GSL Reviews

NOTE: This exhibit closes January 2, 2011 so go visit it now! and the American Arts & Crafts Movement

Exhibition: Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement The Newark Museum 49 Washington Street Newark, NJ 07102 Closes January 2, 2011 Tel.: 973-596-6550 Admission: $10 adults; Children, Seniors & Students with Valid I.D. $6 Parking: +++ Kid-Friendly: + Handicapped Accessible: +++ Exhibit: ++++ Review by Gordon Bond & Stephanie M. Hoagland

Can a chair change the world? At first blush, that might seem like a silly question. Yet, for a school of thought that emerged in England between 1880 and 1910, the philosophy behind the design of such everyday things was envisioned as the instrument of social change. Called “The Arts & Crafts Movement,” it was a reaction countering what was seen as an increasing impoverishment of the decorative arts, buried beneath the superfluous ornamentation popular to

Book & Exhibit Reviews • GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 10 • December 2010 Victorian Era sensibilities. But American apostle of Arts & EXHIBIT PARKING more than that, the movement Crafts would be Gustav Stickley, RATING SYSTEM was also a social response to the the subject of an exhibition dehumanizing mechanization of organized by the Dallas Museum + Not enough parking. industrial production methods of Art and nationally premiering ++ Not many spaces but that kept the working class in at the Newark Museum. enough for a small dismal poverty. As a style, it Born March 9, 1858, Stickley museum/site. was one of eleven children born +++ Plenty of parking. to Leopold and Barbara Stoeckel who had come to America from EXHIBIT Germany, settling in Osceola, KID-FRIENDLY Wisconsin. He dropped out of RATING SYSTEM school in 1870 to follow his father as a stonemason to help + Not really something support the family. When his young children will widowed mother moved them enjoy. to Brandt, Pennsylvania, in 1876, ++ Older children may Gustav found employment in his find interesting. uncle's chair factory, where he +++ Children of all ages will enjoy. learned woodworking and cabinetry. In 1883, he formed Some exhibits may not be for children but institutions may offer programs specifically Stickley Brothers & Company, for interpreting the displays for kids and with siblings Charles and Albert, school groups. Contact the museum or site. reached back to a somewhat but it dissolved five years later romanticized vision of folk art, when he partnered with EXHIBIT featuring simple lines, subtle furniture salesman Elgin HANDICAP ACCESS ornamentation, and natural Simonds, creating Stickley & RATING SYSTEM materials. The joinery in a piece Simonds of Binghampton, New + Not accessible. of furniture, for example, wasn't York. The idea of handcrafts as ++ Partially accessible or something to be hidden, but a tool for reform may have requires advance embraced as part of the design. entered his mind when he arrangements. The hammer marks in a piece of worked on the side with brother +++ Fully accessible. copper were badges of honor— Leopold as foreman of a the result of a dignified human furniture-making shop at Auburn being's honest toil. It was that State Prison. EXHIBIT celebration of craftsmanship as a The furniture coming from RATING SYSTEM social statement that imparted Gustav Stickley's shop was + Very amateurish; factual the broader agendas of mostly in the Shaker and errors; poorly displayed. economic and social reform. If Windsor style. While he was at ++ Factually correct but only civilization would return to least aware of the Arts & Crafts poorly displayed. those more noble, uplifting Movement through the writings +++ Interesting but nothing roots, so the thinking went, the of its English founders, John new or insightful. world would be a better place. Ruskin and , it ++++ Strong scholarship, well The same sorts of social was the full exposure of a trip to displayed. changes were taking place in the Europe in the late 1890s that +++++ Excellent in scholarship United States, making it ripe to transformed him. He returned and display quality. embrace the style and, to some with a dramatic shift in direction To submit a review or suggest a book degree, the lifestyle the and, after dropping his or exhibit for review, please email movement embodied. The association with Simonds in [email protected]

Book & Exhibit Reviews • GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 10 • December 2010 Originally envisioned as a central clubhouse for his school for boys in Parsippany, , Stickley moved his family into the home when financial troubles forced him into bankruptcy. Today, it is home to the The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms. Photo courtesy Janet W. Foster

