"basket weaving" revisited

[Benjamin Zimmer]

James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA> wrote:
>
> I remember quite distinctly an item on some news or fluff show in the
> '80s about a college that was in fact offering a course on underwater
> basket weaving -- apparently the material is more workable when
> constantly wet.

Here's a bit more explanation of the indigenous craft on which the
classes might have been based, from a 1956 issue of _The American
Philatelist_ (on Google Book Search):

-----
Stebbins is an Eskimo village on the west coast of Alaska, on Norton
Sound, Bering Sea. The town was named for an early explorer.
Underwater basket weaving is the principal industry of the employables
among the Eskimos here. By way of explanation -- the native reeds used
in this form of basketry are soaked in water and the weavers create
their handiwork with their hands and raw materials completely
submerged in water throughout the process of manufacture.
-----

Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Oh, man, and I always thought the _weavers_ had to be underwater!
>
> But they still could be, right?

I'm sure that part of the appeal of referring to frivolous curriculum
as "underwater basket-weaving" is that it sounds *really* ridiculous
if you think the weaver has to accompany the basket underwater.


--Ben Zimmer

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