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Elbert Hubbard and L.Ron Hubbard

A common question about Elbert Hubbard is if he is related to L. Ron Hubbard of Scientology. (Scientology's members include famous Hollywood actors such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise.)

L. Ron Hubbard was a nephew of Elbert by the adoption of his father into the Hubbard family. L. Ron's father, Harry Ross Hubbard, was born Henry August Wilson but was adopted as an orphan by a Mr. and Mrs. James Hubbard of Iowa. Elbert, therefore, was an uncle (but not by blood).

L. Ron Hubbard was so impressed with his uncle Elbert Hubbard's accomplishments that in 1956 he dedicated the ninth printing of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health to him.

L. Ron Hubbard was born in 1911. Elbert Hubbard died in 1915. It is unknown but doubtful they ever met.

Are there Any Descendants of Elbert Hubbard, Founder of the Roycrofters of East Aurora?

           A birthday celebration brought together several descendants of Elbert and Bertha Hubbard, as well as descendent's of Elbert and his second wife Alice.  Families had come together from across the country for a birthday cake here at the Roycroft Copper Shop.  Fourth and fifth generations were represented in the gathering.

      

           Family members studied a genealogy chart confirming their relationships and providing updates of births, deaths and marriages.  One can only imagine how such a happy gathering of these two families would have been viewed a hundred years ago.

          Regardless of what Elbert, the first, said of immortality, on this day, at this gathering, here it was.

          For a taste of nostalgia for the 'olden days' visit the Roycroft Campus, the Copper Shop, and see this isn't all your grandfather's Roycroft anymore.  Open 10 am - 5 pm daily.

            

          

          

          

What Did the Roycrofters Put in Their Roycroft Goodie Box

          The famous Roycroft Goodie Box was a mortised-and-tenoned box of mahogany stained gumwood, filled with products from their six farms which covered over five hundred acres in the vicinity of East Aurora, NY. The filled box sold for $10.

          Packed in each box was the following:

                Two (2) pounds of Roycroft Bacon, sliced.

                One (1) pound of Butter (Extra Choice!)

                One (1) Linen Bag, filled with Mixed Nuts.

                Twelve (12) ears of Pop-Corn.

                One (1) box of Pecan Patties.

                One (1) jar of Cottage Cheese.

                One (1) jar of Mince-Meat

                One )1) jar of Preserves.

                One (1) jar of Honey.

                 One (1) roll of Ginger Cookies.

                 One (1) brick of Maple-Sugar

                 One  (1) loaf of Roycroft Nut-Bread.

                 One  (1) jar of Pickles.

                 Twenty (20) Prize Roycroft Potatoes (wrapped).

                 Twenty (20) York State Apples (selected).

             All this and the box itself for only $10, shipping prepaid, and for subscribers to The Fra it would be shipped with no money in advance "Get the Goodie Box First--know its Worth-then, if satisfied, remit the $10."

Sorry this offer has expired.  Other choice items are available at the Roycroft Copper Shop, open daily 10 am -5 pm.

                

What was the Roycroft Goodie Box?

          The famous "Roycroft Goodie Box" was  a popular purchase from the Roycrofters in the early 1900s.  A portion of an advertisement for the box which appeared in the March 1915 copy of The Fra describes the box as follows.

         "The delightful articles packed in this Box are the products of the Roycroft Farms and Shops.  All are produced under the most hygienic conditions, and carefully packed by our boys and girls.  Dainty, delicious, delectable!

         But the wonderful part is the Box itself.  The idea came as a happy surprise, when one of our boys made a mortised-and-tenoned tool-box of Gumwood, and gave it a 'mahogany finish,' trimming with wrought metal. 

          The whole thing was so beautiful, so complete, so satisfying, so artistic, that we just said, "Why not make one thousand more boxes just like it?"

          It was a big job all right, but the boys turned them out--and one of them has been reserved for you.

          To fill these beautiful boxes with Roycroft Farm-Products came as an afterthought.  If we are to ship the boxes, why not put in something attractive and valuable?

          The box is 23 x 12 x 10 inches.  It is a delight to any boy for a tool-Chest; to any girl for a "Hope Chest"; or to a grown-up for love-letters and all of those dainty nothings that you haven't the heart to destroy or give away.

          So there you are! Figure it up-the contents would cost 'Steen Dollars in any good grocery-you get the Treasure-Chest gratis.

          OUR PRICE FOR THE WHOLE BOX IS TEN DOLLARS. We ship by express, carefully crated, charges prepaid to any point East of the Mississippi.  Better order today while you think of it.  The number of these boxes is limited."

