RERAMIC STUDIO 
233 
UNIQUE CRAFTWORK. 
Once a year there is a pilgrimage of lovers of beautiful 
handiAvork to Deerfield, Mass., to worship at the shrine of 
the Deerfield Arts and Crafts Society. Every Summer the 
bus}^ workers of the town put their handicraft on view, and 
then stand back out of sight while visitors admire and praise. 
The remarkable feature of the Deerfield industries is that 
the handiwork is taken up in leisure moments, and is not 
the principal business of the workers. Everybody in the 
village, from the farmer's wife to the village physician, has 
a hand in it, but no one ' 'makes a business' ' of this handi- 
work. Each does what he or she can do best or most con- 
veniently, gathering together occasionally for a discussion of 
the best methods or to work more sociably. Membership 
in the society merely pledges one to put forth the best work 
of which she or he is capable, and the results have been so 
praiseworthy that Deerfield has now become famous for its 
industries and its work has gone all over the country. 
It is a sleepy little town, with handsome old elms and a 
tragic history of Indian massacres which give the name of 
Bloody Brook to the stream which runs through it. Its life 
is simple, and because of this it has been very easy to guide 
its people back to the handiwork of their forbears. The 
good wives took quickly to reproducing the old blue and 
white embroideries of the Colonial days and the men were 
easily inspired to copy the old-fashioned carved bride chests. 
There is some sort of industry for every one. The elderlv 
women engage in rag carpet making, and it is mainly through 
their efforts that the rag rugs have been held in such high 
esteem once more. They show a great deal of skill in arrang- 
ing the colors and the utmost nicety in the weaving. There 
are about a dozen women engaged in this, and they dye the 
rags themselves and weave with a hand loom. 
DETAILS OF THISTLE— FRED K. WILSON 
The vihage blacksmith plays his part, for he has been 
inspired to do some superior forge work, and now turns out 
most artistic andirons. One woman has made tufted bed- 
spreads which are so dainty and substantial as to be much in 
demand. The village physician proudly exhibits a cherry 
high-boy, handsomely carved, which has been the work of 
his off moments during the Winter. Another set of workers 
is busy on palm leaf baskets. The women who are making 
these baskets are the young women who braided hats before 
the civil war. There are others who find work in raffia and 
grasses more to their Hking, mostly young women, the 
daughters of the farmers. Netting for coverlids is the 
specialty of a very few, and some engage in making 
bayberry dips. 
Every one does what he or she likes best and at a time that 
suits best. The workers are not employed by a company, 
and, while their work is generally sold eventually, no big 
effort is made to dispose of it, and the profit of the sale 
comes directly to the worker. 
Mrs. M. y. Wynne of Chicago, who lives in Deerfield in 
DETAILS OF THISTLE— FRED K. WILSON 
the Summer, claims membership in the Deerfield society, 
and makes and exhibits there, curious and beautiful metal 
work. There are settings of precious stones, pebbles, and 
shells in metals of curious and individual design, beaten or 
fused or minutel}^ wrought, with copper, silver, and gold 
chains for necklaces and pendants; rings, brooches, and 
charms. Original and artistic book bindings are exhibited 
by a Deerfield daughter. 
The Deerfield industries all had their origin in the Blue 
and White Society, which was started eight years ago bv 
Miss Margaret Whiting and Miss^EHen Miller. They became 
interested in the many Colonial embroideries to be found 
in the town, and began to copy them for their own pleasure. 
In a short time they interested other women of the village 
and outlying farms in the work, and the society was founded. 
The old embroideries were found mostly in the shape of 
bed curtains, bedspreads, and window curtains, but the 
society added table squares and doilies. This Blue and 
White Society uses imported white linen thread, which is 
dyed, skein by skein, in the old-fashioned way, by an old 
woman who has learned the recipe of the old-time dyeing. 
Any extra time she employs in the old-fashioned netting. 
The designs for this blue and white work are drawn by Miss 
Miller and Miss Whiting, and then handed over to the memb- 
ers of the society to embroider. 
Soon it was decided that there was other Colonial handi- 
craft which could be copied, until, little by little, the Deerfield 
Arts and Crafts Society grew up, with all its industries. 
There is an unwritten law that these crafts shall be only fire- 
side industries, and the aesthetic benefit which comes to 
the workers is said to be quite as valuable as the commercial 
benefits. — New York Times. 