1898, created the Gustave to the masses. He took on Irene Stickley announced his Stickley Company. (His given Sargent as the author of his new “Craftsman Home Builders name was “Gustave,” he but catalog and by 1901 introduced Club,” which provided dropped the “e” in 1903.) the first issue of The Craftsman architectural plans to The By the summer of 1900, he as both a magazine to promote Craftsman's subscribers. They had begun creating experimental the social movement while included everything from lines called the “New Furniture” simultaneously promoting his. It farmhouses to bungalows; from and the following year named told homemakers how to make townhouses to cottages. All his business United Crafts. His a better life for their families featured natural materials, use of native woods and the through the design of their stained woods that permitted the greenish patina of ammonia- furnishings—furnishings, of grain to come through, soft fumed white oak became a course, that could be bought colors and simplified moldings. trademark feature. He sought to from Gustav Stickley—and Built-in cabinets, fireplaces and combine the social philosophy included furniture of all types, inglenooks kept the floor plans of the Arts & Crafts Movement lamps and textiles. His ideal open, facilitating an “economy with modern business practices. “American style” embodied an of function.” His workers—who were better honest simplicity. He wasn't just In an effort to merge a paid than most—merged selling furniture, but a lifestyle. commercial enterprise with a traditional materials and The next logical step would be larger social agenda, he moved methods with modern power to design the physical house his headquarters to a twelve- tools. This combination of hand itself, creating a space in which story building in in craft and machinery allowed his the furnishings could transform 1913, featuring retail furniture to be more affordable the resident. In late 1903, showrooms, workshops for

Book & Exhibit Reviews • GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 10 • December 2010 production, design and design world again, dying poor not merely the archetypal publishing space, craft in 1942. examples, but include some exhibitions and a restaurant. The evolution of Gustav oddities and even designs that But Stickley envisioned a Stickley can be traced through proved commercially larger, progressive, social the things he designed and the unsuccessful. While this exhibit experiment. The very act of exhibit that's finishing up at the specifically focuses on a making things was restorative to Newark Museum follows that particular period, Stephanie felt the individual as well as the path, with an emphasis on the what came before might have society as a whole. He was peak of his influence between been expanded on for better always passionate about 1900 and 1913. The visitor enters context in understanding why education, but felt learning the exhibit space faced by a Stickley and the Arts & Crafts wasn't solely the provence of complete dining room Movement were as important as books. The urban landscape was ensemble—everything from the they were. This was all a also seen as an unhealthy place tables and chairs to the table response to the manufactured to raise children—the November scarves, from the dishes and conspicuous consumption by 1906 issue of The Craftsman candlesticks to sideboards and providing a simpler, more included an article about “The cabinets to the rug on the floor. “honest” alternative—a legitimate value of Country Life and animal This was all from a concept style that would still be within pets for children.” So, the next floor display his company set up reach of the middle class. logical step still was the creation as part of exhibitions in Nevertheless, for the period it of a boarding school for boys Syracuse, NY in 1903 as a sort of focuses on, we both thought the out in Morris Plains, New Jersey, debut of the Craftsman form in diversity of the objects presented in what is now Parsippany. America. It shows the Stickley told the story well and provided Craftsman Farms was designed ideal as it was envisioned on the a unique opportunity to see a to have vegetable gardens, cusp of his emergence as an broad range of his designs at orchards, dairy cows and early 20th century tastemaker. one place. Many of the pieces chickens. The goal was what he The remainder of the exhibit came from private collections saw as a wholesome, well- primarily features individual and had not previously been on rounded education founded on, pieces of furniture, pottery, public display. and as an extension of, the Arts metalwork, lighting and textiles, As someone with less & Crafts Movement. The main grouped to demonstrate the exposure to Stickley's work, house, intended as a clubhouse evolution of his design sense Gordon could easily see its for his students, was constructed over the next decade and half. evolution. Early pieces tended using timber and stone already The reviewers each approached towards thick, stout wood found on the property. the exhibit from very different members that used heavy By 1913, however, styles had starting points. Architectural hardware as ornamentation. The changed and the Arts & Crafts historian and conservator, thick iron strap hinges on doors Movement began to fade. The Stephanie M. Hoagland, had and heavy drawer pulls give the school he planned never researched Stickley as part of cabinets a ponderous, medieval opened and the Craftsman her conservation work with feel. Later, he embraced a Building in the Craftsman Farms, and so was lighter, more subtle appearance became an unsupportable already familiar with his work. through more delicate wood financial burden. He moved his By contrast, Gordon Bond, was elements and less dominant family into the main house at only peripherally aware of the hardware. Throughout, it was Craftsman Farms until declaring Arts & Crafts Movement in less about busy ornamental bankruptcy in 1915 and selling general and Stickley in carving and gilding and more the Farms—along with the particular. about simple lines and allowing personal contents—in 1917. He We both felt that the selection the grain of the wood to shine would never be a figure in the of items was strong. These are through. Even when he later

