Quote Originally Posted by Bugbear View Post
Ok, I think I found where I saw the bear grease on shoe: at Fugawee http://www.fugawee.com/menscolonial.htm
* And for some reason that link does not seem to work. It is in their "Mens Colonial Shoes" section.

I don't see a citation for their information, so it might not be accurate, but I am sure that is what I saw what lead me to bring it up. It might be a myth.
Anything is possible, I just don't recall (off the top of my head) coming across bear grease being used in black ball.

Unfortunately, as you mention Ted, they don't cite any refrences.

The recipe I mentioned came from The journals of Charles Beatty, 1762-1769, and appeared in [/I]The Packet (volume 1)[/I] by Mark Tully.
Interestingly, in The Packet, Tully states beef suet maybe substituted for mutton suet. No where does he mention bear grease.

Also, regarding ivory black (calcified ivory dust), Tully says it's hard to find, but bone black that can be found at some art supply stores maybe substituted. Or one could collect lamp black (soot) & use it instead.

Anyhow, I'll keep my eyes open for any documentation that backs up Fugawee.