Hi Laura,
I was recently at the Jourdan-Bachman Pioneer Farm here in Austin, Texas.
This is a living history outdoor farm depicting life in the 1800's.  In
their African-American area they had glass bottles hanging from trees.  I
don't remember exactly, but I think the explanation was that people would
hang these bottles from trees with, I think, grease around the rims.  The
premise was that evil spirits would be attracted to the shiny bottles, and
instead of entering the house to bother the inhabitants, they would land on
the bottle rim, slip on the grease, and fall into the bottle and become
trapped.
You'd have to check with them on the details, however.  Their number is
(512) 837-1215, or search the web for their webpage and email.

Wendy Willems
Austin Children's Museum

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).