RoyCroftCampusCorporation

Remembering Tim Russert

     It seems everyone in western NY has their own Tim Russert story to tell. Mine is very simple. I saw him supporting yet another western NY business, our own Roycroft Inn, one Thanksgiving; he was there having dinner with his family while I was there with mine.  I came back to our table and excitedly whispered, “Tim Russert is here!” Anticlimactically my father answered, “Who’s that?”  Obviously my dad didn’t watch NBC news, but I think it was a generational thing. If I had said “Walter Cronkite is here!” he definitely would have been interested.

     I have since learned that Thanksgiving at the Inn was a tradition for the Russerts and one which the staff always looked forward to and enjoyed hosting for them. Thanks to Tim and his family for their wonderful support of Buffalo and western NY. He will be missed by many.

- Sue

The Mann Act & Frank Lloyd Wright

    I am sure you never thought you would hear so much about the Mann Act as you have the last few weeks since Governor Spitzer's trysts were unveiled, but did you know that Frank Lloyd Wright was charged with interstate trafficking of a woman in 1915? The Mann Act was passed in 1910. Frank knew about the law and tried to avoid being caught violating it but his housekeeper Nellie Breen turned him in when he brought Miriam Noel from Chicago to Spring Green. This was a year after his wife, Mamah Bortwick Cheney, family and workmen had been murdered at Taliesin, so I think it is fairly obvious housekeeper Nellie didn't like what FLW was up to and tried to punish him. Frank and Miriam were arrested for violating the Mann Act but avoided being charged. Source: Secrest, Meryle: Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography p. 243-245.

     Thanks to my friend and fellow Roycroft fanatic Linda for reminding me of this historic and yet oh so timely gossip item. Of course charismatic men throughout history are known for their dalliances. Our own Elbert Hubbard was the object of much gossip himself having a "love child" with Alice Moore while married to his first wife Bertha. You can read more about this affair in the book by Charles Hamilton, As Bees in Honey Drown, selling for $16.95 at the Roycroft Copper Shop, 31 South Grove Street, East Aurora, NY.

- Sue

Would Elbert Hubbard Have Voted For Hillary?

       Hubbard’s wives, first Bertha, and later Alice , were both strong women and no doubt influenced his decision to support the women’s suffrage movement. A consummate promoter and advertiser he even created an early 20^th century billboard announcing his support. On the Roycroft Farm, at one end of the barn, was a 35 foot silo with a red, six-sided roof. Painted on this silo were 2 foot tall yellow letters spelling out “VOTES FOR WOMEN!” Never one to be afraid of taking a public position, he attached a similar sign to the back of his automobile turning heads and drawing stares as he drove down the street in East Aurora.

       As for whether Hubbard would have voted for Hillary Clinton in today's February 5th NYS primary, support for women’s suffrage does not directly lead to voting for a woman based solely on her gender. However, it does indicate a trust in women’s intelligence and their ability to make well reasoned choices. As Alice Hubbard wrote in An American Bible (1911) of her husband: “Elbert Hubbard sees, too, that just as long as one woman is denied any right that man claims for himself, there is no free man; that no man can be a superior, true American as long as one woman is denied her birthright of life, liberty and happiness.”

       Don't neglect your right to vote whenever your primary is. It is easy to forget that it is a hard won right starting with this country's fight for independence and progressing through to winning the vote for women and minorities. Declare your independence with the vote of your choice.

- Sue

Soap Company Fights Back Through Advertising and Appeals to Immigrants

This 1885 advertisment caught my eye for two reasons: (1) the fact that it is printed in English and German, and (2) perhaps this advertisement was a desperate response to Elbert Hubbard's Larkin Soap ad campaigns which offered "prizes" as inducements - now commonly known as a "gift with purchase". 

          Few people are alive today that experienced the large immigration of Europeans to the United States in the late 1800's and can remember how those various nationalities were assimilated into American society. The advertisement shown here is from 1885, printed in English and German (a large immigrant population of that time), and seeks to persuade readers to buy genuine Soapine products whether they speak English or German.  More recently, we have seen the Latino population  in the U.S. increase to the point that product labels, print advertisements, and store signage are in English and Spanish. The English-German ad from 1885 shows us that multi-lingual advertising is not a new accommodation for a modern population but a long established business practice to communicate  with potential customers.

          Elbert Hubbard, marketing genius of his time, would have understood these multi-lingual marketing practices and not be surprised to see them continued today. However, I believe he would have disputed Soapine's claim that prize inducements were "worthless". I think it is safe to assume Soapine was probably fighting Hubbard's own ad campaigns for Larkin Soaps which offered gift inducements to purchasers of their soaps (the worthless powders and prizes Soapine refers to in this ad). Below is a J.D. Larkin & Co. premium notice on the back of one of their advertisement cards, this one from 1882, during Hubbard's tenure with the company. His marketing plan instituted premium incentives with soap purchases, culminating in his most extravagant offer, the "combination box" of 100 soaps and 11 silver plated gift items (perhaps the silverware the Soapine ad refers to?).

