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Monday Mottos

There is no freedom on earth or in any star for those who deny freedom to others.

- Elbert Hubbard

Cazenovia Creek then and now

Elbert Hubbard loved the out-of-doors. He is known to have taken the employees  of the Roycroft Campus on many hikes in the woods. Not much has been written if he liked the water or if he canoed or boated. We do know there was a well-known boating and canoe launch not far from the Roycroft Campus.

 

It was called Creekside Park (later called Donner's Grove). Roycroft visitors and locals rented canoes and went on boat rides in the Cazenovia Creek.

There is no longer a park in this exact area but you can still canoe or kayak the creek. Here is a photo of my son and I launching into the Cazenovia Creek just like Roycroft visitors and workers may have done 100 years ago. (Ok maybe not in plastic kayaks but you get the idea)

 

Julie (in the yellow/black kayak)

1911 Fourth of July

A snapshot of Life in Hubbard’s Time: USA as Melting Pot on Exhibition at the NYC Fourth of July Parade in 1911

The 1911 NYC July Fourth Parade was the ultimate expression of our nation as a melting pot of immigrants and Native Americans. Each group outfitted themselves in the clothing of their heritage which made for a long line of exotic and colorful retinues marching down the street. Here are a few from that year’s parade.  Photo Source: Flickr.

- Sue 

Monday Mottos

The world reserves its big prizes for but one thing, and that is Initiative. Initiative is doing the right thing without being told. Next to doing the right thing without being told, is to do it when you are told once.

- Elbert Hubbard

Roycroft Summer Festival

You're coming this weekend, right?

It is THE weekend to visit the Roycroft Campus, meet the artisans and see their beautiful work, purchase a little something, and of course grab a bite to eat.

June 27 and 28 from 10 AM to 5 PM

There will also be artisan demonstration like letter press printing and screen printing.

Here is more information on specific times for music, demonstrations and activities: Roycroft Festival .

Looking forward to seeing you here!

Julie

It's almost here! Get to the Roycroft Summer Festival.

Summer's here, at the Roycroft Campus! The official first day of summer was last weekend but this weekend is the BEST weekend of the summer. It's a glorious weekend of art, antiques and music. That means summer to me! Oh, and who could forget about the food. I can't wait-It's only 3 days away. I hope to see you there!

If you don't already have these links, click here and here to plan the fun!

-Amanda

Another Incredible Arts & Crafts Destination

The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, PA is delightful. Founded in the early 1900‘s and built by Henry Chapman Mercer, a wealthy amateur archaeologist, this fantastical structure continues to produce tiles from Mercer’s original designs. The tour is self guided, which allows one to throughly explore the nooks and crannies and ask questions of the artisans while they work. 

Next door is Mercer’s exotic mansion of his own design consisting of a jumble of stacked rooms with contorted connecting staircases. The building is entirely constructed of concrete and decorated throughout with tiles from the factory. The tour feels like a trip through an Escher maze - up and down on narrow stairways to odd little rooms chock full of interesting artifacts. 

Mercer also collected tradesmen’s tools and created a museum to house all of these artifacts of “modern” man. That building is in downtown Doylestown. He was an eccentric fellow, no doubt. But his Arts & Crafts legacy is well worth the visit to this quaint town. 

Closer to home here in WNY, the Roycroft Copper Shop has tiles inspired by The Moravian Pottery & Tile Works which have been created by the contemporary RALA artisan firm Mission Guild. The artisans are in town for the Roycroft Summer Arts Festival this weekend June 27 & 28 so stop by to see their work and that of other artisans on Campus, daily 10am-5pm; 31 South Grove Street, East Aurora. 

- Sue

Monday Mottos

Be gentle and keep your voice low.

- Elbert Hubbard

Hubbard, the marketing guru

One of my favorite volunteer duties (besides blogging, of course) is being a campus docent and telling people all about our wonderful Roycroft Campus.

We love it when docents from other landmarks come and visit us. Recently Cheryl, a volunteer at Frank lloyd Wright's Graycliff, visited the Roycroft Campus. She was able to cleverly fold her docent experience into a blog post she did for her place of work, Travers Collins and Company.

Two Worlds Meet Over Time

Are you interested in learning more about Elbert Hubbard, the marketing guru? We would love to give you a tour of the Roycroft campus.

Regularly scheduled Guided walking tours of the

 National Historic Landmark Roycroft Campus

 are available June through October

Every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday

 at 12:30 and 2:30pm

Cost = $10 per person

Please RSVP by calling 716 655-0261

Julie

What Do Cleopatra, Socrates & Paganini Have in Common?

What do Cleopatra, Socrates and Paganini have in common? Why the Roycroft Inn of course! Elbert Hubbard brought together politicians, businessmen, intellectuals and artists from across the ages - some he had actually met and others he only figuratively rubbed elbows with. 

A small, “Philistine-sized” promotional pamphlet about the Inn was published in 1923. It described the amusements, the food, Salon and accommodations.  At the end of the pamphlet was a chapter titled “The Roycroft Hall of Fame”, further described as follows: “The sleeping-rooms of The Roycroft Inn are not numbered. Each room bears the name of one of the world’s great; and the furnishings are carried out in harmony with the character of the personages the room is named for.”

These personages (Rooms) are: (Michel)Angelo, Aristotle, Jane Austen, Beethoven, Elizabeth Barrett, (Sara) Bernhardt, Rosa Bonheur, Brahms, Charlotte Bronte, Robert Browning, Burne-Jones, John Burroughs, Chopin, Cleopatra, Darwin, Thomas Edison, George Eliot, Emerson, Benjamin Franklin, Elizabeth Fry, Hetty Green, Caroline Herschel, William Herschel, Victor Hugo, Alexander Von Humboldt. Anne Hutchinson, Robert Ingersoll, Liza Lehmann, Leonardo (da Vinci), Liszt, William Morris, Paganini, Tom Paine, Pericles, Plato, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rossetti, John Ruskin, Clara Schumann, Socrates, Herbert Spencer, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Theodora, Henry Thoreau, Richard Wagner, Alfred Russel Wallace, Whistler, Walt Whitman, Mary Wollstonecraft.

While Elbert was on Campus he would call guests by the name of their room - so you could be Cleopatra or Socrates or Ruskin, et al for the duration of your stay. Today, the rooms are still identified by names and not numbers.

- Sue