Now there are many different styles of work, from the plain and simple lines of the Quakers, to the highly decorated Queen Anne pieces with turned legs and curved fronts, to the ultra modern pieces that infuse wood and other materials. In my mind the best style is Arts and Craft. I think there is a lot of agreement with that choice. One of the things I have learned since I began to research the Arts and Craft movement is that the style is not limited to just the furniture. It’s a whole package which can encompass your entire house. If you doubt this, go to your local DIY store, where you will find an ever increasing supply of Hardwood Oak moldings and trim. Or go to any of the thousands of furniture stores, and even though a lot of the stuff is particle board and laminate, a lot of the designs have very strong Arts and Craft influences. When we moved into our current home, we had the standard builder’s grade painted 1 3/8″ molding on every door and window. As time and budget has allowed, we have replaced every single piece of it with wide, stained oak molding. We recently replaced the stair risers and treads with oak, and most of the carpet has found its way to the junk yard. Why, because we love the look and feel of real wood. Most of the furniture I make is either a reproduction of an Arts and Craft piece, or a variant of it. The furniture that we have purchased is either Leather or Danish Modern.

Both the Leather and Danish Modern blend well with the Arts and Craft design, Most of the early work done by Gustav Stickley, the father of the Arts and Craft movement in America, was done using the natural beauty of the Wood and Leather. The only difference I can see between the Arts and Craft and the Danish Modern, is the choice of finish. The original Arts and Craft pieces tended to be rather dark, while the Danish Modern is a light, oil based finish. Both styles of furniture feature simple lines and honest craftsmanship. Some of the Danish pieces are too eccentric for my personal taste, but I have to admire the craftsmanship.

The Arts and Craft Movement in America can trace its humble beginning back to late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. Most of the furniture of the era was being mass produced, highly decorative, and to some, shabby in appearance and workmanship. While at the same time, Europe was under going a cultural revolution, lead chiefly by William Morris, who later became infamous for his “Morris Chair”, and fellow Britisher John Ruskin, against this mass produced, and highly decorated style of furniture. These followers of the Arts and Craft Movement preached a return to handcrafted styles and a philosophy of a simpler life. The young American, Gustav Stickley, during a trip to Europe, became a disciple of the movement and the world of woodworking and furniture in America was forever changed.

Upon his return to America, Gustav opened his “Craftsman Store”, in 1898, where he perfected his unique design. His work was based on rectilinear designs, featuring mortise and tenon joinery, or dovetails. These joints were celebrated, not hidden, as it was in the Victorian pieces. One of the tenants that Gustav believed in was hand craftsman. This ultimately led to his company’s demise. In 1916, a short 18 years after it inception, Gustav Stickley filed for Bankruptcy.

While his stay in business was short, Gustav’s legacy lives on today. Many of his designs are still copied and his original pieces now are in museums or private collections. Their monetary value is unreachable for most.

Gustav had two younger brothers, Leopold and John George, who were also very accomplished craftsman. Together they opened their own company, “L & JG Stickley, Inc” in 1904. The L & JG Stickley Company is still in business today. Although it is no longer held by the Stickley Family, they still produce high quality furniture of the Arts and Craft era. Leopold and John George also believed in hand crafting the furniture, but understood that machines could be used to get the piece to the point that hand workmanship could complete the piece.

The Stickley’s were not opposed to machinery, they just the rejected the sloppy workmanship that mass production and machines brought to the work place. A concept that still plagues some work places over 100 years later, perhaps it’s not too late to learn from Leopold and John George. Today we would call this a “strong work ethic”, but what ever you call it, it worked, because in 1918, Leopold and John George purchased the bankrupt “Craftsman Store”. Leopold and John George are also responsible for the 1905 introduction of the Mission Oak design that is still very much in vogue today. And in 1922, they introduced their “Cherry Valley Collection”.

A lot of other names have been associated with the Arts and Craft Movement, too many to name. However, in my mind, no discussion would be complete without adding the names, “Greene & Greene”. Charles and Henry Greene were not actually furniture builders, but rather Architects, along the line of Frank Lloyd Wright. When commissioned to design a home, they also designed the furniture to go in the home, this was a strict requirement. If the client could not afford their furniture, Greene and Greene would require that they purchase furniture from Gustav Stickley. The Greene and Greene designs varied from the traditional Arts and Craft, their choice of wood was Mahogany, instead of Oak, and instead of straight stretchers, their Asian influenced designs have a “Cloud Lift “. Often the Cloud Lift was repeated in the bottom of the apron. Today’s woodworkers can replicate the Cloud Lift detail with a template and a router. I marvel at the skill it took the original craftsman to do this.

