Cheshire Lowton Boone

“ Of course it was better to go to school than do nothing and one must study a few things, but how much more fascinating and worth while to talk about birds and animals, trolley cars, the railway, electricity, machines, and doing things with a purpose, than to discuss impossible stories written by people who evidently knew very, very little about young people, to learn unending pages of numbers and definitions and facts, which, since one had no use for them, were speedily forgotten to make room for better material? ”

“ And lastly the unconventional, untrammeled outdoor life stands in that same relation to the boy as it did to the savage (because boyhood is a primitive stage) ; he puts forth his strongest endeavors to conquer the elements, the climate, the earth, and growing things; to provide himself with food and shelter—in other words, to survive as the savage sought to survive. The idea is truly epic. No wonder the child expands and develops under the simple responsibilities imposed, and absorbs woodcraft with such astonishing ease. ”

“ One must have a pretty sound sense of fitness and selection in order to use them to advantage or to resist their lure. As single examples, many of the new things are beautiful in color and line, though they may have nothing whatever in common with what one already owns.
One chooses a given pattern in furniture first, because of its utility; second, because of its harmony in line and size with other furniture already owned; and third, because of its intrinsic beauty. It is much less difficult to furnish a house throughout than to refurnish an old room in consonance with others already complete. ”

“ On the other hand, mothers too often prepare their daughters for marriage, not for home-making, seemingly blind to the fact that marriage is an inert, barren, static condition, save in the stimulating atmosphere of a fine home. How can the servant question ever be settled by untutored girls who get no closer to the domestic question than fudge, welsh rarebit and salted peanuts? The school can and does now, in all well-ordered communities, give a very satisfactory formal, technical training in domestic art and science. ”

“ The vegetable and flower garden may be made to yield similar returns and such products are always salable. In addition, every house, every yard, every farm is in constant need of repairs, changes and care which the alert boy or girl can furnish. The development of such odd tasks into a business parallels the development of every large enterprise which began in a modest way. It fosters the best of personal and civic ideals, and tames the restless, self-conscious energy of youth into smooth and profitable channels through which to journey in peace to a sane maturity. ”

“ Probably no accessory to the home is more to be valued than the garden, especially the flower garden. It adds so much of color and variety to the whole scheme, and helps to bring the house into intimate relation with the grounds. The finest gardening has probably been due to feminine influence, and every girl can draw from practical experience with growing things a delicacy of taste and wealth of knowledge to apply to ends peculiarly her own. The latent intuitive feminine outlook often remains undeveloped in these days, and no craft will preserve and stimulate it more than gardening. ”

“ Since then through their arts and crafts it is possible for one to know a people, does it not follow that one entrance to sympathy with the ideals and taste of the present time is through practice in the arts? Of course a considerable mass of information about them can be conveyed in words, especially to adults who have passed the formative period in life and have not the same work-incentive as have children. But even the adult never really secretes much real knowledge of the arts unless he has worked in them. ”

“ One can never really have beautiful baskets, pottery, sewing, gardens, until one has made them. One surely cannot appreciate the true worth of clean linen, a spotless house, and perfect routine anywhere so thoroughly as in one's own house. It naturally follows that the girl, like the boy, should be a producer, not a mere purchaser, of personal or domestic commodities. She may have unlimited means, but the place where she lives as a girl and the home she seeks to create in adult life will always be impersonal, detached, hotel-like, unless she personally builds it. ”

“ The degree of finish, the intricacy of design and nicety of construction are evidences of skill and fine tools, well-organized processes, familiarity with material and careful apprenticeship: the pattern, color, ornament, and symbolism point to culture, learning, and standards of taste and beauty. A crude domestic economy, rude utensils, coarse, garish costume and of simple construction, are characteristic of an undeveloped social order. In fact, all the arts of both construction and expression exhibit at a given period the degree of civilization ”

“ When the community or corporation state sees the need for workmen, foremen or directors, it tries to educate individuals for the purpose. The supply of competent men and women is not left to chance. Whereas, womankind trusts to a very fickle fortune, that every girl will somehow learn to steer the domestic craft and be conversant with methods of preserving family ideals. Contrast the far-sighted plans of business to fill its ranks with the casual training the average girl undergoes to fit her for the future. ”

“ He is always a primitive at heart, surging in the direction of direct physical expression, showing almost on the surface the simplicity of savage instincts, to live close to the earth, be outdoors, perform feats of strength and skill, hunt, fish, camp and play at doing the essential acts of life. Through succeeding generations society has perfected a veneer of convention which glosses over the crudities of childish abandon, and as they (children) grow, the polish becomes thicker and more lasting, even so as to make the individual a "ready-to-wear" being. ”

“ Gardening is one of the oldest and simplest of crafts and may not be overlooked in seeking a pathway for youthful energy.
Perhaps the boy or girl would rather grow fruits or berries, vegetables, raise pigeons, keep bees—one and all are equally good. This is the essential fact: every boy and girl should come into direct and positive contact with some of the important natural phenomena and life. Growing things have to be cared for, they must have food, water and protection. One cannot play with them when one feels like it; they need attention every day. ”

“ After he has passed through the preliminary stages of mere play and haphazard amusement the boy becomes conscious of the mysterious, unusual forces of electricity; they hold even adult attention and wonder, but the boy, being more impressionable and confident, immediately forages for information, reads enormously, and experiments. ”

