Woodworker's Manuals 1961-1970

Why survey three centuries of woodworking manuals? The main focus of my study is the 20th century, but since woodworking manuals published in the 18th century remain popular among certain amateur woodworkers today, I believe that I need to explore approaches that allows you to visualize the context in which these "original" woodworking manuals were published, and thus may be able to sense their significance as timeless artifacts. My first convictions about woodworking manuals is that the intent of their authors in assembling these manuals is to instruct and to inspire. The "to instruct" -- the "how-to-do-it" function -- is obvious. Potential woodworkers need guidance, and guidance comes best from other woodworkers' experience. The "to inspire" part may not be obvious to beginners, of course, but finding any evidence of attempts toward inspiration is usually not difficult, especially if you read the introduction to a woodworking manual. For example, read the introduction to the 1946 woodworker's manual, How to Get the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power Tools, published by Popular Science. This manual's Introduction revives the term, "Skill Hunger", coined and popularized in the Depression by promoters such as Lawrence Pearsall Jack, for promoting use of "leisure time" wisely. What is "skill hunger?" For the editors of the woodworker's manual, How to get the most out of your home workshop hand and power tools, skill hunger concerns "How the Hammer, Saw and Try-Square Can Satisfy the Urge to Make Things". Read more on this term by clicking on this hyperlink. In comparison, how does this 1946, How to Get the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power Tools, manual stand up in promoting use of power tools over competitive manuals? I checked this matter by doing a survey of woodworking manuals published between 1941 and 1950 in the Worldcat bibliographic database.  (Worldcat, the world's largest bibliographic database of books, periodicals, publications of governments, etc, etc., currently contains records for over 50 million items.) How to Get the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power Tools, Worldcat registers only 17 copies in libraries worldwide -- telling us that libraries did not perceive this title as a "keeper", meaning that we can't use library holdings as an indicator of the impact of this manual on the amateur woodworking movement in the '40s. (Since How to Get the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power Tools is over 50 years old, and has been "replaced" by numerous other more up-to-date manuals, most public libraries could have "discarded" their copies for more recently published books. By discard, do not think the trash can; instead, it is more likely that the book was offered for sale at one of the book sales public libraries conduct annually. As a rule, public libraries -- unlike college libraries -- do not consider themselves "last copy" repositories. However, while this assumption may be soundly based, it is still only speculation.) Worldcat registers that in 1946, 35 volumes were published, and for the decade, i.e., from 1941-1950, 206 volumes were published that libraries classified as woodworking manuals. So, with these figures, we can conclude that the How to get the most out of your home workshop hand and power tools volume had much competition, especially in a nation occupied by a war. How to Get the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power Tools was, however, indexed in the Index to Handicrafts,  Modelmaking  and Workshop Projects, 2d supplement, 1950. This is one volume in a series of five volumes, published between 1943 and 1975. These volumes were purchased widely by public libraries, because their contents are indexes the internal contents of manuals. Pages of The Index to Handicrafts where certain "how-to" plans are accessible: for example, the following entry shows that you can find: "Mortising and shaping on the drill press". In How to Get the Most Out of Your Home Workshop Hand and Power Tools, pp. 91-95. The Index to Handicrafts began as an in-house file of hand-written 3 x5 inch library cards in the Pittsburgh Public Library. Click on this link for an online example of how a public library lists these volumes. How to get the most out of your home workshop hand and power tools is still in the Index to Handicrafts,  Modelmaking  and Workshop Projects volume, but the manual itself -- probably because in public libraries it is considered outdated -- has been removed from the shelves of many public libraries.

Chronological List of Woodworking Manuals, Periodicals,  1961-1970:

Home Craftsman. v. 19-30, no. 4. Ja.-F. '50-N.-D. '61. Home Crafts-man Corp.

1961: Pelton, B. W. Furniture making and cabinet work. 2d ed. 1961. Van Nostrand.

 Indexed in Index to Handicrafts 1965
 

1961: Peters, Geoff. Woodturning. 1961. Arco Pub. Co.

 Indexed in Index to Handicrafts 1965

1961: J. J. Hammond  and others. Woodworking technology. 1961. Mc-Knight.

         Indexed in Index to Handicrafts 1965

1961: B. W. Heppenstall. Contemporary furniture designs. 1961. John Murray, London.

 Indexed in Index to Handicrafts 1965

1961: Hjorth, Herman, 1883-1951; Rev. by Albert Constantine, Jr.. Veneering made easy for school and home workshop.  New York, A. Constantine, 1951.

1961: W. F. Holtrop and Herman Hjorth. Principles of woodworking. 1961. Bruce.