Another design element that identifies the Greene and Greene style is the use of inlaid ebony pegs into major joints. These pegs were either decorative, when used to cover a screw, or structural. After a mortise and tenon were fitted and glued in place, a hole was made in the side of the leg into the tenon. A corresponding ebony peg was inserted into the hole, creating incredible strength. The ends of the pegs were shaped to add visual interest.

Greene and Greene home and furniture designs were published in a magazine, created by Gustav Stickley, fittingly enough named “The Craftsman”. The magazine was also an avenue for Gustav to spread his gospel regarding all manners of life. If you were to compare the writing in “the Craftsman” to those of today’s DIY magazines, you would truly note that the authors of the Arts and Craft movement were more renaissance men than strictly woodworkers. They shared their beliefs on all matters of life.

There has been some confusion about the name, Craftsman home. Some feel that the name represents the design concepts of the Arts and Craft Movement, while other think of the “Craftsman Home” sold by Sears. From about 1908 to 1940, Sears manufactured a line of stick built homes that were sold from a catalog and delivered to the job site with all of the pieces cut and labeled. Sears had over 400 stock designs, but allowed individual customers to modify any of the Plans. Sears reportedly sold some where between 70 and 75 thousand of these homes. Out of the Arts and Craft movement, also came some interesting, and some what dangerous, methods of finishing. Gustav Stickley and his followers advocated “Fuming” as the finish of choice. Now remember, this was long before, OSHA, and the workers rights movements. The completed pieces were placed in an “airtight” room, and exposed to high strength ammonia. The tannins in Oak, will react to the ammonia, and color the wood. This is a practice not in use anymore in industry, as working with the high strength ammonia is a health risk. Just like I marvel at the craftsmanship, I often think about the workers who day after day carried the wood into the fuming rooms, having little or no breathing protection.

What actually killed the original Arts and Craft Movement? Historians tell us that World War One was the Death knell to the movement. With the country at War, most of the able bodied men left the factories and shops in support the war effort, including the craftsmen and artisans of the day. Factory productions were switched to supporting this effort, leaving few resources for furniture manufacturing that wasn’t strictly functional. Returning GI’s, brought back with them a new love for the Art Deco look which was very popular in Europe.

I think that there are probably two other factors that created the end of the movement, the 1930’s brought about the great depression, where people were much more concerned about actual survival, then obtaining quality furniture. The second thing is a problem that still haunts us today, a knowledge drain.

With the skilled craftsman leaving to go to the Europe and the Asian theaters of War, their knowledge left with them. The woodworking guilds closed down as the craftsmen left and those who took their places in the workplace were unskilled laborers. As woodworkers, I think we can all agree that the difference between an average woodworker and a craftsperson, is often training under a skilled master woodworker.

So there you have it, if you are like me, I look for every book or article I can find about the Arts and Craft movement. Not because I want to build everything in the book, I don’t have the room, time or budget for that, but because I love the style. If you’re new to the Arts and Craft style, you came at a good time, recently there has been a renewed interest, and with that brings more information, books, and CD’s. Go find a project you like, and work at it, but be careful, you might get hooked on the style.

The Jersey Woodworker has been a successful woodworker for over 30 years. To see more of his tips and projects please visit Sawdust on the Floor

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When Zhuo Ling, a native of Shangai, was named Miss China Universe of 2002, she, an attractive fashion model, became the first Chinese woman to win a modern beauty contest in the People’s Republic of China, one of the world’s last Marxist nations in the 21st century. But there’s more, of course. In the previous decades, the Communist rule, as a number of Marxist states in Eastern Europe, among them the USSR and the Democratic German Republic, did not send entries to Miss Universe and Miss World.

China Under Mao Zedong

After China’s independence in 1949, Madame Chiang Ching, “First Lady of the Cultural Revolution” (1966-76), and Mao Tse-tung (or Mao Zedong), who said which “women hold up half the sky”, proclaimed total war against the capitalistic traditions: tourism, beauty pageants, and western clothes. During that time, the cult of beauty was replaced by the cult of Mao Tse-tung. The People’s Republic underwent over 25 years of Maoist government.

