Three "English Jack" Folk Art New Hampshire Walking Sticks, 1896-1912. Each pole applied with leather cut in geometric patterns and entwined with twig loops, the first inscribed and dated in leather "FLUME 1896," the second inscribed "PROFILE," the third not inscribed.First and second: L: 38.75 and 52.625 in.Tallest and uninscribed walking stick: H: 50.875 in., W: 4.625 in., D: 4.5 in.John Alfred Vials (or Viles), also known as "English Jack" or the "Hermit of Crawford Notch" lived a hard life at sea and as a vagabond until he found his permanent home at Crawford Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He lived in a shanty he built from wood scraps that was known as the "House That Jack Built," in the woods above the Gate of the Notch, from the 1870's until his death in 1912. It is thought that Jack arrived in the mountains as an immigrant laborer hired to work on the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad. Visiting tourists sought him out to hear tall tales and purchase homemade beer, postcards, a booklet describing his tragic life and souvenirs, such as his walking sticks. Frederick Wilkinson Kilbourne, "Chronicles of the White Mountains," p.266.

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50.875 x 4.625 x 4.5 in