          We'll post a list of the contents of those boxes, watch for it.

          One of those original Goodie-Boxes, minus the contents, is currently on display in the Copper Shop on the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora, NY.

         

         

         

         

Roycroft Artist Alexis Jean Fournier, Creator of Roycroft Salon Murals, Raises Question of Name: Mumbai or Bombay

          Among the frequently asked questions about Alexis Fournier's murals at the Roycroft Inn is one related to the sites he included.  The only mural which he named, on the mural itself, was Temple Elephanta.  Since this site seems unfamiliar to many of us, it often leads to discussion and questions.  Is Temple Elephanta, the site, in Bombay or is it now Mumbai.  News stories from that city always use the name Mumbai. 

           Fortunately Town Historian Emeritus, Don Dayer, just happened to have received picture postcards from his grandson who recently visited Bombay.  The cards show pictures of "Elephanta Caves in Bombay" the site of Fournier's mural.  This information did not answer the question of the new name for Bombay which is now Mumbai.  To give a simple answer, if this question has haunted you, the name change was made in 1995,  a result of many changes made in India since their independence in 1947. 

          For more information about the linguistic, political, religious and historic factors involved in this new name I suggest you do what my mother would have said...."Look it up!"

          My mother would also have said to support the things you believe in, like the restoration of the Roycroft Campus.  Become a supporting member, you don't have to, but it's the right thing to do.  Also when in Western New York visit the Roycroft Campus Corporation's Copper Shop.  Open 10 am - 5 pm daily PLUS Wednesday and Friday evenings until 7 pm.

Quarter Sawn Oak, Favorite Wood of Roycrofters Not the Only Wood of Choice

          Oak, the wood most associated with Roycroft, and other Arts and Crafts cabinet makers, was not the only wood they used. Though white oak was in plentiful supply, therefore reasonably priced, and certainly sturdy, other woods were used.  The Hubbard/Roycroft Museum has some ash pieces but mahogany was also used.  This quote from Nellie Snyder Yost's book, A Man as Big as the West, in which Elbert Hubbard's son Ralph "Doc", describes an event on their trip to Europe, confirming the source of much of the mahogany the Roycrofters used.

          "In due time, we went back to Southampton, and there on the wharf was a man having a discussion with the shipping authorities, and at the dock lay a great ship with its hold wide open and derricks lifting out big slabs, planks, and logs, all mahogany.  The man was quite upset because he had invested in the load of wood, only to find when he reached England that there was no sale for it.  He was pacing around in a great state because he had found he couldn't leave the lumber on the dock, and if he couldn't sell it, he would have to reload it and take it elsewhere.

          Father bought the whole works, at a bargain price, and had the lumber reloaded.  He had it shipped to Philadelphia, from where the Pennsylvania Railroad hauled it to a small town a little way south of East Aurora.  From there, he had it hauled by horses to a local country sawmill, where it was sawed into boards.  Some were quite thick, but none of the boards were veneer, for veneered furniture was not made in those days, just solid wood things.  I still have a very nice little brass hinged chest made of that mahogany.

          We came home loaded with all of that........."

          For more about Roycroft furniture and its origin, read Nellie Yost's book A Man as Big as the West. 

         To see contemporary works of art by Roycroferts-at-Large and other artisans visit the Roycroft Campus Copper Shop, on the Roycroft Campus, South Grove Street, East Aurora, NY.

         Now open daily 10 am -5 pm , ALSO Summer Hours Wedesday and Friday until 7 pm

Bertha Crawford Hubbard, First Wife of Elbert Hubbard...Who Was She?

          Much has been written about the second Mrs Hubbard, Alice Moore Hubbard, which leads to curiosity about the first Mrs Hubbard.

          Elbert Green Hubbard, born in Bloomington, IL and raised in nearby Hudson married the beautiful, talented Bertha Crawford in 1879 in Normal, Illinois.  Bertha, one of six children, was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Hinkle Crawford, who moved to Illinois from Cumberland County, Maryland after the Civil War.  Bertha met Elbert Hubbard through his sisters Frances, Honor, and Daisy all of them graduates of "Old Normal" in Urbana, Illinois. Bertha earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and was familiar with the classics, could speak and write in French, German, Greek and Latin.

            Elbert's  wife Bertha Crawford, her sister Myrtilla Crawford, and his own sisters all had a great influence on the education of Elbert who had dropped out of district school at fourth or fifth grade.  It was in the old house on South Grove Street in East Aurora where these women helped prepare Elbert for his life as a writer.

