Woogei Board - What is a Bottle Tree

In Africa the kongo tree altar is a tradition of honoring deceased relatives with graveside memorials. The family will surround the grave with plates attached to sticks or trees. The plates are thought to resemble mushrooms, calling on a Kongo pun: “matondo”/”tondo” [the kongo word for “mushroom” is similar to their word “to love”]. During the slave trade this tradition migrated to the southern United States where the slaves would place bottles in trees in hopes that the evil spirits would go into the bottles and be trapped. Once the evil spirits were trapped the slaves would cork the bottles and throw them into the river to wash away the evil spirits. The bottle tree is based on the belief that the shiny, colored glass can attract and then trap the evil spirits. From this migration to the south and practiced by the slaves, it then developed over the years to the share croppers, and found a home in the music of the Delta, most notably blues and roots music.

Each Woogie Board has a bottle tree engraved on the back to keep the tradition of our local music and history relevant to Cody’s instrument, and below the roots the initials, J.L.D, in honor of the late, great Jim Dickinson.