G2 AMERICAN .-HOMES AND “GARDENS 
wooden machine sold for 
the purpose. The illustra- 
tion shows the method of 
holding the pulled-rug ma- 
chine. This goes over the 
ground very quickly. The 
point is dug into the work 
and the top half is moved 
swiftly to and fro. A skilled 
worker can move it along 
leaving a trail of loops be- 
hind as quickly as an artist 
can draw, so that it is a . 
great saving of time on the o 
old-fashioned method of 
pulling up the loops with a 
crochet hook. In olden times the more symmetrical the 
loops appeared the better the work was considered, but 
irregularity is preferred to-day and this is gained by all the 
loops not being of the same size, and the top of the rug is 
gone over with sharp shears so as to make at least half of 
the loops ends, which gives it a much softer texture than 
if all the loops were of the same height. In the old-fash- 
ioned rugs straight, even rows of loops detracted from the 
design. ‘To-day they are done up and down, across and 
anyway to gain irregularity. 
It is an interesting story how Mrs. Albee some twenty 
years ago started a com- 
munity in the making of 
the beautiful Abnakée rug, 
Her work was _ pioneer 
work and the many dis- 
couragements which _at- 
tended her efforts would 
have prevented most wo- 
men from proceeding with 
an undertaking started en- 
tirely with the idea of help- 
ing others, and from which 
she received no_ personal 
benefit. Not only did she 
make a band of women, 
who had hitherto made 
rugs only for their own 
homes, self-supporting, but 
she has given a new prod- 
uct to the country and the 
benefit of her experience 
and knowledge to other 
women interested in start- 
ing similar enterprises. 
The result is far reaching 
in its influence, as it brings 
a new force into the lives 
of women in rural districts 
where they have little to 
occupy their leisure time, 
and where the making of 
extra money gives them 
- the opportunity of obtain- 
ing pleasures, and _ lifts 
them above the dull rou- 
tine of farmhouse life. 
Mrs. Albee has supplied 
the flannel and hooked rug 
frames as well as the dyes 
which she makes for her 
own community to those 
who are trying to start 
similar industries. The il- 
eit: 
Design for a pulled rug 
A group of Abnakée rugs 
February, 1909 
lustration shows a group of 
Abnakée rugs and a large 
- rug with a_ conventional 
© leaf motif in the borders, 
designed by Mrs. Albee and 
executed by the women of 
this neighborhood industry. 
In looking at the illustra- 
tions we can trace. the 
growth of the New Eng- 
land pulled rug from the 
antique pulled rug, the 
original rug, some designs 
of the best of the “cat and 
dog”’ variety sold from door 
to door, and to the later 
pioneer products. The arts and crafts societies were the 
first to appreciate the evolution of these rugs, and to-day 
they can be found at these centers throughout America. 
The primary purpose of a rug is to be used; but it has 
a secondary purpose that is quite as important, and this is 
to be beautiful. A survey of a general collection of rugs, 
especially those of modern make, and which may be found 
in almost any modern shop, shows that the latter element is 
too often wanting. As to the former quality it is, unfortu- 
nately, not always possible to depend on the claims put forth 
by the makers, but it will be at least charitable to assume 
that most of these claims 
are honestly intended and 
as honestly made. 
But the beauty aspect of 
a rug is a matter that ad- 
mits of easy solution, or at 
least it would seem so in 
these days of general art 
knowledge and art culture. 
As a matter of fact, how- 
ever, there is so much 
to be desired in this re- 
spect that the field seems 
scarcely touched. The old 
home-made rugs, if not al- 
ways beautiful, in the best 
sense, were at least honest, 
and represented honest 
effort. 
course, are exceedingly 
beautiful and full of inter- 
est, and the collector of 
the old-fashioned pulled 
rug will, if she exercises 
care and takes time in the 
search, find herself more 
than once rewarded with 
treasures of a real art 
value. ; 
And these rugs, too, 
have a fitness in the home 
that many expensive rugs 
can never have, and in 
which many modern _in- 
stances are completely 
wanting. [hey are sim- 
ple and unpretentious in 
design, and were made 
for wear more than to be 
looked at, yet they pos- 
sessed beauty that their 
makers may have been un- 
conscious of. 
Bis os 
BOOTS LO OS 
Seni Mee 
Many of them, of 
7 
