Gustav Stickley: arts & crafts furniture

Writing desk by Harvey Ellis and Gustav Stickley, 1903
Sheffield

Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) was 1st son of German migrants Barbara & Leopold Stoeckel Wisconsin. When his parents separ­at­ed in 1869, formal education ended and Gustave worked as a stone mason. They moved to Penn. in c1875 and the teen began working at an unc­le’s chair factory.

With brothers Albert & Charles Stickley, Gustav founded Stickley Bros in Susquehanna Penn in 1883. And he married Eda Simmons and they all moved to Binghamton NY.

In 1895 he travelled to Europe and saw the products of the English Arts & Crafts Move­ment and the French Art Nouveau. Twice! Arts & Crafts in Europe was prom­ot­ing well built, purely hand crafted and honest work, and in opposition to the poor treatment of workers in urban factories. Gustav warmly embraced many of the ideas of this new Movement, including for his own furniture business.

Stickley magazine stand, 1900

At home Stickley int­roduced new oak furniture: simple, funct­ional, sturdy and unVictorian. Working with architect-designer Hen­­ry Wilk­inson and de­signer LaMont Warner, he created his first Arts & Crafts products, exhib­iting them in the 1900 Grand Rapids Trade Show

The designs reflected Arts & Crafts ideals of simplicity, hon­es­ty in construction and truth to materials. Unadorned, plain surf­ac­es were enlivened by applied colours to reveal the wood grain. Expos­ed joinery emphasised the struc­tural qualities & hammered met­al hardware emphasised the furniture’s hand­made qualit­ies. Or machinery-made.

Stickley rented Crouse stables in Syracuse, renaming the showrooms as Craftsman Building. There he of­f­ered middle­­ class consumers prog­ressive furniture designs in quarter-sawn white oak. Perhaps because his firm did not receive the recog­nit­i­on he craved, Gustav changed the name of his firm to United Cr­afts. That year (1900) he launch­ed The Crafts­man Magaz­ine, focusing on the early British work of William Morris and John Ruskin. 

The Craftsman Magazine, 1910

He soon covered homes and crafts, literat­ure, music, ar­ch­itecture and city plan­ning. His equalitarian commitments led to exp­ressions of democratic values: social condit­ions, prog­ress­ive pol­it­ics, con­servation, Women’s movement and fair treatment of employees.

Stickley began pub­lishing house designs by different architects in 1902 and answering reader questions on Arts & Crafts style homes. His architectural ideas were delineated by his talented employees including Wilkinson, Warner and architect Harvey Ellis. Ellis had an immediate and profound effect upon the design of The Crafts­man magazine and the furnishings Gustav produc­ed, rein­forcing the conn­ections between Stickley’s work and that of En­g­lish and European de­signers. In 1903 Gus­tav’s furniture ev­olved from so­lid, monumental forms to some lighter shapes, softened by arches, tapering legs and decorative inlay. That year he marketed his product to 100+ retailers across the U.S.

Stickley moved his headquarters from Syracuse to NY, buying 650 ac­r­es along Morris Plains NJ to est­ab­l­ish a farm school. The focus was a large house made of round, hewn chest­nut logs that were cut from local woods and stone.        

Crafts­man Farms 

Houses had to be constructed in harmony with its landscape, using natural mat­er­ials and simp­lif­ied designs. Soft earth-toned colours predominated and inter­iors included simplified mouldings, stained wood, built-in cabinets and fireplaces with ingle­nooks. Although these homes weren’t always innov­ative, note his current approaches to open floor plans, economy of func­tion and use of novel materials for walls, roofs and surface treatments.

Stickley announced the Home Builders Club 1903 where each magazine subscriber was eligible to receive a free set of house plans, based on those designed and publish­ed in the magazine. By the time Crafts­man ended pub­lication in WW1, there were 222+ different home plans for the subscribers.

In 1905 brothers Leopold & John George began the firm of L & J. Stick­l­ey in Fayetteville NY and had become quite successful, mak­ing quality products that rivalled Gustav’s. Albert estab­lished St­ickley Brothers Co in Grand Rapids Mich, also off­er­ing Arts & Crafts furniture. Lastly brother Char­les also sold furn­iture from his Bing­ham­ton factory.

As a believer of the Arts & Crafts as a way of life, Gus­tav leas­ed a VERY expensive 12-storey Craft­sman Building Man­hattan from 1913. But then 3 difficult events occurred. 1] competition was increasing, 2] Gustav’s company began to lose money, and 3] interest in the Arts & Crafts movement was waning in WW1. Gus­t­av only lived at Crafts­man Farms until 1915, forced to file for bankruptcy. He stop­ped publish­ing his mag­az­ine in 1915 and he gave his workshops to two younger broth­ers, who cont­in­ued as L & JG Stickley in order to prod­uce Gust­av’s designs. Whereas 15 years earlier, people had embraced Crafts­man furn­it­ure’s clean strong lines, by WW1 tastes had changed again, this time towards the revival of early American style.

