Why Primary Sources in Woodworking History?

This online history of woodworking will be primary-source driven. As much as possible, the history will be told from the perspective of people and events contemporary to the period being discussed. Already -- as Appendix 2 -- I have uploaded several primary sources associated with the development of the Morris Chair.

Before amateur woodworking could become an matter of wide-spread interest, several factors, outside the purview of woodworking, needed to be in place. To be viable tools, tablesaws such as Delta's, below, on the left, needed to wait for a market that included electrification and the availability of fractional HP electric motors. Both urban electrification and fractional horse-power electric motors were not available before the 1920s.

We get an example of this with the illustration from the catalog (in pdf format) of Delta Manufacturing's late 1920s-early 1930s tilting-table saw. Naturally, this saw, and it's accompanying accessories -- pictured below, on the left -- generated much interest, especially since they appeared on the scene in the midst of "the Great Depression", when many Americans, unemployed and anxious for activities that would provide an income, visualized these tools as a lifesaver. That is, with these tools, many of the unemployed anticipated that these tools would help them overcome the poverty of the Depression by giving thme an income. (Unfortunately, as yet, I have not found the "perfect" primary source document that illustrates these points in as dramatic fashion as I would like. The US Dept of Commerce's series, You Can Make It For Profit, comes close. Items in this series was reprinted recently by the Canada-based woodworker tools firm, Lee Valley.)

As shown on the left below, this tool, in effect, anticipates the combination tools -- such as the Shopsmith -- that came on the market early in the post-WW II era.

(These topics will be covered in much greater detail in the chapters on the 1920s and the 1930s.)

Here's the opening paragraph for a 1934 article in Popular Mechanics:

WITH the cost of motor-driven wood-working machines so low that almost every craftsman can afford to own homecraft power tools. Hobbies are becoming singly popular. Practically every working operation done with hand can be done by machine...

Other things to keep in mind, from the perspective of the 21st century: this saw has a 6" blade, which Delta claims can be "satisfactorily operated" with either a 1/4 hp or 1/3 hp electric inductive motor. With a 6" blade, you can barely saw through a 2 X 4, flat-side down. Accessories included additional power tools such as 4" jointer and a horizontal mortiser.

Fearful their readers couldn't make the crossover from hand tools to power tools, i.e., that numerous functions, jointing, mortising, rabbeting, and so forth, in the new power tool were familar to readers in their hand tool formats, but needed introductions for the power formats, the editors of Popular Mechanics cleverly match hand tool functions with their power tool equivalents in the picture reprinted below.

Delta Machinery's 1920s Tilting-Top Saw Source: Popular Mechanics, Jan, 1934

Document 1: P H Adams Reclining Chair May 1902.

An article that originally was published in the remarkable magazine, Amateur Work. Published in Boston early in the 20th century, AW, unfortuantely didn't have a long life, and obtaining info on it is difficult.

Document 2: A L Hall Workshop at Home 1908

Document no. 2, an 1908 magazine article, chronicles the creation, equipping and operation of a home workshop by a suburban New Yorker. In that era, before electrification became widespread in urban areas, primarily a phenomenon of the 1920s, home workshops are rare, even among the affluent.

Document 3: H H Windsor How to Make a Morris Chair.

First published in Popular Mechanics, 1909; reprinted 1980, as Mission Furniture: How to Make It

Document 4: Otter Morris Chair 1914 (reprinted 1923)

"The Morris Chair" from Paul D. Otter, Furniture for the Craftsman: A Manual for the Student and Mechanic, 1914, 1923.

Document 5: Creden "America Rediscovers Its Hands" 1953

Document no. 5, a 1953 magazine article, is a popular account of the impact of the end of WW II on American society, with many 1000s of returning veterans moving back into the civilian society, a "baby boom", a "housing boom", and a Do-It-Yourself Movement.

Document 6: a 1904 article heralding "The Significance of the Arts and Crafts Movement for Woodworking"

In 1904, to an observer like Frank T Carlton, a professor at Toledo University School , the potential impact of the Arts and Crafts Movement on American society was quite evident and today, in 2006, a century later, we can only marvel at how remarkable his insights are, but in an uncanny way.

Document 7: Mark Duginske, "Thoughts on a Working System"

On the occasion of a demonstrating products of Switzerland-based Inca Power Tools manufacturer, at Highland Hardware, Atlanta GA, in spring, 1983, Duginske penned these words of wisdom about the need for woodworkers, amateur and profesional alike, to early develop a personal "working system".

Document 8: Popular Science "How the Hammer, Saw and Try-Square Can Satisfy" 1946

From Popular Science Publishing, How to get the most out of your home workshop; all the home craftsman needs to know about the use of hand and power tools in his own home. Published in 1946. In this book, the preface observes, "How the Hammer, Saw and Try-Square Can Satisfy". More significant, though, at least for me, is the introduction of the phrase, "Skill Hunger".

(After quite a bit of investigating, I have concluded that the "coining" of the phase "skill hunger" by the anonymous editors at Popular Science is unique. The only other occurence I can locate is a 1932 booklet, with the title, Adolescent Skill Hunger, by T. Wingate Todd, of the Brush Foundation. The booklet discusses what seems to be 1930s theory of adolescent psychological development, including cognitive development. Evidently the author seeks to integrate the term "skill hunger" into his discussion of adolescent cognitive psychology of the era, a meaning definitely not related to amateur woodworking .)

Document 9: "Notes on Progress of the Use of Electricity in the Industrial and Domestic Field" 1921

A lucky find for me, this document presents very dramatic evidence about the astonishing rapidity of electrification and the equally astonishing impact of the development, production ond distribution of the fractional horse-power inductive motor. Just for fun, I counted the number of electric motors in my personal workshop. In stationary tools, know its over 15 -- one unit, a combo power tool, contains 3 electric motors, while each of the numerous portable tools, including cordless -- drills, sanders, biscuit joiner, several saws, grinder -- all, taken together, help argue that, for the woodworker, the fractional horse-power motor has had a major impact.

The decade, 1921-1930, is pivotal to amateur woodworking, because -- following closely the introduction of a marketable small-scale electric motor -- it is in that decade that the early models of scaled-down woodworking power tools first were brought into the marketplace.

Document 10: Hobbs Working With Tools 1935

WORKING WITH TOOLS is a 95-page publication of the Leisure League of America. The book's author, Harry J Hobbs, over about three decades, wrote numerous books dedicated to woodworking, including becoming co-author, in 1975, of the authoritative Know Your Woods: A Complete Guide To Trees, Woods, And Veneers.