Roycroft Myth Busting, "It was a Commune"

Often, friends of the Roycroft encounter people less familiar with the American Arts & Crafts Movement who only have vague notions of the place and its history. 

Here is one local myth: It was a commune.

Correction to this mis-conception:  The enterprise never was a commune. It was a printing business which also manufactured furniture and decorative art objects in the Arts and Crafts style. People came from all over to work here, as well as local young people that grew up on farms outside of East Aurora, NY. Employees enjoyed many perks: lectures and performances from visiting guests, a library to borrow books from, a bank in the Copper Shop, and a Roycroft band and baseball team. All of this was highly unusual in a small, rural town of the early 1900’s so the rumor persisted that it was a “commune” because many didn’t understand  it. 

Read more about the Roycroft using the subject list to the right of this blog, or go to the Roycroft Campus Copper Shop to purchase books and the WNED film about the man and the place.

      - Sue