At the school I attended from the age of 11 onwards, there was plenty of corporal punishment used. Most of it was in the classroom setting or around the school at lunchtime or break time and was by any of the teachers using a variety of implements - probably most commonly the plimsoll (slipper/gymshoe/dab - whatever you call it). I'd put money on a bet that none of these were ever formally recorded in any sort of punishment book and were, therefore, almost certainly illegal. However, for the most serious cases you could be caned although this was the preserve of the headmaster or his deputy in the privacy of their office. I never experienced that first hand but on one occasion the deputy headmaster did threaten to cane everyone in our class and to underline his threat he brought along the official school cane. I clearly remember the shape of it was not dissimilar to the one pictured here. The odd thing is that although there are plenty of websites offering for sale reproductions of school canes - usually of rattan or dragon cane - they are generally offered as either straight canes or with the classic crook handle. I have never seen any on offer of this sort of shape at the handle end. Can anyone shed any light on what we're looking at here and also, perhaps, if anyone does sell canes of this type?
7 comments:
I'm not sure its a cane in that sense but something else used as one. I have no idea what it is but my younger self would not have wished to encounter it.
Old Tom
Probably an officers swagger stick. they had a myriad of shapes and decorations at the holding end.
Dear James,
I think it's a rattan root.
I'd be onlt too happy to give you more information if contact me on etln75@gmail.com. I'm not very computer literate and I find the limitations of the comments form rather frustrating.
Thanks, by the way for your excellent writing, and your similarly excellent blog. I only found the latter this morning when I was searching for a sequel to 'The Spanked Schoolgirl: Book One'.
Tried writing myself once, but fell between the two stools of highbrow modernism and crude pernography –something you've managed to avoid.
All the Best,
Michael
http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo/rattan-poles.html#rootendrattan
Try this, James,
M.
http://www.franksupply.com/bamboo/rattan-poles.html#rootendrattan
I don't know if my comment went through. Trying again.
:-)
M.
Dear James,
Never encountered anything like this before, and it's hard to be sure what it is from the low resolution image, but, I'd guess that its the root end of a rattan palm.
I've encountered living plants in the Sri Lankan rain forest. They're vines, lianas actually, that can grow to quite improbable lengths, so there won't be many root ends for each usable cane length. Nor, unless they're gathering for a specific novelty market will they necessary collect the root. Easier just to cut the vine with a machette.
I found this, however: https://titicane.trustpass.alibaba.com/product/50016713756-230459952/Raw_manau_rattan_cane_roots.html?spm=a2700.8304367.prewdfa4cf.4.214642f10l9gDU The commodity seems to exist.
Incidentally, since I presume that you, James, will be the first to read this, I'd like to thank you for the effort you've obviously put in.
I hadn't lost my comment after all.
Michael
Fascinating James - great to see your cane ! :-)
I am not too sure of the botanical sourcing of this cane, James. I am more than familiar with flexible, rattan "switches" (Southern domestic style) which I gotten a bunch of.
I sure have a number of canes at home, which played an important role in my life as a Christian-raised child & as a strict mother of two daughters, myself.
My canes are high quality rattan & ultra-thin & ultra-flexible, as will be explained.
My prize possession, of big sentimental value is my own childhood cane from 1960s. Oh my ! This sure is valuable already, James, IMHO ! My mother used it to tan my bare botty as a naughty child, as part of normal, loving, parental discipline (advocated by the Church & by most citizens of the South USA !) My mom is still alive in her 80s. We still talk about spankings. It's a Southern tradition, albeit not a common family conversation in UK/Europe.
My wonderful, cute lil' sister (approaching 60 years of age already ha-ha !) gotten jealous of me having myself this cane; because naturally, she gotten her bare bum whooped with it by mom too throughout her childhood. We often gotten whooped together, of course.
When I gotten married in the early 1980s, my mother gave the cane to my hubby saying that he was now responsible for tanning my hide, ha-ha ! It was no longer a mother's duty ! Oh my ! I sure do like to study & look at this "botty smacker" cane (oh the memories !!) , but I keep it real safe because of its value to me. It is over fifty years' old !
I gotten God-blessed with my two daughters (mid-1980s) & so I purchased a cane for their own discipline at home. My hubby chose not to spank our girls (which I respected) & so all punishments were my responsibility. Like mother, like daughter - as a strict, conservative, christian mother I am a staunch supporter of corporal punishment, James. It underpins my faith, family values & social mores. My girls gotten no wishy-washy chastisements.
I cannot abide one bit, all this PC, naughty steps, time-outs nonsense, James. And in Georgia, PC did not exist at the time in the 80s/90s, Thank the Lord. Oh my ! Spankings simply gotten into Southern culture & our suburban social norms & endorsed by the Church & Y'all !
As my girls approached age 8, I purchased a high quality, extremely flexible, light, whippy-thin, rattan "botty smacker" to cure lies & tame tantrums (identical to my childhood cane). In their early years my daughters went (bare bottomed) over my knee for the rubber spatula/hairbrush after misbehaving. Some moms of my daughters' friends gotten canes like me, but the fabled Southern strap (& paddle) was more common in the neighbourhood.
This much-feared "switch" for my girls produced a totally harmless but real ferocious sting on the sensitive skin of their bare backsides, which is the idea of a mother's chastisement aka a good, salutary spanking. I always pulled their knickers down to apply the cane, as I believe parental spankings should only be administered on tender bare seats (like I gotten it as a child !) It is farcical to spank through protective coverings. Maximum sting, maximum safety & maximum humbling too already. It works !
"Spanking with love" as we moms say, is harmless but a bare, sore botty was guaranteed for my daughters over the years from this "hornets nest" cane kept in the cupboard. This is a Southern States, Christian-philosophy mantra,"Spare the rod spoil the child."
These thin, flexible canes produce a real, intense surface burn on the skin of the bottom, but for sure no bruising, which is absolutely crucial for loving admonishment. My daughters (now in their 30s) are fiercely pro-spanking & thank me for my parenting. Resenting one's parents for a bunch of well smacked bottoms is not a Southern trait, James. Corporal punishment at home is a normal fact of life.
Regards & thank you as always, James.
Brenda xx
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