Evening star., 1961-07-16
Cities
end People
Old Charm
And New
By ROBERT J. LEWIS

~ 4f1E OlQ Gays, Ine amer
= lean people were practical
and had an eye for beauty.
They couldn't stand ugliness
in man-made things.
They painted their furni-
ture and decorated it with
attractive designs.
They "stencilled" the inside
walls of their houses long
before wallpaper was avail
able.
They even decorated barns
in the country to create
beauty.
The standards they set
reached levels that, even to-
day, elicit the highest ad-
miration and respect.
AS time went by, the early
Americans created beautiful
streets to match those of
England, France and Italy.
They had to depend on
carpenter builders for the
know = how. The carpenter
builders relied heavily on
construction "h andbooks S"
imported from England.
The designs were simple
and orderly. The proportions
were good. The materials were
honest materials - mainly
brick, stone and wood.
1t was easier for people,
then, to have good taste. !"
The choices were relatively
few. 1t was hard to go wrong.
Beyond that, however, there
was something more.
EVEN FROM the earliest
times, in this country, people
recognized that excellence
was something to strive for.
Fitness, beauty and order
and the power to discern it
had a strong fascination
for the early colonists.
Before the Revolutionary
War, a popular entertainment
was linked to this interest.
1t was called Optical Pros
poets" and was a theater of
still pictures, instead of NOV
ing pictures.
You paid your money, went
inside the picture house."
and looked at drawings.
The pictures you saw were
mainly street scenes-in Eng
land, France and Italy. They
represented a glimpse of a
better life. They were the
stuff of dreams, Of excite
ment, and of aims for the
future.
Looking back to that time,
in the 1750'S, you might won
der why an entertainment"
like this could go over so big.
Any newspaper we pick up,
or any magazine, would be
far more interesting and en-
tightening.
But in early America, pic
lures were rare.
Time and talent were too
scarce.
The average Americans life
was hard, his clothes were
rough, and his house was
austere.
A vision of beauty was, for
him, a chance to gain a more
pleasant life. He thought of
this kind Of thing-beauty
and order - as a practical
matter.
SOME CYNICS today think
that Americans have changed
These people believe that
you can never make a mis-
take = or lose money = by
Understanding the Ameri-
can taste.
The average persons taste
is so low-they think-that
twill tolerate anything.
The other day, an official
said regretfully that tearing
down a building, or a bridge,
Just because it is ugly Gin
furiates everybody"
A lot Of people, on the other
hand, are certain the Amer
lean people proved long ago
that the American dream in
cluded a vision of beauty as
well as of freedom.
With slim resources and
this commitment, all of Will
liamSburg was fashioned.
From these origins, came
the charm Of the Cape Cod
house. To this early conven-
ton Of simplicity, we owe our
Incompatible heritage of
the 18th-century town houses
in Boston, Philadelphia,
Charleston and elsewhere
that, almost two centuries
later, still sets the highest
standard of good taste.
INSTEAD OF bewailing the
lack of taste, of discernment,
and of a willingness on the
part of Americans to do bat
tie for beauty, those in posi-
ton to guide us should be
taking up the cudgels them
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