| Antonio Lerios and apprentice Nick Toth making dive helmets | Antonio Lerios and apprentice Nick Toth making dive helmets | Still Image | Apprentices
Diving Equipment and supplies
Greek Americans
Helmets
Metal craft
Sponge fisheries
Workplace
Workshops
Teaching of folklore
Copper
Metal products
Artisans | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
Antonio Lerios and apprentice Nick Toth making dive helmets
- Date
- 1986-02-24
- Description
- Thirty-four color slides. Lerios began making diving helmets for sponge divers in 1913 in Tarpon Springs. When he was in his 80s, he decided to retire. In the meantime, Toth, fresh with a degree from University of Florida, decided to learn the trade, and he worked as an apprentice for Lerios. By 1992 when Lerios died, Toth had assumed control of the business. Diving helmets date back to the early 1900s. Once Greek divers began diving for sponges in Tarpon Springs in 1905, the diving helmet industry in Florida began. The helmets allow divers to walk into deep water to gather sponges. For more history of Lerios and Toth diving helmets, see: http://www.divinghelmets.com/pages/history.html The Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program began in 1983 with a NEA grant of $22,000. The program provided an opportunity for master folk artists to share technical skills and cultural knowledge with apprentices in order to keep the tradition alive. Apprentices must have had some experience in the tradition and agreed to train for at least six months. The first project director was Blanton Owen, later replaced by folklorist Peter Roller. The program was continued each year through 2003.
- Collection
| a_s1640_20_tape16 | Interview with bouzouki player Spiros Skordilis | Sound | Apprentices
Greek Americans
Arts, Greek
Interviews
Bouzouki
String instruments
Sound recordings
Life histories
Music
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_audio.jpg |
Interview with bouzouki player Spiros Skordilis
- Date
- 1987-04-07
- Description
- One audio casette. The Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program began in 1983 with a NEA grant of $22,000. The program provided an opportunity for master folk artists to share technical skills and cultural knowledge with apprentices in order to keep the tradition alive. Apprentices must have had some experience in the tradition and agreed to train for at least six months. The first project director was Blanton Owen, later replaced by folklorist Peter Roller. The program was continued each year through 2003.
- Collection
| a_s1640_20_tape14 | Performance by Spiros Skordilis, Emanuel Gonatos, and Nick Polemis | Sound | Apprentices
Greek Americans
Arts, Greek
Music performance
Bouzouki
String instruments
Performing arts
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/audio.jpg |
Performance by Spiros Skordilis, Emanuel Gonatos, and Nick Polemis
- Date
- 1986-11-04
- Description
- Three audio casettes. The Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program began in 1983 with a NEA grant of $22,000. The program provided an opportunity for master folk artists to share technical skills and cultural knowledge with apprentices in order to keep the tradition alive. Apprentices must have had some experience in the tradition and agreed to train for at least six months. The first project director was Blanton Owen, later replaced by folklorist Peter Roller. The program was continued each year through 2003.
- Collection
| Model boats | Model boats | Still Image | Artisans
Fieldwork
Boats
Models
Models and modelmaking
Ship models
Craft
Material culture
Woodwork
Model builders | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
Model boats
- Date
- 1987
- Description
- Ten color slides. Model boats made by an unidentified mdel maker. The Florida Folk Arts Survey was conducted in 1987 by folklorists Tina Bucuvalis, Steve Fragos, Merri Belland, and Barbara Seitz as preliminary research for a joint folk art between the Florida Folklife Program and the Florida Museum of History. The field researchers focused on those areas previously overlooked by FFP staff. The research focused on identifying folk artists and locating appropriate exhibit objects.
- Collection
| Rough edits for the Every Island Has Its Own Song documentary | Rough edits for the Every Island Has Its Own Song documentary | Moving Image | Artisans
Musical instrument maker
Video recording
Documentary videos
Fieldwork
Interviewing on television
Demonstrations
Craft
Music performance
Interviews
Emigration and immigration
Personal experience narratives
Oral histories
Instrument manufacture
Tsabouna
Bagpipe music
Bagpipes
Arts, Greek
Greek Americans
Songs, Greek
Calendar rites
New Year rites
Epiphany
Catholics
Bagpipers
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_video.jpg |
Rough edits for the Every Island Has Its Own Song documentary
- Date
- 1987-11
- Description
- Six video recordings. (Beta; 20 minutes each) Early edit tapes for the documentary "Every Island Has Its Own Song," a Florida Folklife Program-produced documentary on tsabouna (Greek bagpipe) maker-player Nikitas Tsimouris and the Greek community of Tarpon Springs. Includes interviews with Tsimouris and his family, performance on the tsabouna, local sponge boats, an Epiphany Day celebration, and the Tsimoruis family at home. The tapes have gaps for narration, insert shots, and other post-production elements. For the completed documentary, see FV-112. For the original fieldwork videos, see FV-1 through FV-17 in S 1615.
