RoycroftCampusCorporation

Dard Hunter Comes and Goes from the Roycroft

As with any enterprise, Roycroft workers came and went. Some arrived young, met their mate, married and left. Others simply moved on to other careers in other locales. Some left amicably, others with a chip on their shoulder. Dard Hunter wrote of his feelings both coming into and departing the Roycroft, as revealed in the two quotes below from the book Dard Hunter: the graphic works, by Lawrence Kreisman, which is for sale at the Roycroft Copper Shop.

 

In the late summer of 1904, after his arrival at the Roycroft, Dard wrote the following for his hometown newspaper in Ohio, the Chillicothe News-Advertiser:

(In the Print Shop) “There are statuary, paintings and flowers in every room and pianos on every floor. The workers stop awhile now and then  and play on the pianos or dance in the ball room. It’s more like a palace than a factory. I should not say factory. It is not a factory. It is a place where artists work - where minds produce. The only machine in this artisan’s palace is the hand of the artist driven by the artist’s brain.”

 

He was obviously smitten by this “settlement of peculiar thinking people who make useful and beautiful things,” as he called it. But seven years later, having matured, married, lived and worked in Europe and England, his view of the Roycroft had changed. After his return to America he wrote, “My mind, however, does not run East Aurora way as I believe I have fully recovered from the disease. Poetically speaking, I have been vaccinated by the virus of something better, something nearer the ideal. My time is spent, I believe, as my mind seldom reaches back to that beautiful little village with its surface of good cheer and its gizzard of strife, jealousy and hate,“ Kreisman quotes from The Life Work of Dard Hunter, vol. 1, Dard Hunter II.

 

Whether there was some event or disagreement that changed his view of the Roycroft or he had simply outgrown working for an entrepreneur and was ready to become his own master, I have yet to discover. However I do find it rather amusing that he wrote this in such a Roycroftie style. “...I have fully recovered from the disease...I have been vaccinated by the virus of something better...” is something Elbert could have written. Regardless of the reasons for his departure, I find Dard Hunter’s artistic contributions to be equal to Elbert’s literary ones at the Roycroft. We are all the richer for Dard’s time spent in this beautiful little village.   

 

- Sue

 

Would Elbert Have Become a Catholic?

For all his bluster and railing against religion in his writings, Elbert may have been more religious than he wanted the public to know. This personal story was related by former Roycrofter, Martha Schwartz. She worked at the Roycroft in the advertising department between 1911 and March 1915. After she left the Roycroft, she went to work in Detroit. One evening she attended a sermon by a visiting priest who said, “As my good friend Elbert Hubbard once said to me,. . .” Martha went to the rectory after the service to speak to the priest and asked him how he knew of Mr. Hubbard. He said, “He was one of my best friends. I was so sad when I found out he had gone down on the Lusitania. You know, that man knew so much about our religion, that I feel sure that some day he would have become a Catholic.” *

- Sue

* Martha Schwartz, interviewed by Lee Lambert, April 27, 1979, Aurora Historical Society. From the book “Talk Less, Listen More,” by the Young Yorkers Club.

Bell Ringing Performance

Leon Varley worked at the Roycroft Copper Shop between 1913 and 1921. He reminisced during a taped interview in 1978: “I remember one time that big bell rang and this was when Mr. Hubbard was alive. We all gathered down on the front lawn. There was an upright piano there and Carrie Jacobs Bond was there and sang all of her songs for us. This was not unusual. Among the songs she sang was “The End of a Perfect Day,” and how well I remember it.” *

For those not familiar with Ms. Bond, she was a well-known songwriter, composer, lyricist, poet. She was Tin Pan Alley’s first million selling songwriter, and first woman to establish a music publishing firm in America. She and many other celebrities of the day often visited the Roycroft for the intellectual stimulation, artistic inspiration and pleasant rural surroundings. 

- Sue    

*Leon Varley, aged 88, interviewed by Edward Vidler, Nov. 21, 1978, Aurora 

 

In Cahoots with Elbert

Martha Schwartz worked at the Roycroft in the advertising department between 1911 and March 1915. She recalled a day when her path crossed that of Elbert Hubbard on the grounds: “One day I was going from one office to the next, . . . The lawns were beautifully kept and there was a little fence around them and Mrs. Hubbard had some signs, “Keep off the grass,” “Please let me grow,” and so on. I was in a hurry and I jumped over this fence and went straight across the lawn to the house on Main Street and met Mr. Hubbard on the way coming back. He looked at me as we passed and he said, “You and I will hang for this.”’ * 

* Martha Schwartz, interviewed by Lee Lambert, April 27, 1979, Aurora Historical Society. From the book “Talk Less, Listen More,” by the Young Yorkers Club.

- Sue

An Original Roycrofter Remembers His Work

Leon Varley worked at the Roycroft Copper Shop between 1913 and 1921. After only five years he had attained master craftsman status, one of only 3 out of the 35 coppersmiths at the time. According to Leon, “As I recall it, each one of us had certain things to make. I know that my job was, one of them, was that oval service tray with the handles on the end. Up until the time I left there, which was after Mr. Hubbard went down in the Lusitania, I made every oval tray that ever went out of that shop.” *  

After leaving the Roycroft, Mr. Varley later became the East Aurora Tax Assessor and had his office in the basement of the Roycroft Chapel.  

