindles, bowls, and different dishes by shaping. Storage vessels of all size like casks, buckets are made of beech tree or oaken (occasionally fir tree) staved by coopers.