Gustav moved back to Syracuse, where his wife died in 1919, and stayed in Syracuse until his own death in 1942.

After Stickley left Craftsman Farms NJ, the Farny family maintained the farm as it was. When the property was threatened with develop­ment, Parsippany-Troy Hills township obtained the property and form­ed a partnership with the Stickley Museum at Craft­sman Farms for pr­eserv­ation and interp­ret­ation. It was honoured as a National Hist­oric Land­mark, as the photos show.

Stickley Museum at Craft­sman Farms, living room 

with copper hooded fireplace; Grueby lamp, hexagonal leather top table, Morris chair.

Summary
The country estate Craftsman Farms was a major display of Arts & Crafts decorative arts, home building and furn­ishing styles. Stick­ley combined the roles of designer and manuf­ac­turer, architect, pub­lish­er, philosopher and social critic. He was best known for his st­raightforward furniture aka mission or Craftsman furniture, made of sawn white oak in subtle, plain designs. In the late C20th there was a resurgence of interest in Stickley’s ouevre. Some of his furniture catalogues were reprinted, and ill­us­trated books of his works and monographs were published.

Fred Astaire, sister Adele & Ginger Rogers

Adele (1896-1981) and Frederick Austerlitz (1899–1987) were born in Nebraska, children of Johanna and Fritz Aust­er­litz. Johanna was born in the U.S to Lutheran Ger­man imm­igrants from East Prussia and Al­sace. Dad was born in Linz Austria to Jewish parents, and later the whole family converted to Cath­ol­icism - he arrived in New York in 1893, then found brewery work in Omaha.

Adele became a dancer-singer, and alth­ough Fred refused dance lessons, he eas­ily copied his sister's dancing and learned 3 musical instruments. So mum started a brother-sister act, common in vaudeville then, for her children.

When Fritz suddenly lost his job, the family moved to New York in 1905 to launch the child­ren’s show business careers. Adele and Fred began train­ing at the Alviene Master School of the Theat­re and Acad­emy of Cult­ural Arts. Their mother suggested they change their name to Astaire, as Austerlitz sounded too German. Did Fred mind that he was a] Germanic on both parents’ sides and b] Jewish on one side? Did he know that Fritz’s brothers Otto and Ernst remained in Austria and were soldiers during WWI? Apparently there was a tacit family agreement to mention neither.

Fred and Adele Astaire in 1921 

Adele and Fred were taught dance, speaking and singing, prepar­ing to develop an act. Their first act was Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty. In Nov 1905 their act debuted in Key­port New Jersey.

Their father's salesmanship rapidly landed Fred and Adele a major contract, playing the Orpheum Circuit of vaude­ville and cinemas in cities across the U.S. Even though Adele was older and taller, Fred wore a top hat (to appear taller) and the team was billed with Fred’s name first (to make him seem old­er). But eventually they decided to take a break from show business.

The career of the Astaire teens restarted with more polish, as they began to incorporate tap dancing into their routines. And they learned the tango, waltz and other popular ball­room dances from vaude­ville dancers. Then they appeared in Mary Pickford’s 1915 film, Fanchon, the Crick­et.

Young Fred was directing their music in 1916, just at the time he met George Gershwin who was working for the music pub­lisher Jerome Remick. Fred had been hunting for new music and dance ideas, so their meeting was a blessing to both their careers.

The Astaires had their first Broadway success with Over the Top (1917), a revue created for U.S and Allied troops. They did more shows eg The Passing Show of 1918 where fans loved Ad­el­e, owing in part to Fred's good choreo­graphy. But by this time, Fred's dancing was beginning to sparkle as well.

In the 1920s, they appeared on both Broadway and the Lon­don stage. And whilst in London, Fred was keen to study piano at Guild­hall School of Music. As Astaire's tap dancing was recognised by then as among the best in the world, he was certainly multi-talented.

Eventually Fred and Adele enjoyed stage succes­s­es. In fact, London gave them a bigger welcome than New York, but it was in Lon­d­on in 1924 that they heard of their father’s illness. Their mother ret­urned to America and soon, during the London run of Stop Flirting, their father died.

They won popular acclaim in theatres on both sides of the At­l­antic for Jerome Kern's The Bunch and Judy (1922), George & Ira Gersh­win's Lady, Be Good (1924) and Funny Face (1927) and later in The Band Wagon (1931). Fred went on to star in 10+ Broad­way and West End mus­ic­als, making 31 musical films and recordings.