“ But nature is no designer. The landscape gardener and the amateur must, by their united efforts, bring an artistic plan to bear upon nature's offerings, using her trees and flowers and the contour of the ground, and create an environment which pleases. The result should not only be fine of itself, but should furnish a proper and rich background for the house which is the centre. There are in existence numerous periodicals devoted to country living, farming, gardening, animals, sports, and the special suburban problem, and also a very distinguished library dealing with similar types. ”

“ Of course fine art does in the last analysis pass judgment upon form, color and design in clothes, furnishings and architecture, but the common home variety of taste is derived directly from custom, comfort, and convention, not from art at all. Only in the later stages of refinement does the lay mind succumb to direct supervision by art. On the other hand, all conventions and ideals are the result or sum total of general experience, in [18] which art has played its part, and has left some impress on the individual, giving rise to belief in a few principles so common as to be accepted by all. ”

“ This is still true in the very midst of a materialistic age, when money and mechanics work hand in hand to produce the most in the least time for economic reasons, and when the individual worships "hand-made things." They may even be poorly made or bizarre, but "handwork" satisfies the untutored. Now it is quite possible for the machine to produce a bit of jewelry, textile, or woodwork—even carving—quite as pleasing as any made by hand alone, and it is being done every day. ”

“ One day the pedagogue, who was a learned man and addicted to study, shut himself up in his library, bent on devising a method for training boys into men. This master was well versed in the sciences so that he could follow the stars in their courses, make the metals and substances of the earth obey his will, and guide the plants in their growth from seed to blossom. ”

“ In making these toys the boy acquires some exceedingly valuable information and a physical skill and perfection which can only be secured at an early age. He learns about things, about raw material, about tools and utensils common to every household; he gets on speaking terms with the fundamental laws of mechanics and, more than one would imagine, develops a real ingenuity in molding material to his immediate needs. The construction of a bird house or kite is in itself simple enough, but the boy has to spend considerable effort in finding out how to do it, which is beneficial. ”

“ Children profit little by books and tools alone: they crave encouragement and some direct constructive criticism. In such an atmosphere their endeavors become significant and profitable, and the accumulated [7] learning will be applied to business or economic ideas which result in progressive thinking, which uses information as a tool, not an end in itself.
If then the arts of a people stand as monuments to its beliefs and ideals, an intimate understanding of some of the arts ought to be provided for in every scheme of education both at home and in school. ”

“ Granted that girls need this training, and that schools in time will give it; granted that the social position of the servant is a source of discussion and friction; that the demands of modern living are exacting; and, finally, granting the insistent prominence of all the other economic disturbances, who is, in the last analysis, to blame? Would a business man [41] think for one moment of handing over any department of his affairs to one not trained for the particular duties involved? Industry in every branch seeks men and women fitted to take charge of even minor matters. ”

“ Clothes, which by their color and style are loud in their clamor for inspection, are out of key and bear the same relation to surroundings which foreign, exotic manners and customs bear to domestic conventions. And ordinarily one does not seek such prominence.
This question of taste is a vital one to children, and these books about "Needlecraft," "Home Decoration," "Outdoor Work," "Gardening," etc., are indirectly most useful because they put the child in a position to choose. The girl who sews and helps run the home is bound to cross the path of design a dozen times a day. ”

“ She is perhaps not so keenly alive to the charm of mechanical things as the boy, but like all children regardless of sex, she seeks to be a producer. She is just as much absorbed in pets and growing things, in nature, in the current activities of her environment, and requires the same easy outlet for her play instincts as the boy. (2) The girl, when a woman grown, becomes the creator of the home, and too often enters upon her domestic career with a minimum of skill or taste in the great body of household arts, which in the aggregate, give us the material comforts and homely pleasures. ”

“ The arts and crafts [C] of expression and construction fulfil that precise function in the child's preliminary training which they did in the early history of the race. They indicate just that degree of manual skill and constructive ability of which both the youthful individual and the young race are capable; they serve as indices and guides to the development of design, taste and constructive thinking. As the child matures he may elevate a given craft to an art or science, but the early familiarity, the simple processes, he should have, because they are essential to childhood. ”

“ In just so far as the school and home open ways which "enable the student to earn a livelihood and to make life worth living" do we see the passing of the old type school (suggested above) and ideal of training. Not only are there comparatively few in this world capable of receiving high polish through the so-called culture studies, but the definition of culture has changed; now any activity is cultural which arouses one's best efforts. ”

“ Though there are born in every generation a few with the divine spark of genius, the mass of men and women has always learned by effort. In other words, it has been possible to teach the subjects which were found necessary to culture and education; it is quite possible to present the ordinary phases of art to the lay mind in such a way, even through books, that one may have worthy ideals, and a healthy point of view. ”

“ The past decade has witnessed a movement, just now taking aggressive shape, which is unique—the interest in outdoors, nature study, farming, summer homes, sport, and what is termed the simple life. It is a movement filled with the greatest promise of any among the host now claiming attention, and bids fair to soothe the tired nerves and over-stimulated minds of a frantically industrial age. ”

“ There is a reaction just now against the formal flower beds of tender plants, a patch of exotic color dotting otherwise irreproachable lawns, though the florist would like to keep such arrangements in fashion, for he is seldom a true artist. But better standards of living, a fresher study of nature, a more personal, intimate architecture, have brought into them many of the old garden ideals where the garden belonged to the mistress of the house and showed it. ”