Book & Exhibit Reviews • GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 10 • December 2010 permitted inlay decoration, they achieve. It was a curious and creative nod to that aspect of his were spare touches, including an very American amalgamation. design work. art nouveau style “peacock Later in the exhibit, house Gustav Stickley, of course, was feather” motif. plans are shown along with not the sole purveyor of the Arts Gordon had some difficulty in wall-sized enlargements of & Crafts Movement in America. pinning down a “Stickley style” illustrations from The Craftsman Numerous imitations—both in that there are evocations of demonstrating what the interiors honest inspirations and cheap the medieval, Spanish Mission (a would look like as well as a knock-offs—would follow. But term Stickley himself hated), art wall of “then and now” pictures he was an important pioneer nouveau and the organic forms from Craftsman Farms. and, if nothing else, this exhibit of European folk art. This was Overall, the layout of the makes one think about the role due, at least in part, to the fact exhibit works well and is just of design and how it not all Stickley furniture was the right length. Individual incorporates into broader social designed by Stickley himself. displays include a number of trends. Indeed, beyond simply While he approved the final individual items—chairs, tables, thinking his designs were form, he employed other cabinets, lamps, etc. The attractive or not, the larger social craftsmen as designers, who information plaques were questions that grew from the introduced their own influences. mounted on the foot-rail underlying philosophies are still Yet, as Stephanie points out, separating the display from the relevant today. We lament the there is a “look” that ultimately public. Having the plaques only often deplorable conditions of makes a Stickley a Stickley—the a foot or so off the ground factory-workers in the Third recurrent themes of specific made some of them difficult to World akin to how the Arts & woods, visible joinery, simple read—one woman even asked Crafts Movement railed against lines, etc. the guard if she could sit on the the poverty imposed by factories One of the things Gordon ground so as to be better-able to in the U.S. The trend towards found particularly interesting read the text. More useful, locally produced products—from was how Stickley tried to merge however, would have been a sustainable building materials to two somewhat divergent number key. While it's the food on our plates—echoes worldviews. On the one hand, sometimes obvious which piece the sentiments. he was reaching back for some a plaque refers to—if there is Yet Gustav Stickley's quasi- romantic social ideal of the only one chair, for example— Utopian vision of changing the noble, honest, simple craftsman they are not always on the same world by changing the American whose toil would uplift the soul side as the description. Had aesthetic had at its roots the fatal and, by extension, his society. there been a number by the flaw of all such dreams of social On the other was the item corresponding to a number reform—and assumption that businessman, who understood in by the description, it would there is a universal, one-size-fits- order to work on the scale he have helped in several spots. all aesthetic to begin with. envisioned, he needed to also There were also a few minor Outside of the relatively small embrace modernity in typos. Stephanie brought up community who embraced the production methods. He had his what she considers a very minor overriding vision was a larger Manhattan skyscraper criticism, but one which in market who simply liked the department store in the heart of retrospect would have been a design of his chairs, thinking less the urban world he thought neat touch in such an exhibit. about social change than unhealthy and, at the same time, Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Gustav whether it was comfortable or his idealistic rural school over in Stickely had a very distinctive not. His ambition could not New Jersey. His magazines and font he used in his publications outrun the fickleness of fashion. catalogs expounded a social and catalogs. While not a big Perhaps the single most philosophy that required deal, use of that font in some of historically significant piece in purchase of his products to the signs would have been a the exhibit is a cabinet of