            Ralph Hubbard, youngest son of Elbert and Bertha, gave much praise and credit to his mother in the interviews which are the basis of Nellie Snyder Yost's book, A Man as Big as the West. More interesting details of the Hubbards, seen from a different perspective, can be found in this book. 

          Visit the Roycroft Campus and the Copper Shop Open 10 am -5 pm daily. 

          Also, a short 1 1/2 blocks away is the Elbert Hubbard-Roycroft Museum, now open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons....and by appointment by calling 716-652-4735

Felix Shay, Author of Elbert Hubbard of East Aurora Answers Question About Hubbard's Faith

          In Felix Shay's book, Elbert Hubbard of East Aurora, Chapter Religion: Organized and Otherwise, he answers the frequently asked question about Hubbard's religion.

          "Was Hubbard an unbeliever, a skeptic, a free thinker, an iconoclast, an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a Mohammedan, or a Buddhist:  What was he?"

         "Whatever Faith he discussed, he always found something to praise about it--and the praise and the blame usually were so equally distributed that he left an unprejudiced person guessing as to his personal religion; sure only of his toleration.  Nevertheless he distrusted orthodox faiths--because he saw them as the most disquieting and disorganized influence in history, a constant cause of trouble.  And he gravely doubted that the help they rendered was wholesome help.  He doubted they helped advance civilization."

          Later Shay says: "He balked at the "professional" preacher, the man who preached The Word because it was his Duty.  He believed the ideal preacher was the amateur who only spoke when he was inspired and when he had something to say.  He believed that the preacher who earned his living in other pursuits was perpetually free to speak his mind, and not restricted by the fixed opinions of the gentry who occupy the front pews, and demand that they be taught only what they already know." 

          "He wanted the pulpit made free, by putting free Men in it!"

          Felix Shay 's book was published in 1926.  Shay was a Roycrofter and contemporay of Elbert Hubbard.

           Visit Elbert Hubbard's Roycroft Campus, currently in the early stages of restoration.   For more information about the restoration check our website at www.roycroftcampuscorporation.com.

The Elbert Hubbards and Alice Moore Members of Chautaugua Literary & Scientific Circle

          The question is often asked what the CLSC Book Club was.

          People familiar with Elbert Hubbard know that Elbert, his first wife Bertha, and his 'friend' Alice Moore were all members of the local East Aurora Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, known as the CLSC Book Club.  Darwin Martin participated as well.

          The book club, known as the CLSC, was a four-year course of required reading.  The original aims were "to promote habits of reading and study in nature, art, science and in secular and sacred literature and to encourage individual study, to open the college world to persons unable to attend higher institutions of learning."

          The brain child of Bishop Dr. John Heyl Vincent, Chautauqua co-founder with Lewis Miller, it was founded in 1878, four years after the founding of The Chautauqua Institution.   Of the 8,400 who signed on in the first year, 1,718 completed the four year course, passed the required examinations and received their diplomas in 1882.

          CLSC remains the oldest book club in America.

          Elbert Hubbard was well read and included a library in his Roycroft Inn.

          While touring the Roycroft Campus, visit the Library in the Roycroft Inn and see the original Dard Hunter chandelier hanging there.  The only reading material today is the menu, but that is excellent reading.

Maine's Bates College Graduate and Poet Remembered in Roycroft Campus Blog

          A grammatical question has arisen regarding a recent posting on this Roycroft Campus Blog.  Elbert Hubbard may have pondered his grammar and made the correct choice, this isn't being written by Elbert Hubbard.  Our recent blog regarding Paul Newman's hoped for visit, raised a question as to whether it should be WHO or WHOM.

         While this may be settled by some of our readers, I'm reminded of my Westfield High School English teacher and poet, Adelbert Jakeman, Maine's Bates College graduate.  The following poem from one of his books of poetry, Ritual was written after he had been correcting what we students had submitted for his criticism.  Below is his poem.

Criticism

No simple task is mine tonight,

To scan, beneath my study light,

The fragile fancies neatly dipped

In ink upon this manuscript.

For with a penciled mark alone

A universe becomes my own.

I question commas in a theme;

Condemn the grammar of a dream;

And judge the spelling of a part

Of all that lies within a heart.

          Mr. Jakeman is long gone but this poem reminds me of how much effort he put into getting all of his class to get the grammar and punctuation correct.  I think too he might forgive an error here or there if the writer's heart was in the work.  Apologies to Mr. Jakeman, he would be surprised that I would be writing a blog for the internet in the 21st century....no matter what.

          Your opinion is welcome.

         Meanwhile, visit the Roycroft Campus Copper Shop.  Open 10 am-5 pm daily.