In recent blog postings people have talked about how the advent of Pinterest has ushered in a new era of DIY. In a simplified and certainly not scholarly observation, I feel comfortable stating that the Arts and Crafts movement was spawned as a rebellion or push-back against the machine and mass production and the value and ideals of those who created that world. Focus was on individual craftsmanship Many of the those modern-day thinkers felt that a return to craft as practiced during the middle ages was the ideal.
I have thought a lot about this as I see the rise in the DIY movement of this generation through the internet. We have truly become a technology-based culture and the speed at which it changes is head spinning. I can see why there may be a wish to return to simpler times similar to the longing that many had at the turn of the century. I’m a tale-end baby boomer and part of the generation that has in many ways had unparalleled income and abundance. Focus for my generation was on work and getting ahead. Both mom and dad worked, many could afford a housekeeper, and everything you ate pretty much came delivered or from a purchased jar or box of some kind.
Enter our children’s generation. Isn’t it typical for children to eschew the values of their parents? Many young couples are simplifying so that one of them can stay home with their children. The focus is on nourishing and whole food meals with hundreds of mommy blogs detailing recipes and activities like how to “put up” food through canning. These young women and men are learning and blogging about how to sew, build furniture, and do their best to upcycle, recycle and remake because of their moral and ethical values of taking responsibility, respect for the earth and stewardship of it. It seems to be a return to stronger and old-time values.
I also think there is another factor in the DIY revival and I don’t think it necessarily has to do with values. The economy. When the financial bubble burst there was further impetus for people to start getting involved with DIY. They simply can’t afford to buy new. I’ve seen this with weddings. As a wedding planner for 18 years I keep up with trends and right after the big burst the trend in weddings changed to “self expression”, DIY, and simplicity. Today, mason jars, burlap and wooden logs are all the rage for wedding decor. The same is true for many DIY projects which I find focus on cottage style or “vintage” shabby chic style. It’s funny to hear my daughter and her friends talk about the “quality” of things made in the 1940′s, 50′s and 60′s in comparison to our throw-away generation products now. There is truth in it but what strikes me is that I suspect these conversations are very similar to the ones had by followers of Ruskin and William Morris a hundred years ago.
During the Arts and Crafts era individuals like William Morris, inspired by the middle ages
, spent their lives chasing the goal of producing hand-made products for the common people. Morris did not achieve this goal due to the fact that these “by hand” produced items were expensive and only the wealthy could afford this work. When Arts and Crafts ideals reached America a DIY movement was born. During this time women in the family purchased needlework kits or decorated pre-made pottery and it was the husband or son of the family who might have created the frame or table pattern they got from a magazine. Quality and workmanship were prized.
I see something similar happening today. Owning a piece of Stickley or even a hand made arts and crafts tile can be out of reach for many people. It’s true there are affordable pieces out there and you just might stumble upon a garage sale wherein the elderly owner drags a Stickley rocking chair that sat in the attic for a hundred years out onto the front 
lawn to put a $25 price tag on it. But I do think that many Arts and Crafts era pieces and even some revival pieces created by today’s artisans may be out of reach for the average joe. If price-wise you’re faced with the choice between a piece of furniture and a car (albeit not the best on the car lot), practicality, is going to win out. Through Pinterest, blogs, YouTube videos and the internet in general, people are able to learn skills and create items that are inspired by those who created before us.
As I said on my About page I think it is time to re-think what authenticity and ideals of the arts and crafts philosophy mean in our society. What I see happening is that Pinterest and other internet sites allow all of us, “the common people”, to see some of the beautiful Arts and Crafts era rarities that we would never have been aware of any other way and to be inspired by them. Learning and participating in modern day DIY in an Arts and Crafts style allows us to make things with our hands, express our tastes and in many ways to follow in the footsteps of great artisans like William Morris, Gustav Stickley, and Charles Voysey who were similarly inspired by the generations before them. I think William Morris might be pleased by what we see around us today and perhaps this is the fulfillment of his wish to see a resurgence of common people producing their own art & home decor products.
If you’d like to read more on this topic check out:
The American Craftsman: A Contemporary Revival by Nate Mucha
Do it Yourself: The Modern Arts and Crafts Movement by Nate Mucha
I *heart* William Morris so much. =)
I just thought to add to this, one of the things that a craftsman/artist is working against in terms of wanting to make their wares affordable are the conditioned wants/needs of the public. While the choice between a piece of furniture and a needed car is a no brainer, many people of my generation (I was born in ’74) seem to value quantity over quality. One of the things that frustrates me (often within my own family) is that some folks are perfectly happy to spend the same amount (if not even a bit more) for a bunch of shoddily-made items then spend that amount on one or two really well-made items. And stunningly, when those poorly-made items fall apart and become useless (in a very short period of time), they think nothing of just replacing it “because it’s so cheap.” It never occurs to them that they are spending much more replacing the same items two or three times than it would have in the first place to buy a decent product!