          It is interesting what can be gleaned from a simple advertisement - how things have changed but remained the same. Hubbard's Roycroft Campus, begun in 1895, has also "changed but remained the same". Come see and support the Campus restoration in progress, 31 South Grove Street, East Aurora, NY.

- Sue

     

Roycroft Exercise & Diet Tips for the New Year

January is when many of us resolve to be healthier in the new year. We pick up the latest nutrition and exercise publications to make sure we do it right. Perhaps we would be wiser to look backward in time, say the late 1890's, for our health coach. At the Roycroft, Elbert Hubbard insisted on daily exercise breaks for employees, organized team sports, and provided organic farm grown food, regular music and lectures, creating a regimen that nourished the physical body and stimulated the mind. Be a modern day Roycrofter and strive to give your life this sort of  balance this year. You will be satisfying your body and soul. 

- Sue

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a Happy New Year as they did in 1916 (click on the image for a larger view).

- Sue

Merry Christmas

A Merry Christmas greeting dated December 24, 1907. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday.

-Sue

Holiday Shopping

It's only a week before Christmas. I sure hope you aren't dashing about like these folks -

I found this in a collection of antique advertising cards. I am not sure where Thomson & Hoyt's was located and judging from their clothes, it may be a bit later than the Roycroft period, but I thought everyone could identify with this family! (click on image for larger view)

Here's hoping you get your shopping lists completed - remember Kate, Meg & Bonnie are always ready to help you with gift ideas at the Copper Shop - so you can enjoy the holidays.

- Sue

You'll Elect to Come to the Next Roycroft Conference!

          Connection: 2007 was a well woven event that revealed the many stylistic and cultural influences between A&C designers here and abroad. William Whitla, Professor Emeritus & Senior Scholar at York University in Toronto, lectured on William Morris, the pioneer of A&C and Hubbard’s inspiration, laying the foundation for the weekend on Friday evening in the Chapel; incidentally where lectures were held during Hubbard’s time. Rob Goller, East Aurora’s Historian, began our day on Saturday at the same venue by reminding us of the social, religious and political  reasons why the Roycrofters and East Aurorans oftentimes did not see eye-to-eye. Lynne Poirier-Wilson, consulting  curator of the Asheville Art Museum, revealed western North Carolina’s extensive A&C movement beyond Asheville’s Grove Park Inn including the often overlooked category of rustic twig and branch furniture. Finishing off the morning’s lectures, Annegrett Richards, having the good  fortune to live in the Frank Lloyd Wright Martin House for a year, shared her stories of life in the complex. After absorbing all this information and a tasty buffet lunch at the Inn we were able to see a portion of a private collector’s original Roycroft pieces in the bunglehouse which Roycrofter Alexis Fournier had lived in, and tour the Campus to meet contemporary Roycroft Master Artisans demonstrating their work.

          I heard rave reviews and wish I had been able to stay on to experience the Slow Food dinner held at the Inn Saturday evening.  Slow Food Buffalo members Sandy Starks and Sharon Osgood joined forces with the Inn’s Chef Andrew to provide a  delicious menu incorporating Native American foods (Tuscarora white corn chowder, duck breast salad, wood grilled salmon, maple syrup poached pears were a few of the menu items). This brought the Roycroft A&C experience straight to the dinner table reminding us of  Native American contributions to  A&C as well as how Roycrofters experienced their own farm grown (slow) food.

          Sunday morning’s lectures first took the discussion ‘out of doors’ when landscaper & gardening author Sally Cunningham spoke about A&C gardening and then lectures wrapped up with Marjory Sgroi’s photo tour of A&C treasures in Britain and Europe; showing the international cross pollination of ideas and designs through the media of the day: pamphlets, magazines and design competitions. The conference continued with a bountiful buffet brunch at the Inn, more Master Artisan demonstrations and an Antique Appraisal Fair conducted by Boice Lydell, owner and curator of the Roycroft Arts Museum.

           This conference naturally  brought together people with a shared passion for the Roycroft and the A&C movement but there was a silent participant that exerted a powerful influence over everyone: The Roycroft Campus. The Campus is a very intimate and architecturally charming setting, providing the perfect backdrop to  inspire intellectual  exploration and artistic endeavors, just as the Fra intended. You sit taller as you listen to lectures on a Roycroft bench in the Chapel, you walk with purpose as you seek out the carved mottoes in the next building, and you feel aesthetically satisfied as you walk the peristyle of the Inn or relax in the salon surrounded by Fournier’s murals. Add to that the delightful accommodations and delectable meals of today’s Inn and this conference is one that must go on  your ‘to do’ list.

See you next year!

Sue