The siblings split in 1932 when Adele married Lord Charles Cav­en­d­ish, 9th Duke of Devonshire’s son. Fred achieved suc­cess on Broad­way and in London with The Gay Divorcee, while consid­er­ing a Holly­wood future. But the end of the long family part­ner­ship was difficult for Fred.

His greatest dancing par­t­nership was with Virginia Ginger Rogers (1911-95), with whom he co-starred in ten Hollywood musicals! Among their most not­able films, where As­taire took the genre of tap danc­ing to a new lev­el, were Top Hat (1935) and Shall we dance? (1937). Their final film together was The Barkleys of Broadway, released by MGM in 1949.

Astaire was reluctant to become part of another team! How­ever RKO noted the public appeal of Fred’s choreography and of Astaire-Rogers dancing, which helped make dancing a key element of the film musical. Rogers maintained a busy theatre schedule, performing the title role in Hello Dolly! from 1965 on and took Mame to London audiences in 1969.

Now working with Claire Luce, Fred created a dance duo for Cole Por­ter's Night and Day. Luce stated that she had to help him to take a more romantic approach. The success of the stage play, and the film version, The Gay Div­or­cee, ushered in a new era in dance. Recently found footage of Astaire per­form­ing in Gay Divorce in 1933 survives!

RKO lent him to MGM in 1933 for his Hollywood debut in the succ­essful musical film Dancing Lady, dancing with Joan Craw­ford. On his return to RKO, he was with Ginger Rogers in Dolores del Río’s Flying Down to Rio (1933). Ginger and Fred were so thrilling toget­her, they made 9 films at RKO, including The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937) and Care­free (1938). Most Astaire–Rogers musicals became subs­t­antial money-makers for RKO.

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in Top Hat (1935)

Fred in Top Hat, 1935

Instead of using dance as a mere spec­tacle as others had done, Astaire was determined that all song and dance routines in a film be integral to the plotline. Ast­aire films usually included a solo performance by Astaire; a comedy dance routine for two; and a romantic dance duo.

In 1933 Fred married Phyllis Livingston Potter, after Phyl­l­is’ div­orce; they went to Hollywood tog­ether, had 2 children and lived happily until Phyllis’ death from lung cancer. Ginger Rogers married 5 times, but never had any children.
 
I am very grateful to The German Way & More.

Monastery of the Ursulines, Quebec

The Ursulines was a religious order of women founded at Brescia Italy in 1535, by St. Angela Merici. The order was the first institute for women dedicated exclusively for their cause. This Roman Catholic religious order was founded primarily for 1] the education of girls and 2] the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint was Saint Ursula.

The beautiful chapel was erected in 1722

Main altar above was created and gilded by Pierre-Noël Levasseur, 1736

and rebuilt in its current form in 1902.

Centre de Conservation de Québec

The Ursuline Sisters were the first Catholic nuns to land in New France/Canada. The history of the Ursulines in Quebec began in Aug 1639, when its first members arrived. The monastery was established under the leadership of Mother St Marie of the Incarnation (1599–1672), an Ursuline nun of the monastery in Tours, and Madame Marie-Madeline de Chauvigny de la Peltrie (1603–1671), a rich widow from Alençon in Normandy. The letters patent sanctioning the foundation issued by King Louis XIII were dated 1639.

The Viceroyalty of New France was the area colonised by France in North America starting with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534. The French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Québec in 1608 among the Algonquin people as the administrative seat for New France. Colonisation was slow and difficult. Many settlers died early, because of harsh weather and diseases. In 1630, there were only 103 colonists living in the settlement, but by 1640 there were 355.

Marie de l'Incarnation, the founder of Quebec's Community of the Ursulines, played a key role during New France's first decades. The original monastery, whose construction she oversaw, also housed the colony's first school for young girls. Today this pioneering institution is an impressive teaching complex that has preserved the Ursuline's original mission intact to this day. The Ecole des Ursulines is among North America's oldest schools. Still operating as a private school for both girls and boys, it was founded in 1639.

In Aug 1639, Ursuline nuns from France, including Marie de l'Incarnation who spearheaded the missionary endeavor they'd come to America for, landed at Quebec. Two years later a first monastery was completed, and the Ursulines opened the colony's first school for at first a few Aboriginal girls, then students of French origin. 30 years later, this school was attended only by girls of French background.

The first Ursulines acquired a reputation in embroidery art, know-how they passed down for three centuries. Over time they produced a vast quantity of altar frontals and liturgical vestments in silk, wool and gold thread. Much of this liturgical treasure has survived to the present day.

