Modern folks are used to living with disposable, mass-produced things that are easily obtained and easily replaced. However, in the old days, things were painstakingly made and passed down from one generation to the next. Vintage crafts echo those far-off days, and later generation can learn the skills or collect authentic examples of handiwork.
Traditional skills arose out of necessity. In many parts of the world, stone was the most plentiful material. Everything from houses, chimneys, and boundary walls to objects of worship were made of stone. Others had wood, or clay, or even paper to work with. All of the workers achieved the function they desired, but they often beautified their creations along the way. Necessity birthed art.
Essential things were often made to include beauty as well as function. Fishermen's sweaters, for example, were made to keep men warm on the high seas in inclement weather. Women spun homegrown wool into yarn, often leaving the natural lanolin in to help the garment shed water. These housewives, mothers, and sisters were not content to fashion a merely serviceable sweater. Instead, they developed many of the intricate stitches still used by today's knitters.
People needed tables and chairs for their houses, linens for their beds, clothes and shoes to wear, and tools for both indoors and out. The only way for many to get items of this nature was to make them. However, that alone does not explain the turned legs and spindles of chairs, the pretty borders on sheets and pillowcases, the trim and flounces on the dresses, or the perfect symmetry and graceful curves of many an old farm implement.
People made useful things beautiful, like baskets, pottery jugs and urns, decoy ducks, hooked rugs, needlepoint chair pads, and stained-glass windows. They improved soap with fragrance, dried flowers for their scent and color, tapered and twisted their candles, and made tablecloths out of lace. Much of the charm of earlier days came out of the artistic nature of those who needed more than mere function.
Collectors preserve this heritage, as do museums. Older objects - from Colonial days, for example - may be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. Even cloth items sometimes survive. An attic may have an old trunk full of beaded dresses, kidskin gloves, or smocked christening gowns from grandparents or even great-grandparents.
Even more exciting is the fact that anyone can learn most of the old techniques. Community colleges offer classes in pottery making, quilting, knitting and crocheting, and restoration. Shops and clubs offer lessons and mentoring. Reenactors blow glass, cast silver, make candles, and bind books in places like Colonial Williamsburg.
Vintage crafting is part of the heritage of every culture. These things should not be lost forever. Those who collect or who practice things of yesteryear are doing us all a service. Objects made of wood, reed, metal, stone, clay, glass, or textiles recall how things used to be and remind us that we can do for ourselves if need be.
Traditional skills arose out of necessity. In many parts of the world, stone was the most plentiful material. Everything from houses, chimneys, and boundary walls to objects of worship were made of stone. Others had wood, or clay, or even paper to work with. All of the workers achieved the function they desired, but they often beautified their creations along the way. Necessity birthed art.
Essential things were often made to include beauty as well as function. Fishermen's sweaters, for example, were made to keep men warm on the high seas in inclement weather. Women spun homegrown wool into yarn, often leaving the natural lanolin in to help the garment shed water. These housewives, mothers, and sisters were not content to fashion a merely serviceable sweater. Instead, they developed many of the intricate stitches still used by today's knitters.
People needed tables and chairs for their houses, linens for their beds, clothes and shoes to wear, and tools for both indoors and out. The only way for many to get items of this nature was to make them. However, that alone does not explain the turned legs and spindles of chairs, the pretty borders on sheets and pillowcases, the trim and flounces on the dresses, or the perfect symmetry and graceful curves of many an old farm implement.
People made useful things beautiful, like baskets, pottery jugs and urns, decoy ducks, hooked rugs, needlepoint chair pads, and stained-glass windows. They improved soap with fragrance, dried flowers for their scent and color, tapered and twisted their candles, and made tablecloths out of lace. Much of the charm of earlier days came out of the artistic nature of those who needed more than mere function.
Collectors preserve this heritage, as do museums. Older objects - from Colonial days, for example - may be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. Even cloth items sometimes survive. An attic may have an old trunk full of beaded dresses, kidskin gloves, or smocked christening gowns from grandparents or even great-grandparents.
Even more exciting is the fact that anyone can learn most of the old techniques. Community colleges offer classes in pottery making, quilting, knitting and crocheting, and restoration. Shops and clubs offer lessons and mentoring. Reenactors blow glass, cast silver, make candles, and bind books in places like Colonial Williamsburg.
Vintage crafting is part of the heritage of every culture. These things should not be lost forever. Those who collect or who practice things of yesteryear are doing us all a service. Objects made of wood, reed, metal, stone, clay, glass, or textiles recall how things used to be and remind us that we can do for ourselves if need be.
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