What's in the attic? Tramp art

Tramp art frame with photo of the maker.
Picture courtesy of Tramperguy via Wikipedia.

(Greensburg Daily News) In the era immediately following the Civil War, many were hard pressed to secure employment. As a result both men and women were often forced to travel from town to town in search of work. These people, often referred to as “tramps,” would sometimes exchange items they had handcrafted for food and shelter.
... Early pieces took many forms, mostly functional, but some purely aesthetic. Picture frames, elaborate trinket boxes, doll houses and even full-sized furniture pieces were produced from cigar boxes and wood from disassembled crates. Continued