Wireless station and workroom of George Riches[Frontispiece]
FACING PAGE
An example of furniture such as boys like[4]
Clay pots made for germination experiments[5]
The work of children between ten and eleven years of age[5]
Two examples of furniture grouping for the porch or outdoors[18]
The numerous photographs suggest disorder and dust[19]
An interesting curtain which might be duplicated by any girl[20]
Since flowers are so beautiful in themselves, is it not worth while to arrange them with judgment?[21]
A school garden in Jordan Harbour, Ontario, Can.[28]
Domestic science class[29]
The work of girls in the public schools[30]
A children's garden gives fresh air and sunshine[31]
All children love to play at being "grown up"[32]
Girls must sometime learn of the conventions and customs of domestic arrangement[33]
A boys' camp with Ernest Thompson Seton[48]
The play idea very soon grows toward the representation of primitive though adult customs and actions[49]
A typical boy's workroom and shop[50]
The kind of shop which one may have at home[51]
The kite fever is an annual disease[52]
Pump and waterwheel[53]
Boat made by Percy Wilson and Donald Mather[54]
These are the forerunners of numerous other electrical constructions[55]
A real derrick in miniature[56]
Waterwheels and fan[57]
A self-recording telegraph receiver[58]
Wireless station and workroom of Donald Huxom[59]
An electrical soldering iron and glue-pot[60]
Waterwheel connected with model lathe[61]
Excellent examples of high school work[62]
A manual training shop[63]
The machine shop[64]
The study of aeroplane construction[65]
A successful machine[64]
Finished aeroplanes[65]
The boy who does not love to camp is unique[68]
This and other illustrations of homes, show such places as people make when they care about appearance[69]
Even the most beautiful house must have a background[70]
One should build a house as one builds a reputation[71]
Trees, shrubbery and lawn form the frame of the picture[72]
There was a time not long since, when people built houses according to style[73]
A school garden[74]
The Watchung School garden[75]
There is a fascination about raising animals whether for sale or as pets[76]
Two more illustrations which will suggest plans for the future[77]
Every child, and especially the boy, needs active outdoor exercise[78]
Organized play (woodcraft) under Ernest Thompson Seton[79]
More woodcraft. Has the boy had a chance at this kind of experience?[80]
Even the technical process of photography has been reduced to popular terms[81]
In these days photography has become so simplified that every child can use a camera to advantage[81]

[THE LIBRARY OF WORK AND PLAY GUIDE AND INDEX]

CHAPTER I
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRAFTS IN THE LIFE OF A PEOPLE

There was never a time in the history of the world when each race, each nation, each community unit, each family almost, did not possess its craftsmen and artists. In every instance, these so-called gifted members were by no means the least important citizens; their names appeared again and again in the stream of tradition as wonder workers and idols of the people. This is still true in the very midst of a materialistic age, when money and mechanics work hand in hand to produce the most in the least time for economic reasons, and when the individual worships "hand-made things." They may even be poorly made or bizarre, but "handwork" satisfies the untutored. Now it is quite possible for the machine to produce a bit of jewelry, textile, or woodwork—even carving—quite as pleasing as any made by hand alone, and it is being done every day. But the machine-made article must be produced in large quantities (duplicates) for profit, whereas the work of hand alone is unique. There lies the reason for reverence of "handwork." It is always individual and characteristic of the workman in style or technique and has no duplicate; it is aristocratic. Among the primitives, the pot, necklace, or utensil was wrought by infinite labor, and, being valuable because unique, was embellished with all the wealth of current symbolism. It was preserved with care and became more valuable to succeeding generations as a tangible record of race culture and ideals. And so down to the present time, the handiwork of the craftsman and skilled artisan has always stood as the one imperishable record of racial development. The degree of finish, the intricacy of design and nicety of construction are evidences of skill and fine tools, well-organized processes, familiarity with material and careful apprenticeship: the pattern, color, ornament, and symbolism point to culture, learning, and standards of taste and beauty. A crude domestic economy, rude utensils, coarse, garish costume and of simple construction, are characteristic of an undeveloped social order. In fact, all the arts of both construction and expression exhibit at a given period the degree of civilization; art products are true historical documents. Since then through their arts and crafts it is possible for one to know a people, does it not follow that one entrance to sympathy with the ideals and taste of the present time is through practice in the arts? Of course a considerable mass of information about them can be conveyed in words, especially to adults who have passed the formative period in life and have not the same work-incentive as have children. But even the adult never really secretes much real knowledge of the arts unless he has worked in them. He acquires rather a veneer or artistic polish which readily loses its lustre in even a moderately critical atmosphere: he learns artistry and the laws pertaining thereto as he would learn the length of the Brooklyn Bridge or the population of El Paso. He merely learns to talk about art. But children learn primarily and solely by doing, and the foundations of taste and culture need to be put down early that they may build upon them the best possible superstructure which time and opportunity permit.