In contrast to the People’s Republic, Taiwan sent a handful of contestants to Miss Universe and other international pageants in the 1960s. Against all odds, Taiwan became one of the world’s beauty pageant superpowers, along with the United States, Argentina, and Britain. On November 9, 1961, Grace Li Shiu-ying was first runner-up to Miss World in the United Kingdom. During that year, Lily Wang Li-ling was a semi-finalist at the Miss Universe contest in America. In addition, Dolly Ma was one of 15 semi-finalists in the First Miss International in Long Beach, California. On July 14, 1962, Miss Taiwan Universe Helen Liu Shiu-man finished in the Top Four in Miami Beach, Florida. Nine months later, Helen was first runner up to Miss Asia-Pacific in Tokyo.

At the end of 1964, Taiwan’s delegate Linda Lin finished third in London, behind Great Britain and Argentina. Meanwhile, four months ago, Lana Yu Yi made the Top Five in Miss Universe 1964. Otherwise, Macy Shih earned the 1968 Miss Asia-Pacific title in Quezon City, Philippines. Finally, Patsy Wu was crowned Miss Queen of the Pacific Quest in Australia in 1969.

During Cold War, Taiwan was not the only Chinese territory in the pageants. Hong Kong, a British dependency from 1842 until July 1, 1997, also competed in the United States and London. But there’s more. The 24th Miss Universe was held in 1976 in Hong Kong, a few kilometers from the People’s Republic. In the subsequent decade, Eric Morley, Chairman of the Miss World Organization, chose HK to host the 1989 Miss World.

Goodbye Madame Chiang Ching!

After the fall of Madame Chiang Ching, an admirer of Sweden’s actress Greta Garbo, the new Chinese leaders, among them Deng Xiaoping, put an end to the Maoist policies. However, despite the end of Maoism, women weren’t allowed to compete in beauty pageants. That’s why China, on the other hand, decline to participate in the global contests in the 1990s.It was not until 2002 that the Marxist country held its first beauty contest. Since then, China was one of the last places, apart from the likes Vietnam, Cambodia and Mongolia, in the world to hold a contest. Before the Communists came to power in 1949, this nation had had several beauty queens.

Zhuo Ling — A Pioneer in China

Against all odds, Zhuo Ling was crowned Miss China Universe in the early 2000s. After winning the crown, she went to San Juan de Puerto Rico, host to Miss Universe 2002. Without the financial advantages of so many of the world’s beauty queens producers, Miss China participated in Miss Universe, where she had three tests: firstly, a physical fitness evaluation, (finished fourth); an evening gown competition (first place);and finally an exhaustive personal interview with 12 international judges, among them Tatjana Patitz (fashion model), Marisol Malaret (former Miss Universe), and Christopher McDonald (performer). During an interview for the New York Times, she told, “Generally when you’re picked as your country’s representative there are some special events and you’re given some tutoring, I didn’t have a chance to help my country. And I didn’t have a former Miss China at my side. It made me pretty sad.”

But China gave a more than satisfactory showing in its first-ever involvement in MU in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Surprisingly, Ms. Zhung, who speaks fluent English with an Asian accent, made history when was first runner-up, ahead of some of Latin America’s most beautiful girls, among them Vanessa Mendoza (Colombia’s representative) and Cinthya Lander (Miss Venezuela). According to the new results, she finished second, behind Justine Pasek, Miss Panama (Russia’s Oxana Fedorova had won but she was disqualified by the Miss Universe Organization).

Miss China

Once the People’s Republic of China became a member of the Miss Universe Pageant, several beauty contests popped up like never before in Shangai, Beijing and other Chinese metropolises, as well as Tibet. At the same time, Amelia Vega, 2003 Miss Universe, arrived in China for a visit. Likewise, it hosted a host of global events, including Miss International (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 ), and Miss Tourism Queen International (2004-2009 ). Since November 2003, up to 800 foreign beauty queens have arrived to Beijing and other cities, including entries from countries which does not have diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic.

From 2003 to 2005, Hainan, a tropical island in the Chinese Sea, hosted the Miss World competitions. Two years on, at the end of 2007, Zhang Zi-lin, a well-trained contestant, was crowned as the new Miss World, making it the first Communist country in the world to produce a Miss World title since 1989.