- Collection
| Tony Lerios and apprentice Nick Toth making diving helmets | Tony Lerios and apprentice Nick Toth making diving helmets | Still Image | Artisans
Fieldwork
Diving
Sponge divers
Sponge fisheries
Helmets
Metal craft
Apprentices
Workshops | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
Tony Lerios and apprentice Nick Toth making diving helmets
- Date
- 1985-07
- Description
- Two proof sheets with 46 images (plus negatives). The Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program began in 1983 with a NEA grant of $22,000. The program provided an opportunity for master folk artists to share technical skills and cultural knowledge with apprentices in order to keep the tradition alive. Apprentices must have had some experience in the tradition and agreed to train for at least six months. The first project director was Blanton Owen, who was later replaced by folklorist Peter Roller. The program was continued each year until 2003.
- Collection
| Blessing of the Water for the Dead | Blessing of the Water for the Dead | Still Image | Arts, Greek
Greek Americans
Priests
Religion
Religious rites
Beliefs and cultures
Death rites
Catholics
Folk festivals
Special events | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
Blessing of the Water for the Dead
- Date
- 1989-06-24
- Description
- Twenty color slides. The festival was held June 24-25, 1989 to celebrate Tarpon Springs heritage of sponge diving, a practice that dated back to the 1890s. By 1905, when 500 Greek immigrants answered an ad to be sponge divers, the town acquired a distinctive Greek flavor, as the Greek Americans thrived in the sponge industry. At one point, Florida provided 95% of the nation's sponges. Although today over fishing and synthetic materials have undercut the sponge diving industry, the tradition lives on in Greek families, and through tourism.
- Collection
| Images of the Sponge Industry Folk Arts Festival | Images of the Sponge Industry Folk Arts Festival | Still Image | Arts, Greek
Greek Americans
Tsabouna
Musical instrument maker
Sponge divers
Occupational groups
Sponge fisheries
Sponges
Folk festivals
Special events
Food preparation
Cooks | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_photo.jpg |
Images of the Sponge Industry Folk Arts Festival
- Date
- 1989-06-24
- Description
- One proof sheet with 36 black and white images (plus negatives). Images of sponge diving, sponge processing Greek cooking, Greek craft booths, and Tsimouris making a Tsabouna, a Greek bagpipe. The festival was held June 24-25, 1989 to celebrate Tarpon Springs heritage of sponge diving, a practice that dated back to the 1890s. By 1905, when 500 Greek immigrants answered an ad to be sponge divers, the town acquired a distinctive Greek flavor, as the Greek Americans thrived in the sponge industry. At one point, Florida provided 95% of the nation's sponges. Although today over fishing and synthetic materials have undercut the sponge diving industry, the tradition lives on in Greek families, and through tourism.
- Collection
| a_s1576_26_c89-026 | Interview with bouzouki player Spiros Skordiles | Sound | Arts, Greek
Greek Americans
Interviews
Bouzouki
Life histories
Oral histories
Emigration and immigration
String instruments
Oral narratives
Sound recordings
Guitar
Occupational groups
Apprentices
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_audio.jpg |
Interview with bouzouki player Spiros Skordiles
- Date
- 1989-06-25
- Description
- Three audio cassettes. Much of the interview at the start is in Greek. Sokrilis discusses the bouzouki, learning to play, emigration to the US from Greece, family life, teaching the instruments to others, and festivals. Recorded at the Sponge Industry Folk Arts festival, festival sounds can be heard throughout. The festival was held June 24-25, 1989 to celebrate Tarpon Springs heritage of sponge diving, a practice that dated back to the 1890s. By 1905, when 500 Greek immigrants answered an ad to be sponge divers, the town acquired a distinctive Greek flavor, as the Greek Americans thrived in the sponge industry. At one point, Florida provided 95% of the nation's sponges. Although today over fishing and synthetic materials have undercut the sponge diving industry, the tradition lives on in Greek families, and through tourism.
- Collection
| a_s1576_26_c89-029 | Interview with Greek musician Alex Platonias | Sound | Arts, Greek
Greek Americans
Interviews
Local history
Life histories
Oral histories
Emigration and immigration
String instruments
Oral narratives
Sound recordings
Guitar
Musicians | /fpc/memory/omeka_images/thumbnails/catalog_audio.jpg |
Interview with Greek musician Alex Platonias
- Date
- 1989-06
- Description
- One audio cassette. Platonias discusses his life, including emigrating to New York from Greece, his family background, learning Greek music, folk dances, naming songs, sponge diving, payment customs in Greece, and education. Recorded at the Sponge Industry Folk Arts festival, which can be heard in the background. The festival was held June 24-25, 1989 to celebrate Tarpon Springs heritage of sponge diving, a practice that dated back to the 1890s. By 1905, when 500 Greek immigrants answered an ad to be sponge divers, the town acquired a distinctive Greek flavor, as the Greek Americans thrived in the sponge industry. At one point, Florida provided 95% of the nation's sponges. Although today over fishing and synthetic materials have undercut the sponge diving industry, the tradition lives on in Greek families, and through tourism.
- Collection
Listen: The Blues Program
