ABSTRACT
In 1776, a Declaration oflndependence was made in Philadelphia, and the consequent War of Independence (from Britain) lasted until 1783 when the United States of America was recognized. A British Army Officer who served during this 'Revolution' commented that, whereas in Pennsylvania 'almost every farmhouse has 7 or 8 hives of bees, in New England [there are] very few' (Woodward, 1952). From 1775 the general direction of the war effort on behalf of the thirteen American colonies was assumed by the Continental Congress. One of the first banknotes of the United States of North America which the Congress issued between 1775 and 1779 included a drawing of two coiled-straw skeps in an open-fronted shelter (Figure 31.2a). Krochmal and Krochmal (1991) showed a skep on a Masonic document engraved in 1772 in Newburyport, MA. Less realistic skeps were used on later banknotes issued in various states; Wyatt Mangum found examples issued between 1837 (25 cents) and the 1860s (75 cents to $20).