The monastery had first endured the siege and bombardment of Quebec under William Phips in 1690. During the Siege of Quebec in 1759, the Ursuline monastery was partly destroyed by the shelling. A second siege by James Wolfe in Sept 1759, called the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, was where the garrison of Quebec was defeated by Wolfe's army. After the battle, the French Gov Montcalm who had died there, was buried by night in the monastery chapel. The first English governor Murray used part of the monastery as his headquarters. On that occasion the rations served to the nuns for nursing the wounded and sick saved them from perishing of starvation. The governors and viceroys, both English and French, were always friendly to the institution.

After the city surrendered, the nuns agreed to provide British officers and soldiers with rooms & medical care because Hôtel-Dieu and Hôpital Général were filled to capacity. In exchange they could resume teaching. For a short time, this included English Protestants.

In the C19th, the institution enjoyed tremendous growth. Thanks to the talents of the teaching sisters and the use of modern instructional principles that stressed understanding more than learning by rote, the school earned great acclaim. Other than religious studies, students were taught grammar, French and English literature, arithmetic, geography, history, science, and the arts—music, drawing, painting, and of course embroidery. The Ursulines' school attracted a mostly middle-class clientele.

A boarding school modelled on the monastic way of life. Many of the students were boarders. These young girls adopted a lifestyle similar to that of the cloistered nuns. They slept in dormitories and followed a strict daily schedule. They were imposed a rule of silence at dinnertime and bedtime. They were allowed to have visitors in the parlor so long as the conversation took place behind a screen, the same as for the nuns. The monastic way of life became laxer during the C20th.

A precious historical heritage. The architectural complex of the Ursulines of Quebec monastery was built in phases from the 17th to the 20th. The main wings were laid out around an interior court, in the fashion of C17th French convents. The oldest buildings preserved the style specific to the French Regime—stone walls with white plaster, tin roofs, and small-paned windows.

The sculpted decor inside the monastery is one of only a few remaining examples of church interiors during the New France period. Its oldest section is open to the public, as is the funeral chapel of the founder, Marie de l’Incarnation. A more recent lateral wing is reserved for the Ursuline nuns.
Preserving and presenting their heritage

In addition to their teaching vocation, exercised almost without interruption since the first school began operating, the Ursulines opened a museum to display a part of their collections. However, the institution parted with one of its core traditions recently—now the elementary school admits boys, too. The Museum is housed in the Madame-de La Peltrie house, a building erected in 1836 and enhanced in 1868. This house is an integral part of the Ursuline monastery, the greatest treasure of convent architecture in Quebec, in the province of Quebec and probably in North America. The Museum presents high-quality permanent and temporary exhibitions on three floors highlighting the cultural legacy of the Ursulines.

The Ursuline Museum stages exhibits with different themes each year,

permanent exhibitions in the old refectory and guided visits to the historic chapel.

Today the Ursulines face the same problem as many other religious communities grappling with a shortage of vocations: conservation, development and transmission of their invaluable material and spiritual legacy. With assistance from various working groups, they are trying to find the best way of ensuring that the legacy lives on.

The Ursuline Monastery of Quebec City was founded by a missionary group of Ursuline nuns in 1639 under leadership of Mother Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. It is the oldest institution of learning for women in North America. Today the monastery serves as the General Motherhouse of the Ursuline Sisters of the Canadian Union. The community there also operates an historical museum and continues to serve as a teaching centre. The complex was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1972.

When they arrived in summer 1639, the nuns studied the languages of native peoples and then began to educate native children. They taught reading and writing plus needlework, embroidery, drawing and other domestic arts. After 3 years spent in the Lower Town of Quebec City, the nuns moved to a new monastery built on ground ceded to them by the Co. of New France. Their first pupils were Indian girls, with whom they succeeded better than the Jesuits with their native boys. The first monastery burned down in 1650, but was soon rebuilt. The community was attacked by the Iroquois in 1661–2, when one of its chaplains, Sulpician Abbé Vignal, was slain near Montreal.

The Constitutions, written by Father Jérôme Lalemant (1593–1673), uncle of the Jesuit martyr Gabriel Lalemant, combined the rules of the two Congregations of Paris and Bordeaux, and were observed until Bishop François de Laval decided in 1681 in favour of the former, which binds its members by a fourth vow to teach girls.

The Quebec Monastery founded new communities at Three Rivers in 1697, Roberval in 1882, Stanstead in 1884, and Rimouski, with a normal school, in 1906, besides sending missionaries to New Orleans in 1822, Charlestown (Boston) in 1824, Galveston in 1849 and Montana in 1893.