The same goes for decent food–they’d rather buy a whole lot of junk (and eat as much as they can physically manage) and then claim they can’t buy healthy food because it’s too expensive. It doesn’t occur to them that if they ate a healthy amount of healthy food, it would absolutely be affordable (I’m obviously not referring to those communities who don’t have *access* to healthy food–that’s another topic altogether.)
This seems to be a learned behavior over a long period of time, making it one of those behaviors that is difficult to break. It’s hard to convince someone who sees the world this way that your product is worth the money you have to charge–they think they can get the “same thing” from WalMart, when, in fact, it is *not* the same thing at all and those inferior products actually cost more in the end. But I think you’re right: there are some of us that are working towards something better, and certainly a better way of thinking, which should logically lead to a better way of living. Let’s hope it spreads.
That is why i bought a bosch mixer. The first one lasted 45 yearrs with no problems. I know i will not get as long a service from this one. In the mean time i know it will work for me and i don’t have to think about it breaking down. It would be nice to live another 45 yhears but I don’t think that will happen.
I can make healthy meals. that is important to me.
Sometimes i feel like an old comboy when ATV arrived. My skills wre not wanted any more but I keep on doing what i am use to doing..
Supposedly “outdated” skills can never truly be outdated, so long as they get the job done. Some folks choose to take the easy, flimsy, cheapo route through life; the rest of us—few as we may be—are much better served by doing it the right way: the harder, sturdier, more valuable way. =)
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Hey Kriscinda:
I absolutely agree that is a learned behavior. My parents never bought quality and my mom always purchased the flash in the pan cheaper version of everything. When I bought my first antique (which I’ll be talking about in another blog posting) it was my first step to buying quality and something that will last my lifetime. I still struggle against that tendency though to purchase the quick, easy and throw away. Society in general is set up to feed into this.
I was in WalMart buying a leather watch strap, (which I will add was shoddy leather that cracked within a week and broke three months later after which I went to a local jeweler and bought a strap for a few dollars more that has lasted me over 4 years) and here’s a conversation I overheard.
Two men walked by and one stopped to look at the tower of watches that were listed for $13.99. The one said to his buddy, “Yah, I bought my last watch here two years ago. Gotta pick up a new one.”
“Don’t buy it here man, this is a bunch of crap. It’s junk.”
The other fellow continued searching. “Hey, there’s your watch.”
“No way man, that’s a cheap imitation.”
“But it looks just like your watch. How much did you pay for yours?”
“$350 bucks”
“This looks the same to me. How long you had it?”
“Two or three years”
“And how long you think it will last?”
“I dunno, maybe another 2 or 3. Some of the metal on the backing is wearing off”.
“So you paid maybe $400 bucks for a watch that has lasted 4 years. I paid $15.00 for my watch and it lasted 2 years. That means I can buy two $15.00 watches and they’ll last for the same time as your $400 watch. I’ve just saved myself $370 bucks. Man I could buy a new watch every two years at $15.00 for the rest of my life and save myself a truck (that wasn’t the word he used) load of dough. I’m buying the watch.”
I think this illustrates why in our society it is such a challenge to purchase and to develop appreciation for quality and hand-crafted items.
Exactly. *sigh* The saddest part, I think, is that, in order to even get to a place where people will make the decision to *buy* quality items, they have to first develop the appreciation. And the various ethical and aesthetic concepts in which a lot of this appreciation is rooted just doesn’t serve the wants/needs/expectations of most people. I’ve definitely experienced a fair amount of ribbing for even arguing for the support of handmade, as if what I’m talking about is a fantasy from Happy-Time Fairy Land (News from Nowhere!), because the end argument for them is always, “I’ll take whatever and as much as I get get for a little money as humanly possible.” (Of course, “humanly” in a lot of instances is quite literally a human cost, *cough*slavewages/labor*cough*.) When a society values the dollar over clean air, land, food, water, and the general respect and care of its population, that’s a pretty strong current to swim against. Just like we’ve been conditioned to buy and eat garbage, we’ve been conditioned to revere the *idea* of “money” and value “wealth” in purely monetary terms. Things like “appreciation of design and utility” don’t even enter a lot of minds out there. This is sad for us, but a thousand times sadder for them.