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: Freelance writer. Alejandro is author of a host of articles/essays about over 220 countries and dependencies (and American States as well), from ecology, history, tourism and national heroes to Olympic sports, foreign relations, and wildlife. In addition, he has published some books on women’s rights, among them “History of the Women in America” and “Famous Americans”.

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KWANGCHOW, P.R. CHINA – Momentous change affecting the whole world is underway in the Peoples Republic of China, but the speed and direction will be determined here in old Canton where East meets West contrary to poetic assertion.

This bustling port city on the Pearl River delta north of Hong Kong has been China’s official trade center since 714 A.D.

In the past, foreign businessmen came here to exchange machinery and opium for porcelain and bamboo fishing poles.

Before long, China’s prize commodity will be oil. Only those nations with cash or technology will find it worthwhile to attend the mammoth trade fair held here every Spring and Fall.

China is about the size of the United States, with similar climate range and diversity of natural resources. Though it invented the tools of capitalism centuries ago – paper money, banks, printing, civil service – over-population always required concentration on food production. Consequently in-the-ground minerals have not been exploited extensively.

Today all this is changing.

Oil is being discovered in great quantity. The industrial nations are bargaining for this precious energy, price no object. Capital soon may flow to China in a torrent greater than that to the otherwise barren OPEC countries.

History may record that Mao Tse-tung, who ended a century-old civil war and unified modern China, was the last of the agrarian leaders.

Signs of change abound in this most populous Asian nation. Decades of isolation are giving way to international commerce. English has become a required language in schools. Chinese leaders welcome opportunities to visit American and Europe.

The thirtieth anniversary of the Communist Liberation October 1st came and went with little fanfare. Here in Kwangchow, as this is written, all effort is directed toward sprucing up streets and buildings for the International Trade Fair.

In Beijing, the capital, there was no rally in Tiananmen Square where the Communist Party Central Committee frequently assembles a million people for special events. Most surprising, there were no fireworks in a nation that has made an art of pyrotechnics.

The event was marked only by a “personal holiday” for workers and a banquet in the Great Hall for government leaders. Chairman Hua Guofeng lauded the achievements of the people but pointedly omitted Mao’s name.

In a speech described “of historic importance” by the party press, Marshal Ye Jianying implicitly blamed Mao for all that had gone wrong in the recent “cultural revolution.”

Mao had been forced into the background as a result of the devastating failure of his Great Leap Forward. Yet, at age 73, he fretted that the country under Premier Lin Piao was drifting away from communist principles. Carefully written essays to this effect by Mao were rejected by the government controlled press.

Finally his young third wife, a former actress named Chiang Ching, joined with the propaganda minister and two others in a plan to gain leadership through Mao’s influence with the peasants.

This “gang of four” published Mao’s call for a new cultural revolution and unleashed the peasant-based Red Guards to purge all those who had “taken the capitalist road.” Teachers, scientists and professional people were special targets. Many were killed, thousands imprisoned and untold numbers banished to collective farms for “re-education” by forced labor.

Formal education was scorned as “western decadence.” For a full decade, from 1966 to 1976, not one college student was graduated from China. The “Thoughts Of Mao,” published in millions of little red books, was declared to be all the wisdom China needed.

During these excesses, the gang of four announced that Lin had attempted to assassinate Mao and was himself was killed in a plane crash while fleeing to Russia. It is an unsubstantiated story that brings knowing head shakes from private Chinese citizens.

Deng Xiaoping, an advocate of liberalization under Lin, was jailed.

All of this was more than Mao had anticipated. He denounced his wife and allied himself with those party leaders who wished to end the madness. That opportunity came with U.S. President Richard Nixon’s initiative in 1972 to establish normal trade relations.

Upon Mao’s death in 1976, moderate leaders in the party gained the courage to arrest the gang of four, appoint Hua and Deng to the top posts, and turn the nation toward rehabilitation. A trial for the gang of four is expected before year end.

A more significant sign of burgeoning change is the attitude of young Chinese toward the official Four Modernizations program. Agriculture, science, technology and defense are to receive emphasis, in that order, for the rest of this century.

