The Museo Etno-Antropologico Annalisa Buccellato in Castellammare del Gulfo possesses a magnificent exhibit of items from past peasant-life in western Sicily. I can’t say enough about the glimpses it gives us into “the old days.” For example, this guitar, which of course, as a musician, attracted my attention. I’ll transcribe for you the explanation of the display: Il Calzolaio/The Shoemaker. The shoemaker’s shop was usually very small. Most of the peasant worker’s children didn’t have any shoes; the adults tried to make their own last as long as possible by setting a row of wide headed nails along the sides of the sole, so that the leather didn’t wear down whilst walking on the roads or in the fields. In the shoemaker’s shop you could find leather, cobbler’s wax, nails, and other working tools … plus a guitar the artisan used to play during his work break.
