The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-28

the Good Old Art of Spinning.
Kansas Citv Star

Along some ancestral line nearly every
American woman can find some charming
great-grandmother who wore paint and
patches. who powdered her hair. used the
spinning wheel, rode a pillion and
knitted with huge needles that were war;
ranted to do as much execution with the
hearts OF admiring SWANS as with the
worsted they fashioned into hosiery, gloves
and headwear.
1t is this which makes the spinning wheel
JOY forever II not thing of beauty. The
humble invention is a stock ornament for
parlor or boudoir, an old-fashioned dining
room or even a kitchen. 1t comes into
vogue every ten or fifteen years and then
is put away to await a return of the old
romantic feeling.
In some parts of the country there are
still spinning wheels in daily employment
A few must be a century old. 1t may be
noticed that these stanch pieces of the car
penter'S handicraft are strong, heavy and
somewhat awkward. They have not the
artistic finish of the neatly turned and
carved wheels which are found in so many
aesthetic parlors. Some of these artistic
wheels are so delicate and dainty that they
would break the moment they were set to
work at making strong. thick thread.
This difference does not discourage the
modern young woman who is confronted by
a dire dilemma. She must have a spinning
wheel because 1t is romantic and historic.
and then the wheel must be an object of
loneliness to match the furniture in the
boudoir of her own style of comeliness.
Between these two alternatives the poor
wheel does not have much of a show. The
funniest thing about this revival is that il
has been brought about by the class which
never works and would not know how if il
tried to.
Our great-grandmothers were very busy
damsels and danes. The spinning wheel
ter of daily life. They made the machine
spin by the hour, while they reeled off the
thread that they were to knit or weave
The well-educated women of those years
was a spinner, weaver, dyer and tailor all
combined in one. / wonder how many of
their fair descendants can emulate them
In these lines?
Nevertheless they have brought about
hourfshing manufacture of antique wheels,
and many of the organizations have adopt
ed the wheel with or without the distaff
and treadle a club badge or a coat-of-
arms for their club paper.
In the finishing of the modern stage the
humble spinning wheels holds a prominent
part 1t would be difficult to give Faust
without one in the center of the stage
where poor Marguerite sings. smiles hopes
dramas IL is to-day even more important
than the melancholy cow or the we'll where
the "old oaken bucket brings up sparkling
Croton from the cellar under the stage
Enterprising photographers keep one as a
stock property along with the drop curtain,
representing a classic temple or the canvas
logs on which young ladies sit and pose as
Maud Muller resting.
One of the oldest things about the spin-
ming wheel. anent the fad. is that the av-
erage owner never takes the trouble to
learn how TO work the machine She niles
IL in both directions, leaves off the connect
ing cord and even goes so far as TO deco
rate IL with ribbons I'm a way which would
prevent IL ever being put TO practical use