Indexed in Index to Handicrafts 1965

1961: John Gerald Shea. Woodworking For Everybody. Princeton, New Jersey, Nostrand Co., 1961. 3d edition. 219 p. 1^st edition, 1944; second edition, 1953.

Indexed in Index to Handicrafts 1965

1961:  R. J. DeCristoforo. Fun With a Saw.  McGraw,, 1961

Indexed in Index to Handicrafts 1965

1962:  R. J. DeCristoforo. Mechanix illustrated carpentry handbook.  Greenwich, Conn., Fawcett Publications, 1962

1962:  R. J. DeCristoforo. Fun with a saw:  radial arm saw woodworking for everyone.  New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962

1962: Ecke, Gustav. Chinese Domestic Furniture in Photographs and Measured Drawings (Dover Books on Furniture)     ISBN: 0486251713.

1962: Robert Scharff. Newest ways to expert woodworking; easy power tool techniques for all do-it-yourself materials including wood, aluminum, composition materials, tile, and plastics.  1962 176 p. illus. 

1963:  James M O'Neill. Making colonial furniture: instructions and diagrams for 24 projects. Dover, 1963, 1997. 141 p. : ill. ISBN: 0486296660 (pbk.)

1964:  John Gerald Shea.  Making colonial furniture reproductions: over 100 projects with measured drawings.  New York: Dover, 1964,  1994. Libraries Worldwide: 34

1965: John Gerald Shea.  Contemporary Furniture Making for Everybody. Van Nostrand, 1965. 178 pages

From Chapter 1:

“It is a common misconception that the term ^‘contemporary’ represents the extreme opposite of ^‘traditional,’ when applied to furniture de-sign. Actually, there is not too great a difference between traditional designs of certain funda­mental types and some basic contemporary con­cepts. Certainly, the rudimentary, solid wood furniture of early colonial America has much in common with the best contemporary furniture designed today. Both types are essentially functional both are devoid of ostentatious ornamentation.

But the line is sharply drawn between con-temporary furniture and traditional furniture of the more sophisticated periods. Indeed, the phi­losophy of contemporary design rules out the use of applied embellishment, elaborately curved and scrolled shapes and decorative turning. It seeks beauty through absolute simplicity.

The effective contemporary designer is con­stantly concerned with economy of essentials. He must often ask himself: ^‘Is this feature nec­essary?—And does it contribute anything to the appeal and purpose of the design?’

Obviously, a chair is not made more comfortable by the carving or turning of its legs; nor is a table rendered more serviceable by the amount of decoration it displays. So the contemporary designer discards traditional embellishment in­sofar as it does not contribute to functional re­quirements.

1965: R J. DeCristoforo. Home carpentry handbook. Greenwich, Conn., Fawcett Publications, 1965

1965: R J. DeCristoforo. How to build your own furniture. New York:  Harper & Row, 1965.

1965: Mario Dal Fabrro. How to Make Wood Furnishings for Your Home. 1965

Click on this link to see an extended discussion of Dal Fabbro's Woodworker's Manuals
 

1966: R J. DeCristoforo. The how-to- book of carpentry. New York:  Arco 1966

1967: R J. DeCristoforo. Modern power tool woodworking. New York:  Arco Pub. Co. 1967

1967: Mechanix illustrated carpentry handbook. Greenwich, Conn., Fawcett Publications, 1967. 

1968: David Collischon. Furniture Making.  Studio Vista, 1968.

1968: Stanley Works Inc. The use and care of hand tools. New Britain, Conn. : Stanley Tools, Division of the Stanley Works  [40] p.

1968: R J. DeCristoforo. The new carpentry handbook. Greenwich, Conn., Fawcett Publications,inc.,1968 112 p.

1969: R J. DeCristoforo. The Practical Book of Home Carpentry. [not decristoforo’s first book]

1969: R J. DeCristoforo. How to build your own furniture New York : Popular Science Pub. Co., 1969.

1969: Walter George Alton. More Woodwork Projects.  Allman, 1969.

1970:  Vernon Martin Albers. Amateur Furniture Construction.   A. S. Barnes, 1970.

1970: Laszlo Katz. The Art of Woodworking and Furniture Appreciation.  New York: P.F.C. Publishing Co., inc., in cooperation with PFC Woodworking Co, Inc., 1970. 192 pages.

The author -- a cabinetmaker of the 'old school' -- lovingly and painstakingly provides history and commentary of hand tools and furniture, beginning in the neolithic age,  including the craftsmanship required in its making. Evidently published again in 1980, illustrations in color and black/white -- need to check