“Walking sticks produced in Devrek are a product of affection, delicateness and love.”
Münteka Çelebi
Our district, Devrek, is famous for its walking stick production. Walking stick production has almost 200 years of background, and it began with flax spinning winder work. Devrek walking sticks, which stand out for their artistic value, were first introduced to people with the Walking Stick Festival (Baston Festival in Turkish) held on July 07, 1984, and this festival made great contributions for Devrek Walking Stick Art to reach today’s world.
“As it is not possible to produce a walking stick that does not contain art and culture, it is not possible to maintain a culture without a walking stick.”
Indeed, seeing how art and culture cuddle each other in a walking stick produced in Devrek will help you to understand the place of this handcraft in our lives. Our rough answer to the question “What is art?” will also reflects the viewpoint and understanding of the craftsmen in processing walking sticks and will help us to understand why these products are so close to art. Before explaining walking stick production in Devrek, we would like to emphasize the place of walking sticks in historical development, and background of walking stick production in Devrek.

WALKING STICK PRODUCTION BACKGROUND IN DEVREK
Previous name of Devrek is “Hamidiye” and this district became the central town in 1885. The earliest community to live in the district was Hittite. Devrek, upon coming under the domination of Pontus Empire, Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire respectively, was captured by Anatolian Seljukians in 1079, and annexed to Ottoman territories by Orhan of the Ottoman Empire (Orhan Bey) in 1348.
According to some people geographical structure of the region looks like a sheep, and that’s why the region is called Devrek, which means open-mouthed sheep in Turkish. And according to some people the word “Devrek” derived from the word “Deverek”, which means a place where camels shed their loads.
Walking stick production in Devrek began with the primitive winder tool which is used to spin wood and cotton. Bar shaped bone mouthpieces with black tops and white center piece, and three-part mouthpieces made of cornel wood with silver or golden attaching are the transition products which made it possible to produce walking sticks.
It was stated in Kastamonu Yearbook of 1892 (1310 in Islamic Calendar) that “Chests, tables, consoles, cigarette holder and walking sticks made of walnut tree are remarkably good…” and it demonstrates that walking sticks were produced in Devrek in 1892. Artisan Salman held exhibitions in “week of economy and domestic products” held in Zonguldak and in İzmir International Fair respectively in 1933 and 1936 in order to introduce walking sticks of Devrek to the whole country. This presentation became more popular in 1950s with the exhibitions held in İzmir Fairy and in other regions. Devrek walking stick was addressed in a quiz program in 1965. Walking stick, which was about to lose out due to economical issues, became famous both in Turkey and abroad thanks to the “Walking Stick and Sun Festival” (“Baston ve Güneş Festivali” in Turkish), and the title of this festival was changed to “Walking Stick and Culture Festival” (“Baston ve Kültür Festivali” in Turkish) in 1989 to popularize this presentation. Besides the festivals, Devrek Walking Stick was promoted in the exhibitions held in Ankara and Topkapı Palace with the support of the Ministry of Culture in 1994. Several exhibitions were held in several different universities as well. Furthermore, this product was welcomed in several domestic and international festivals and fairies. Devrek Walking Stick has a media dimension as well. It was given as presents to significant notables of Devrek, and almost all of the politicians and bureaucrats ruling Turkey have one Devrek walking stick.

DESCRIPTION OF DEVREK WALKING STICKS: Devrek walking sticks are unique, elegant and stylish supports that embrace artistic values and local culture.

WHERE TO USE
Devrek walking sticks have three main features:
a- You can use them.
b- You can give them as a present.
c- You can collect them (for example you can hang them on wall).
Furthermore, these walking sticks are so steady and strong by their nature that they serve longer than the craftsman made them. And that’s why they have a characteristic of antique.

FEATURES
Devrek walking sticks are rich in handle style and there are two main groups of inlay and ornamentation used on the body of these sticks which can be defined as follows:
Handle: There are four groups of handle.
1st Group: Orthopedic handles (Modern and classic orthopedic)
2nd Group: Round (hook-shaped) handles (Fitting hooks and self-hooked)
3rd Group: Scepter handles (Short handles composing of round knob and several figures)
4th Group: Handles with figures (Handles furnished with animal head figures based on the skills of the craftsman. These figures are also applied on the handles in other groups.)
Body: There are two groups:
1st group carving figures:
a- Diamond shape
b- Notch shape (“Çoban çentiği” in Turkish)
c- Twisting
d- Snake shape
e- Other geometric shapes
2nd group ornament (inlay) shapes:
a- Patterns and flower shapes
b- Wire and mother-of-pearl inlay

MATERIAL SUPPLY
Devrek walking stick has three main parts.
1. HANDLE: Hard woods such as walnut tree, ash tree, hornbeam tree, mahogany tree, boxwood, beech tree and mulberry tree, metals such as silver or brass, or bones such as buffalo horn can be used as handles.
2. BODY: Raw material of Devrek walking stick is cornel tree grown in our district, quality of which is higher compared to other regions. Cornel tree is a marvelous tree in terms of workability, strength, and soundness and it ensures craftsmen to apply smooth inlays without any snaps; furthermore, as it is white inside, all kinds of ornaments and inlays seems richer. White hornbeam and black apple trees [BH1] are also used to make walking sticks.
3. END (Guarding point touching the ground): Buffalo horn has usually been applied on the end point of the walking stick. However, recently, craftsmen producing combs in Gerede district quit their work, and that’s why there’s a shortage of quality horns, and hence technological rigid plastic called polyamide, which is very easy to use, is applied instead of horns.

STORAGE
The trees to be used to produce walking stick should be very dry, and the trees to be used as handles should be left at least for one year as woods. To supply the wood to be used as the body, lumberjacks begin to cut sticks (which is called “değnek kesme” in Turkish) when water is low. And this cutting process continues before spring. Craftsmen producing walking sticks buy sticks from these lumberjacks in exchange of certain amount of money. Some parts of outer layer is stripped (both to ensure the stick to dry out faster and to maintain the white color of the wood by extracting the essence) and these woods are stockpiled and used in the following year.