The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-01
EVENING CHAT
BIZ RUTH CAMERON.

is this handmade?1 queried the shou-
per- holding up dainty little crotcheted
slipper which she had been examining
don't your
But the shopper, instead of making any
reply, dropped the slipper as if she had
suddenly discovered that it was sprfnkied
with paris green or cholera microbes, and
walked on.
Do you know. I think a great MANY of
US carry this passion for handmade things
altogether too far.
What is it about handmade articles that
makes them SO much more to be desired +?
Is it their superior appearance? How
can it always be? The shopper couldn't
tell by the most careful examina ton
whether the slipper was handmade or
not. She had to ask the clerk
To be sure some articles we can pick
out at once as handmade, but with many
more we have to ask the clerk before we
know And a great many times. 1 fancy,
we don't know even then. Besides some
things look better when machine m de
than they do when made by hand. Yes
l dare to say 1t. In the old days, when
handwork was done with the most pains
taking manner 1t was beautiful. But to-
day, when the hand worker, like all the
rest of US, is infected with the hurry
mania, and is obliged, moreover, to COM
pete with machine products, handwork IS
not what it used to be. Machines, the
other hand, daily being brought near
er perfection, and do finer and more &C
curate work than they used to.
Probably many people think they prefer
handwork because it is more durable
Perhaps that is true about some things
but I fancy that in many cases the diff
ference is so slight as to be really unim-
portan. To refer to the olden times again.
if the work were done in the 'for eternity
fashion of our grandparents, that would
be one thing, but it isn't. It's done by
workers of today in the "get-it-done-
somehow fashion that speeding. wheth-
er of man machine. invariably pro-
duces. We think we are getting back 20
the solidity and durability of our grand
fathers days by insisting on handwork.
but aren't. The difference is deeper
than that.
It seems to me that our affection for
handwork is founded, not so much on its
durability or beauty, on its rarity and
greater expense. We like handwork be-
cause it costs more, because every body
cannot have it. and because we think tt
distinguishes from the masses. My
mother tells me that when machines were
first used. and machine work was rarer
than handwork. just the opposite condi-
ton existed. The people who could afford
to have what they wanted had machine
work. delighted in it, and showed it of
TO their friends. Then machine work be-
came so common that everyone could
have IT. and handwork became expensive
And now those who want something 1T
tie better than other folks must have
handwork Doesn't that prove pretty con-
clusively that the desire for exclusiveness.
for having something that's hard to get.
is at least one component of our love for
hsndwork?
The vast amount of time spent in the
home in doing things by hand is another
phase of this matter. The sewing ma
chine is wonderful invention, which
stands ready to give every mother more
time for seIf-cutivation. for companion
ship with her children. and for hundred
other worth while things Is she not
making a mistake when she turns her
back upon it and spends long hours doing
bI hand what could be done In few
minutes on the machine. just because
sshandWork is nicer