The road to progress is to be through education. Colleges and research laboratories are being reopened as rapidly as possible. The government says it will send 8000 Chinese students to the U.S. next year to study science, particularly mathematics.

Chinese young people are enthusiastic about the prospects. When they approach Americans on the street, as they often do here in Kwangchow, “to walk with you and practice English” they relish discussing the Four Modernizations.

Make no mistake, they are firm believers in communism.

The reason they are free, unlike Russians, to talk with foreigners is that the government is confident of its indoctrination. Political education begins in kindergarten. Newspapers, radio and television are tightly censored. Every Friday afternoon factory and farm workers attend official lectures.

Li and Chang are typical of the students throughout China who filled my evenings with talk of politics and friendship. They are convinced that through socialism populous China will catch up with the capitalist nations.

When?

Chang, just entering college at age 28 because of the cultural revolution, thinks his people expect too much too soon from modernization. “There will be change for the better, but not as fast as most think.”

Li is younger and has been relatively untouched by past ideological struggle. He thinks China will leap into the modern world overnight.

“What do you expect from modernization?” I asked.

“A nice family, a well furnished flat, a refrigerator and an automobile,” he replied.

“What will happen if you have not obtained these things by the time you have children of your present age?”

After a thoughtful silence he answered, “The revolutionary spirit is strong in the Chinese people.”

Along with the Four Modernizations program, the government promotes family planning to reduce over-population. An initial burst of mechanization had to be slowed because the resulting unemployment – now 20 million – threatened the economy.

Some progress with the problem is being made through birth control, free abortions, tax incentives and late marriages. There are accusations that baby girls are murdered by their own parents so they can try again for a boy.

Men cannot get a marriage license until they are 28, women 25. When a couple has their first child, they receive a monthly “reward” of five yen ($3.20) for up to four years. If they have a second child before that time, the reward stops. Doctors will not deliver a third child without party permission, and in these rare instances the couple must pay a five-yen “penalty.”

This is a tremendous change for the family-oriented Chinese, but the high degree of voluntary compliance is an indication of their determination to make modernization succeed.

“It will be a triumph for socialism,” declared Li.

“Don’t forget the Great Leap,” I cautioned. “You cannot modernize without a lot of capitalism.”

Again there was a long pause, and Chang replied: “I have though much about this, and sometimes I think capitalism is not so bad!”

The genie is out of the bottle!

Change is coming to China. The question is whether millennia of custom and decades of brain washing can be reshaped adequately.

If – big if – China can obtain the capital to harness her natural resources, and backs off from communism enough to fully use her enormous human energy, she will dominate the world.

November 01, 1979

Click here to see this article on Lindsey Williams’s website

Lindsey Williams is a Sun columnist who can be contacted at:

LinWms@earthlink.net or LinWms@lindseywilliams.org

Website: http://www.lindseywilliams.org with over a thousand of Lin’s Editorial & At Large articles written over 40 years.

Also featured in its entirety is Lin’s groundbreaking book “Boldly Onward,” that critically analyzes and develops theories about the original Spanish explorers of America. (fully indexed/searchable)

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Many of the patterns and designs conceived during the Arts and Crafts movement were well-preserved. Therefore, hundreds of original Arts and Crafts patterns are still in circulation. An easy way to apply one of these original, intricate patterns is on your bathroom wallpaper.

Stylized Arts and Crafts designs frequently highlight recognizable Arts and Crafts symbols and images. Some of these include upside-down hearts, Celtic motifs, and ornamental flower designs. Many of these designs were brought back from the medieval period by artisans and craftsmen who were influenced by the handiwork of that era. In your bathroom, try experimenting with stained glass, copper, and pewter pieces. For instance, hang a shower curtain with a richly colored brass pole.

If you’d rather not use brass, try rustic wood instead. Oak is a good choice in this genre, and floors made with wood should have a dark stain. Arts and Crafts style uses a lot of natural materials like wood because they are typically those crafted by hand. The idea is to get creative and become inspired by high-quality, original handiwork, or even secondhand pieces that imitate them. Try hanging a woven textile on the wall, propping a simple wooden screen on one corner, or including a handmade wooden chair in the room, then contrasting the wood with crafted metalwork accents.

Renee Macalino Rutledge is the editor for a popular remodeling magazine. She writes articles just like this about Arts and Crafts bathrooms and more in the bathroom decor area of the site.

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