A
backscratcher (occasionally known as a
scratch-back or
magonote) is a
toolA broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more...
used, as the name would suggest, for relieving
itchItch is an unpleasant sensation that evokes the desire or reflex to scratch. Itch has resisted many attempts to classify it as any one type of sensory experience. Modern science has shown that itch has many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasant sensory experiences, their behavioral...
es for areas that cannot easily be reached just by one's own hands, typically the
backThe human back is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck and the shoulders. It is the surface opposite to the chest, its height being defined by the vertebral column and its breadth being supported by the ribcage and shoulders...
. in Japan is literally the hand of grandchild, use magonote instead of ask grandchild to scratch.
They are generally long slender rod-shaped tools, with a knob on one end for holding and a
rakeA rake is an agricultural and horticultural implement consisting of a toothed bar fixed transversely to a handle, and used to collect leaves, hay, grass, etc., and, in gardening, for loosening the soil, light weeding and levelling, removing dead grass from lawns,...
-like device, sometimes in the form of a human
handThe hands are the two intricate, prehensile, multi-fingered body parts normally located at the end of each arm of a primate. They are the chief organs for physically manipulating the environment, used for both gross motor skills and fine motor skills...
, on the other end to perform the actual scratching.
A
backscratcher (occasionally known as a
scratch-back or
magonote) is a
toolA broad definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other. The most basic tools are simple machines. For example, a crowbar simply functions as a lever. The further out from the pivot point, the more...
used, as the name would suggest, for relieving
itchItch is an unpleasant sensation that evokes the desire or reflex to scratch. Itch has resisted many attempts to classify it as any one type of sensory experience. Modern science has shown that itch has many similarities to pain, and while both are unpleasant sensory experiences, their behavioral...
es for areas that cannot easily be reached just by one's own hands, typically the
backThe human back is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck and the shoulders. It is the surface opposite to the chest, its height being defined by the vertebral column and its breadth being supported by the ribcage and shoulders...
. in Japan is literally the hand of grandchild, use magonote instead of ask grandchild to scratch.
Composition and variation
They are generally long slender rod-shaped tools, with a knob on one end for holding and a
rakeA rake is an agricultural and horticultural implement consisting of a toothed bar fixed transversely to a handle, and used to collect leaves, hay, grass, etc., and, in gardening, for loosening the soil, light weeding and levelling, removing dead grass from lawns,...
-like device, sometimes in the form of a human
handThe hands are the two intricate, prehensile, multi-fingered body parts normally located at the end of each arm of a primate. They are the chief organs for physically manipulating the environment, used for both gross motor skills and fine motor skills...
, on the other end to perform the actual scratching. Though a backscratcher could feasibly be fashioned from most materials, most modern backscratchers are made of
plasticPlastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic amorphous solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products...
, though examples can be found made of
woodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
, whalebone,
tortoiseshellTortoiseshell can refer to:* tortoiseshell material, made primarily from the shell of the Hawksbill turtle* a Tortoiseshell cat* a pattern used in clothing and jewellery* the Small Tortoiseshell, a European butterfly...
,
hornA horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...
, cane,
bambooThe bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Some are giant bamboos, the largest members of the grass family. Bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants in the world...
or occasionally
ivoryIvory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal....
. Backscratchers vary in length between 12 and 24 ins. (30-60 cm.).
Backscratchers through history
The first backscratchers were used by the
InuitInuit is a general term for a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, and Alaska...
and were carved from whale teeth. However, in recent history it was unquestionably also employed as a kind of rake to keep in order the huge "heads" of powdered hair worn by ladies in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In the past, backscratchers were often highly decorated, and hung from the waist as accessories, with the more elaborate examples being silver-mounted, or in rare instances with an
ivoryIvory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal....
carved hand bearing rings on its fingers. The scratching hand was sometimes replaced by a rake or a
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
's
clawA claw is a curved, pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger in most mammals, birds, and some reptiles. However, the word "claw" is also often used in reference to an invertebrate. Somewhat similar fine hooked structures are found in arthropods such as beetles and spiders, at the end...
. Generally, the hand could represent either a left or right hand, but the
ChineseChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
variety usually bore a right hand.
Although not specifically used for only back scratching, young
ChiricahuaChiricahua refers to a group of bands of Apache that formerly lived in the general areas of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico Chiricahua (also Chiricahua Apaches, Chiricagui, Apaches de Chiricahui, Chiricahues,...
men in training and women going through a puberty ritual traditionally had to use a ceremonial wooden scratcher made from a fruit bearing tree instead of scratching with their fingernails or hands. Young men who did not use the scratcher for scratching were reported to develop skin that was too soft.
External links
- “The Scratch-Back,” at the end of August 19 in The Book of Days by Robert Chambers
Robert Chambers was a Scottish author, journal editor and publisher who, like his elder brother William Chambers, the publisher and politician, was highly influential in the mid-19th century in both scientific and political circles...
.