Book & Exhibit Reviews • GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 10 • December 2010 drawers near the end. This was While there are several good Gustav Stickley's personal piece histories of Atlantic City of furniture, which he had with available, they generally gloss him in his daughter's home, over the dirty politics and focus where he moved after losing his on the beach, sand and pretty Craftsman Farms house. On the girls in bathing suits. Boardwalk undersides of the drawers, an Empire begins with the story of aging Stickley experimented Jonathan Pitney attempting to with various wood stains in convert Absecon Island into an what would be a vain attempt at alternative to Cape May as a finding a “perfect stain” that vacation destination for the would allow him to re-establish wealthy. With the arrival of the himself in the world. There was railroad, came blue-collar only a single photo of Gustav workers from Philadelphia who Stickley himself in the exhibit. brought with them their meager Indeed, there could have been savings. Johnson quotes that more about the man himself. “Atlantic City flourished because This one cabinet, with the secret it gave its guests what they experiments under the drawers, wanted—a naughty good time at imparted the only real Soft Cover, 284 pages ++++ an affordable price.” These humanity—in all its pathos and Review by Stephanie M. Hoagland “naughty good times” usually hope—behind all the design and require an overseer, or boss, to social philosophy. If you think that the book keep the cops away and the Gustav Stickley and the Boardwalk Empire by Nelson gambling, prostitution and liquor American Arts & Crafts Johnson is going to be the HBO sales flowing. Atlantic City found Movement closes January 2, series in book form, you may be this “boss” first in Louis “The 2011, so act quickly. It's worth highly disappointed. But if you Commodore” Kuehnle, then making time over your holiday are looking for a well-written Eonch “Nucky” Johnson and vacatios to visit the Newark history of Atlantic City you will finally Frank “Hap” Farley. Each Museum to experience this have come to the right place. of these men held a tremendous unique opportunity to see This book takes an in-depth artifacts from an interesting look at Atlantic City beginning BOOK history that touches on New with its original incarnation as a RATING SYSTEM Jersey. For more information small fishing village, through it about the exhibit, see: rise as America’s Playground, its + Poorly written, bad www.newarkmuseum.org/Stickley.html fall due to the end of scholarship / factual For information about The prohibition; and its attempted errors. Stickley Museum at Craftsman revival with legalized gambling. ++ Factually correct but Farms in Parsippany, NJ, see: Originally published in 2002, this poorly written. stickleymuseum.org/index.php book has been re-printed as a +++ Interesting but nothing tie-in with the HBO series, new or insightful. Book: including a glossy photo inset ++++ Strong scholarship, well Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, which includes behind the scene written. High Times and Corruption of shots and stills of the actors and +++++ Excellent in scholarship Atlantic City director. It also differs from the writing style and / or Written by Nelson Johnson. original publication with the graphics / typography. 2010: A Medford Press Book, published addition of a forward written by To submit a review or suggest a book by Plexus Publishing, Inc. Medford, or exhibit for review, please email New Jersey. Terence Winter the Executive [email protected] ISBN: 978–0-9666748–6-6 Producer of the series.

Book & Exhibit Reviews • GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 10 • December 2010 amount of power and Johnson’s sea.” Between the years 1870 Northside: African Americans book fleshes out these men so and 1915 thousands of African and the Creation of Atlantic City that they read as the real people Americans fled the south for job which GSL hopes to review in a they were and not just opportunities in Atlantic City. By later edition of this magazine. characters from a television 1915, 95% of the hotel The writing style of Boardwalk show. Boardwalk Empire helps workforce was comprised of Empire flows well and it is easily the reader to understand not African Americans and in the read. While the beginning of the only how AC got to be such a summer months, the black book keeps the reader hotbed of corruption, but how population of AC would rise as enthralled with personal tales deep the corruption was high as 40%. Although these and stories from residents, the embedded in the society, the men and women were exploited last two chapters tend to feel measures required to get regular and relegated to the most more like a recitation of names citizens on board and the effect undesirable part of town, they and news stories. But even these that events in this small town in were “employees” not “servants” last two chapters can make the South Jersey had not only on and wages in Atlantic City were reader react with a “What the...?” Northern New Jersey but also some of the best in the country when they read anecdotes such the government at the State for African Americans. This as “The Donald” having every level. allowed blacks to create a visible screw in his yacht In addition to corruption, “vibrant city within a city” where removed, gold-plated and Johnson’s book excelled at black culture could thrive. returned. showing how Atlantic City was Johnson’s research on African Priced at $16.95, this book is built on the back of its African American’s in Atlantic City lead an affordable addition to the American citizens and Johnson him to write a sequel to library of any NJ history junkie. likens it to a “plantation by the Boardwalk Empire entitled The Index of GSL Reviews, Issues 1 to 9

