The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1932-10-24
Hooking Rugs Is Useful
and Fascinating PaStime
BY MRS. C. O. ROBINSON

BY MRS. C. o. ROBINSON
The hooked rug tells of wifely thrift
OF work and loving stitches,
Discarded cloth brought back to life,
A change frGm rags to riches.
n Il
HOOKING rugs recently has be-
l. Il come quite fashionable. That
statement doesn't sound quite re-
spectacle, if you are thinking in
small boy slang, but it is quite COR
rect, as the rugs are made by the
hooking process.
Addicts of this artistic endeavor
say that making hooked rugs is the
most fascinating of all handicraft.
You can tell an addict by the hun
CRY bok that comes to her face at
the sight of a jersey dress.
1t seems that jersey is the most
perfect material for making the
rugs and while in the throes of Gre
alton she covets every piece of jer-
.sey that she sees. And, oh, the lucky
woman who finds an old-fashoned
suit Of red flannel underwear! That
is high achievement.
Making hooked rugs is an ancient
handicraft that suddenly has been
revived, probably because of the
need of a floor covering that har-
monies with the simpler types of
furniture now in vogue.
Authorities who have delved into
the subject, think that the first
known hooked rugs or mats were
made in Norway. They were called
rye rugs, rye meaning torn cloth.
They we're used as bed coverings
and mentioned in wills. The Morse
islands of Orkney and Shetland
were given to Scotland as part of
the dowry of the maid of Norway
on her marriage to the son of the
Scottish king.
Her ship was wrecked on her way
to the wedding and she was lost,
but the islands renamed in Scottish
possession. In this way the Morse
idea of hooking, called broding, was
introduced into Scotland about 1866.
MANY of the Scots were weavers
1V1 and had short lengths of yarn
and cloth about the house. This
idea for utilizing these waste bits
appealed to the canny Scot imme-
diately. The fireplace was the CEN
ter of family life and the hearth
rug at once became popular.
The hooking was done with an
instrument much like the crochet
hook, by punching yarn or narrow
wooden rags through coarsely woven
cloth.
Quite often the cloth was sacking
that had been used to hold food
supplies, which accounts for the
small size of so many early rugs.
The designs were drawn by the
maker and suggested objects about
the home, such as the cat, the dog
and the flower garden.
This making fad spread to
England and Europe and eventually
to the American colonies. It was
developed most artistically here.
probably because the early Amer
leans had no floor coverings except
reed mats and animal skins.
When a ship arrived in America
1t brought only necessities, as the
importing cost made Injuries pro
nloltlve for the average home.
In Europe, anything to be really
old, must have survived several
centuries, but to us antique" means
hundred years and before. and
IS begging to include before the
Civil war.
About 1910 collectors began To
appreciate the early American arts
ana crafts, and revived an interest
IN hooked rugs. Dealers as we'll as
private collectors and those ACTING
Tor museums began to scour the
country for. the early rugs. MANY
line examples were found in attics
and as padding under carpets and
otner lgnoble places, but many stiII
were in use.
lnNE of the finest authentic
~ pieces of hooking in existence
IS the bed covering made for Molly
Lathrop by her aunt, Molly Stark.
wife of Major John Stark of Reyo-
lutionary fame. 1t is dated 1773 and
is made Of yarn on a wcolen blan-