Ursuline Convent. This is one of the most impressive religious complexes in Quebec. From the school yard, visit the beautiful courtyard and garden, distinctive stone hallway, and attic where the sisters keep their personal lockers. You can also visit the marvellous chapel. Nestled in the heart of Old Quebec, the Ursuline Chapel is a jewel of history and architecture. Built in 1722, the chapel was rebuilt in its current form in 1902. It houses several treasures, including the carved wood decor, created by Pierre-Noël Levasseur and his workshop from 1726-36. It was the Ursulines who carried out the meticulous work of gilding the entire ensemble with gold leaf from 1736-9. Several art historians agree that this is the most beautiful set of wood sculptures from the New France era to survive in Canada. It is also the only example of religious decor from this period preserved in its entirety.

Chapel of the monastery

The chapel also houses 15+ paintings, most of which come from the Desjardins Fund. This fund, established by abbots Philippe-Jean-Louis and Louis-Joseph Desjardins in the C19th, enabled sending c200 European paintings to Quebec.

Many thanks to Parks Canada, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations.

Sydney massacre; honoured in Adelaide

15 innocent victims were massacred on Bondi Beach Sydney in a shocking attack last weekend. Excited families had been standing on the Bondi sand, celebrating the most festive holiday in the Jewish calendar, Channuka. When two men suddenly came out firing their rifles, innocent people ran away and hid; tackled the gunmen with their bare hands; or died. Two policemen, there to protect the families, were themselves shot. The whole nation was in shock - Jews and Christians, parents and grandparents

The victims were remembered this week in Adelaide as The 3rd Cricket Test Match between Australia & England was starting. “After the tragic events at Bondi Beach last Sunday evening, we come together as nations to pay our respects to all those who lost their lives and offer our condolences to their families, their friends and to the Jewish community. We also acknowledge those who bravely offered assistance to others at the scene,” the ground announcer said. The 60,000 cricket fans stood silently in the grand-stands, the cricketers all wore black armbands, and the flags were held silently in respect. A minute’s silence at Adelaide Oval was to honour the murder victims and to express condolences to their families, friends and the Jewish community.

60,000 cricket fans at the Adelaide Test Match

plus the two teans and flags

standing and remembering the mass murders on Bondi Beach

John Williamson was singing at the cricket in the centre of the huge green pitch, leading a stirring tribute at Adelaide Oval as the cricket world paused to remember the victims of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. Cricket fans in the stands came together in silence to remember the murder victims and then to watch the cricket.

It was a powerful moment before the match started in Adelaide as John Williamson sang the Australian classic True Blue. In one of the finest cricket ovals in the world there was not a dry eye in the house for that moment of silence, followed by a stirring rendition of the music. True Blue was sadly perfect on this occasion; a beautiful and poignant rendition of a classic Aussie song and a single guitar.

Lyrics
Hey True Blue, don't say you've gone
Say you've knocked off for a smoko
And you'll be back later on
Hey True Blue, Hey True Blue

Give it to me straight, face to face
Are you really disappearing
Just another dying race
Hey True Blue

True Blue, is it me and you
Is it Mum and Dad, is it a cockatoo
Is it standin' by your mate when he's in a fight
Or just Vegemiite
True Blue, I'm a-asking you

Hey True Blue, can you bear the load
Will you tie it up with wire
Just to keep the show on the road
Hey True Blue
Hey True Blue, now be Fair Dinkum

Is your heart still there
If they sell us out like sponge cake
Do you really care
Hey True Blue

Listen to the heartfelt music on cricket.com 

John Williamson singing True Blue

and playing the one guitar.

True Blue was written and performed by folk singer-songwriter John Williamson, and released in 1982. Williamson’s aim had been to capture authentic Australian spirit and slang, and to become an unofficial national anthem celebrating mateship and the Aussie character. The lyrics drew heavily on Australian slang, with the title meaning authentically Australian, but the slang meant of course that people from other countries may not have understood the song’s details.

John Williamson said he celebrated the genuine, loyal and cultural references, to define a core national identity, but he emphasised it was about caring, inclusive people, not racism, despite attempts by some groups to hijack the song. The phrase itself apparently came from British slang meaning steadfast loyalty. But Williamson's song applied it to an Australian context, asking questions about what makes an Aussie in a changing multi-cultural nation, focusing on fairness, honesty and caring for mates and the land. No song could have been appropriate for a nation in mourning.

Sydney mourners after the wounded were taken to hospital and the dead were buried

Thank you John Williamson, thank you cricket players and fans, thank you all Australians across the nation.  We will never recover, but your comfort has been vital.