ISSUE 3: March 2009 Edited by Maxine N. Lurie and 2009: The History Press, Inc., Parallel Communities: The Underground Peter O. Wacker; Cartography by Charleston, SC Railroad in South Jersey Michael Siegel ISBN: 978-1-59629-748-7 by Dennis Rizzo 2009: Rivergate Books, An Imprint of Review by Gordon Bond 2008: The History Press, Charlston, NC Rutgers University Press, New Fair Lawn New Jersey: Historic Tales from ISBN: 978-1-59629-542-1 Brunswick, NJ Settlement to Suburb Softcover, 160 pages black and white. ISBN: 978-0-8135-4584-1 by Jane Lyle Diepeveen Exhibition Hardcover, 240 pages full color. 2010: The History Press, Inc., New Jersey’s Gilded Age: Opulence, Struggle & Review by Gordon Bond Charleston, SC Innovation There’s More to New Jersey Than the Sopranos ISBN: 978-1-59629-698-5 The Cornelius Low House by Mark Mappen Review by Gordon Bond 1225 River Road, Piscataway, NJ 2009: Rivergate Books, An Imprint of ISSUE 9: September 2010 October 19, 2008 - November 29, 2009 Rutgers University Press, New Monmouth Court House: The Battle That Made Tel.: 732-745-4177 Brunswick, NJ the American Army Fax.: 732-745-4507 ISBN: 978-0-8135-4586-1 Joseph G. Bilby & Katherine Bilby Jenkins Email: [email protected] Softcover, 210 pages black and white. 2010: Westholme Publishing, LLC Admission: Free Review by Gordon Bond ISBN: 978-1-59416-108-7 ISSUE 5: September 2009 ISSUE 8 June 2010 Hardcover, 309 pages black and white. Images of America: Montague New Jersey Goes to War: Biographies of 150 New Review by Gordon Bond by Alicia C. Batko Jerseyans Caught Up in the Struggle of the Civil Utopia, New Jersey—Travels in the Nearest Eden 2009: Arcadia Publishing War, including Soldiers, Civilians, Men, Women, by Perdita Buchan $21.99 Heroes, Scoundrels - and a Heroic Horse 2007: Rutgers University Press ISBN: 978-0-7385-6454-8 Edited by Joseph G. Bilby ISBN-10: 0813541786 Softcover, 128 pages black and white. 2010: New Jersey Civil War Heritage Association ISBN-13: 978-0813541785 Review by Gordon Bond ISBN: 978-0-944413-75-3 Hardcover 253 pages black and white Exhibition: Hardcover, 166 pages black and white. Review by Virginia Troeger Plainfield: Lost But Not Forgotten Review by Gordon Bond Historic Photos of Newark Plainfield Public Library Long Branch in the Golden Age: Tales of by Sharon Hazard and Elizabeth Hazard 800 Park Avenue Fascinating and Famous People 2009: Turner Publishing Company Plainfield, NJ 07060 by Sharon Hazard ISBN-10: 978-1-59652-538-2 August 24, 2009 - October 17, 2009 2007: The History Press, Inc., Hardcover 206 pages black and white Tel.: 908-757-1111 Charleston, SC Review by Gordon Bond www.plainfieldlibrary.info ISBN: 978-1-59629-216-1 Remembering Jersey Shore Admission: Free Softcover, 126 pages black and white. by Joe Czachowski Review by Gordon Bond Review by Gordon Bond 2010: Turner Publishing Company ISSUE 7: March 2010 Revolutionary Bergen County: The Road to ISBN-10: 978-1-59652-659-4 Mapping New Jersey - An Independence Softcover 134 pages black and white Evolving Landscape Edited by Barbara Z. Marchant Review by Gordon Bond

Book & Exhibit Reviews • GardenStateLegacy.com Issue 10 • December 2010