A fűzvesszőfonás hagyományos mestersége a moldvai Pusztinában
Willow Spinning as a Traditional Craft in the Moldavian Pusztina

Summary/Abstract: In the traditional peasant family, woven utensils and baskets from willow sticks for various purposes were made primarily by men gathered by an activity called collecting by ethnography. The Hungarian population of Pusztina, founded by the Székelys fleeing Transylvania at the end of the 18th century - due to its small and poor quality land - was particularly reliant on this craft, which was practiced by many as a home industry, and the barter trade was based on it. The less land someone had, the more they needed the crops they got for their baskets, especially corn for food and fodder. The canes of the willows grown next to the waters were collected, peeled, sorted, split if necessary, soaked before use, and then, with their special knowledge, turned into baskets for different purposes. The sale took place partly locally, partly with own or rented horse-drawn carriages, and further away by rail. To weave the basket, they used the simplest tools, a knife (more recently pruning shears), a blacksmith made peeling iron, and a self-carved stick-splitter. On exchange trips, for a basket, they were usually given twice as much tubular corn, or one and a half times as many grains as could fit in.

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