Dr. William R. Ferris pointed out in _Mississippi Folk Architecture_,
that “salvaged” items are common in folk structures.
Items discarded as “junk” in non-folk culture become functional or
decorative in folk culture. A tour through the Piney Woods is a study in
the art of recycling. Bed-springs become a garden gate. Prince Albert
tobacco cans decorate a flower bed, rubber tires become planters,
styrofoam egg cartons become tulips. Materials are imaginatively
transformed into new uses (Figs. 33-36).