Transcriber’s Note
The cover image was created by the transcriber for the convenience of the reader,and it is placed in the public domain.
SEAT WEAVING
THE MANUAL ARTS PRESS
PEORIA, ILLINOIS
1917
Copyright, 1917, by
L. Day Perry
Woodworking shops in manual training schools far outnumberthose for other manual activities, and as a result, courses in woodworkhave come to be termed the stable courses in a handworkcurriculum. However, experience in woodwork alone is not sufficient,and needs to be supplemented by other and more variedactivities to give to the boy a proper foundation for choice ofvocation.
A definite way to produce necessary variety as applied to woodwork,especially if woodwork is the only course offered, is thru theuse of such mediums as cane, reed, rush, splints and allied materialsin correlation with the wood. These materials add life to theproblems and generally arouse interest and enthusiasm in the workat hand. The result is careful application to construction details,with resultant appreciation of constructive design.
It would prove a difficult task to make a fair estimate of thevalue such mediums have in manual training shops. Their useproduces very definite reactions upon boys who could not be reachedby woodwork alone, awakening them to a new interest in theirwork and making them more workmanlike and exacting in construction.
There exists some element in such mediums which cannot bedefined, but which nevertheless stimulates the average or mediocreboy, as well as the exceptional one, to produce the best work ofwhich he is capable. Experience with these materials utilized incorrelation with wood will prove the truth of these statements anddemonstrate that they are not only worth while, but necessary toany well-rounded course in wood.
The originals of the projects illustrated by the photographs were,with few exceptions, constructed by boys of average ability in theeighth grade. They indicate the character of work which may be[Pg 4]expected of boys in that grade, and, in a measure, the first two yearsof high school.
Practically the entire emphasis is laid upon weaving as appliedto some form of seat, either as a decorative feature or as a necessarypart of the structure. These materials may be utilized in variousways on varied types and forms of furniture other than seats, a fewof which are suggested. Experience with them will lead the workerto new and interesting fields of a distinctly educational nature.
Joliet, Illinois, November, 1916.
L. DAY PERRY.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Acknowledgments are hereby made to The Bruce PublishingCo., for permission to re-use the material in Chapters I and IIwhich appeared in The Industrial Arts Magazine in a modifiedform; to The Periodical Publishing Co., for the photograph shownin the ...