* Leon Varley, aged 88, interviewed by Edward Vidler, Nov. 21, 1978, Aurora Historical Society. From the book “Talk Less, Listen More,” by the Young Yorkers Club.

- Sue

 

Viennese Secession at Roycroft

Today’s visitors to the Roycroft Inn may hear the Lounge chandeliers and sconces by Dard Hunter referred to as “Viennese Secessionist designs.” That may confuse some people, but it is in fact, the form which the Arts & Crafts movement took in Vienna, Austria. Gustav Klimt was the president of the “Sezession” when they first formed in 1897. Similar to other Arts & Crafts inspired artists around the world, their philosophy was one that embraced art for everyone; it was a reaction against the accepted norm of high art for the rich and minor art for the poor. However, the designs conceived of by this group were considered to be modern and forward looking versus the romantic, gothic inspired A&C designs of England.

 

Dard Hunter had been interested in the work of the Viennese Secessionists since 1904, having seen their work in periodicals kept in the Roycroft Library: Deutsch Kunst und Dekoration, Dekorative Kunst, and International Studio. Finally, in 1908 Hunter went to Vienna on his honeymoon and was able to see the work and meet the artists firsthand. After returning to America he was eager to reinterpret the modern Viennese designs he had seen in Europe to books, copperware and lighting designs for the Roycroft.

 

These Roycroft Inn light fixtures were designed by Dard Hunter, and executed in 1909 with the help of then fledgling Roycroft copper artisan, Karl Kipp, who had recently begun metalwork training with Dard Hunter.

 

-   Sue

 

Sources: “By His Own Labor, the Biography of Dard Hunter,” by Cathleen A. Baker

“International Arts and Crafts,” edited by Karen Livingstone and Linda Parry

Roycroft Comes Before Oz

W.W. Denslow was a Roycrofter before he was the Oz illustrator. He came to Hubbard’s attention through a letter he wrote to Elbert in 1896 which was decorated with drawings in the margins. Elbert was intrigued and wrote back asking Denslow if he would like to decorate Roycroft books.

 

Denslow agreed and did illustrations remotely from Chicago. He came to East Aurora for a visit in 1898. Aside from book illustrations, he began creating cartoons for the back covers of the Philistine. A character he invented was that of “Ali Baba” based on the Roycroft handyman Anson Blackman.

 

In 1899, Denslow visited East Aurora one last time, but having just completed illustrations for his friend L. Frank Baum’s book about Oz, he was on the brink of coming  into his own and never returned to the Roycroft.

 

-Sue

source: “A History & Bibliography of the Roycroft Printing Shop”, by Paul McKenna 

For Roycroft Men Art is a Matter of Haircut

   Artists have always liked long hair - as Ali Baba's quote here (Elbert's, actually) indicates. My guess is that the artist with the curls on the right is Dard Hunter - see his photo below for comparison. Dard was extremely talented; working in graphic and book design, stained glass, copper, furniture, pottery and iron. This caricature to the left and photo of Dard, below, are from the book Head, Heart & Hand, published for the 1995 Roycroft exhibit by the same name. The book - now in reprint - is available in soft cover at the Roycroft Copper Shop.

You can see Dard Hunter's designs at the Roycroft Copper Shop Museum (31 South Grove St., East Aurora) and reproductions of several of his light fixtures are hanging in the Inn across the street as well as the window designs.

  - Sue

Roycroft Auction

The Roycroft Auction is to be held on Saturday, March 27, 2010 at the Roycroft Inn, 40 South Grove Street, East Aurora, New York.  This sale will consist of over two hundred items from the collection of Roy A. Johnson who worked as a Roycroft copper craftsman from 1918 to 1938.  Many of these items were created by Roy in his post-Roycroft days and include band bracelets, pins and picture frames with his own mark.  Over thirty Roycroft marked pieces, two Karl Kipp signed items, plus many miniatures made by Roy.

Preview the day of the sale at the Roycroft Inn from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at which time the auction will commence.

Check www.keepsakesauctions.com for pictures and more information.

We will all be there to assist and answer your questions.  If you love Roycroft, don't miss this exciting  special event.  See you there.

Claudia

Original Roycrofters, according to the Farrar Sisters

 Following is an excerpt from The Book of the Roycroft, published by the Roycroft in 1907, with graphics and cover designed by Roycrofter Dard Hunter. This section of the book was titled "A Little Journey to East Aurora" and was written by the Farrar Sisters, Francis and Abigail. 

     “. . . to a great degree the best people now at the Roycroft Shop are those with a tortuous past. 

     “Some have seen the inside of courtrooms, from the criminal dock; others are quite familiar with bankruptcy proceedings, and it almost seems as if all of them had at some time slipped or stumbled; but if they fell, they got up again, and now surely are going bravely forward. Then there are the blind, the deaf, and now and then the mental defective - but all at work, busy, happy - losing themselves in useful effort.

     “. . . Things only happen when some strong man makes them. We think the real achievement of Elbert Hubbard has been in securing, and to a great degree in educating excellent, earnest people, and then keeping them at work together, happy and harmonious.”

This speaks to Elbert's being open to hiring any and all that were willing to do a job and do it well. Many found their life's work and satisfaction there. The Roycroft Campus Corporation is working to restore the Campus so that visitors can experience the place that inspired so many. See more at the Roycroft Campus Web site.

- Sue