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I Remember Mama are closely related to the clay tiles which were used as floor covering in that period of history in churches, “Desjatynna Cerk- va,” “Sofijskij Sobor,” and in royal palaces. Both pysanky and tiles were made by the same craftsmen and decorated with similar designs. The clay pysanky were first made in the region of Kiev around the year 1000 A.D., dur ing the reign of Wolodymyr the Great (979-1015). At the time of 1050 the clay pysanky art reached its highest peak. Great numbers of these artifacts were exported to other countries. Around 1100 the art began to decline. Within another 100 * years it almost disappeared. Toward the north at Novhorod the art of clay pysanky reached its peak at the second half of the 11th century. In Poland around the 12 th century, clay pysanky were being widely patterned af ter the Kiev clay pysanky. Today, students of ceramic art recognize two groups of clay py sanky — Kiev or southern type and Novhorod or northern type. Both types were made from mixed clay in hues of grey-pink ish to deep red. They rarely used white clay. The background of the Kiev type clay pysanky is brownish- grey, rarely yellow. The designs are yellow and greenish. Novho rod pysanky have a grey-brown- black background with a metalic glint, with yellow and green de signs. Three types of design are rec ognized in both groups: n ) the simplest design are random lines upon the clay pysanka, a) the second design are horizontal lines or one spiral which twists around from one pole to another, c) the third type is the most complicated and the oldest (known to originate in the 15th century BC). Research shows that this type was used only by the Kiev and Novhorod craftsmen. Today there are abount 100 clay pysanky registered. Seventy of these are in various museums and thirty are known through publications. There was no welcoming com mittee or relatives to greet my ten-year old mother, as she land ed on the shores of the “land of opportunity.” This United States of America was to her the only hope she had for a better life. The life of an orphan in her homeland would have been a bit ter struggle. Her dying mother realized that my mother had no other direction to go except up. and America gave ) er the only hope for this. Her battle for sur vival was rough for one of that tender age, and she had no one to help her except a handful of “Krayany” who had their share of problems. And, of course, there was the language barrier to overcome. What may have helped her to learn the English language was her familiarity with both the Anglican and Ukrainian alphabet. You must picture the immi grant of 60 years ago, to realize Kiev clay pysanky of both types were uncovered in archeo logical digs not only in Ukraine but in Scandinavia and Poland. Expeditions found 3 clay pysan ky in iSweden, 2 in Lithuania, 20 in Poland. The rest were uncov ered in Ukraine and a few in Russia. Clay pysanky are viewed by archeologists as objects which were used in international trade during the “Knyazhna Doba.” However, they were more in trigued by their meaning and purpose. It is without doubt that Kiev clay pysanky were closely related with the pagan rites and traditions of our ancestors. Their designs and shapes were symbols of rebirth, fertility and protection against evil. Today, our lovely and colorful pysanky retain their pagan shape and many designs. How ever, they were accepted into our Christian tradition by the appli cation of many symbols of our faith into their overall pattern. how she existed. There was the “hospodynya” who rented a mat tress in shifts. While the morn ing shift worked in the facto ries, the night shift slept. When the morning shift returned, the night shift left to work. The “hospodynya” cooked, washed for her boarders, advised them, often carried them through un employment, to this “hospo- ayna” grew a loyalty that re sulted in the status ot family. My mother’s first job wa-: polish ing shoos l’oi those wh > slept. To exist, she would buy 2c worth of milk, add water to it, and soak a roll in it. Life was hard in those days. Passaic and Garfield were cities of factories manufacturing wool en materials. Paterson manu factured silk materials, and the aim was to be accepted by one of these mills. Social prestige was based on what mill you worked in, and your position the higher your earnings, the high er your prestige among your friends. My mother went from door to door in the dark of the mornings, begging for work, and her persistence finally opened the doors to her. She struggled, aiming for better and better po sitions with the years, until at the time of her death she had the enviable position of weaver in the Forstmann mills, super vising 8 looms at one time. How much farther could she have gone if she had lived ? At the age of 48, she suddenly died after a short illness. When my parents married, they joined a community of Ukrainians who organized a Ukrainian National Home, a cul tural center, and it was there that our lives revolved. In those days a married woman was very fortunate to have a job. If she did, most likely she worked the midnight shift, returning home in the morning in time to send the children off to school. In those early days of immigration there were no 40 hour work Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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