A Little Gourd Trivia
Gourd : ( gôrd, goord) n. [F] 
Hardshelled Gourds : Lagenaria Siceraria. 

A trailing or climbing plant related to the pumpkin and bearing fruits with a hard wood-like rind. 

Gourds are believed to have originated in Africa, floating along oceanic currents, spreading to various parts of the world.

Gourd seeds were unearthed in Aacucho, Peru and date from 10,000 to 7,000 B.C. Dried and hollowed-out, the shell of these fruits serve as bottles, dippers, cups and dishes.  

Native Americans used gourds for many purposes: water vessels, pots for cooking with heated stones, dippers, spoons, funnels, ladles, birdhouses, whistles, rattles and masks used in dance ceremonies. Gourds were used to teach their children how to swim, the gourds are naturally buoyant, so they float and hold children up much like the modern day floats and wings. 

Sherlock Holmes' famous calabash pipe, like many native pipes and hookahs, was fashioned from the neck of a gourd.

Henry Christophe became Governor of northern Haiti in 1807. At the time the country was bankrupt but food grew wild and plentiful. Most of the people that lived there made use of the gourd vine for utensils, bowls, spoons and bottles. At this time the gourd was truly irreplaceable in the life of the Haitian peasants. But as useful as gourds were, like any other useful item, they wore out.
As a new crop was ripening, Gov. Christophe declared every green gourd in northern Haiti as property of the state. The peasants could make no objection, as his soldiers went around to every village and commune to collect. A great procession of laden burros and high-piled farm carts brought them into the city. Soon 227,000 green gourds and calabashes were deposited into "The Treasury," Christophe put a value of 20 pigs on each....and to this day the standard coin of Haiti is called the gourde.

Masks constructed of gourds were often used in special ceremonies by primitive cultures worldwide.  Gourd masks were usually part of an elaborate costume used to invoke or impersonate the spirits.  The mask became a symbol of control when worn by a powerful member of a tribe, such as a shaman.  Gourds were used as the foundation of the mask face or as an an element such as a beak, mouth, nose, ears or horns.  The shaman would usually create the mask to be worn at a special ceremony, although in certain tribes a mask was created by a mask maker who would interpret the shamans dreams.  The mask maker using his talents and imagination would then make the mask.

As medicine rattles, masks, and ceremonial artifacts, the gourd became the link between visible and invisible worlds.

American pioneers carried the 'canteen'. Round, slightly flat, light and compact in shape, the 'Canteen' gourd was a perfect 'Nature Made' individual water bottle.  

In Peru, the huiro, is a  rhythm instrument which contains dried beans that rattle when it is shaken; in addition, a row of grooves adorns one side – these are scraped with a polished eucalyptus wood stick (included) for an interesting sound.

In West Africa, the Yoruba people of Nigeria added beads or shells to netting and then draped this over the gourd to create a popular musical rattle instrument called the shekerie (pronounced "shay-keh-reh"). The shekerie is still a popular instrument in many countries around the world. When the gourd is shaken or slapped, the beads strike the gourd shell and make a pleasing, rhythmic sound.

In Africa large gourds were used as cradles and baby baths.

In African Mythology, it was said that good spirits were transported to earth within gourds and that evil spirits could be captured within the same vessel.

In China, the gourd was believed to have supernatural powers and served to interpret the wishes of the gods.  

During the Ching dynasty, decorated gourds were often used for cricket cages. (The Chinese raise crickets to fight in betting competitions.)

In Feng Shui the Wu Lou or gourd could be placed by the bedside as a symbolic cure, to improve general health as well as hasten recovery.