“With the modern and much smaller looms and the more modern designs, much interest has been awakened in the new, while the old will not be allowed to be forgotten.” Aficionados of mountain craft may find themselves nodding along with the sentiment, imagining old traditions under fire from contemporary gadgets and fast-paced living. There’s just one catch in that train of thought — the quote comes from nearly a century ago, in a 1919 issue of Polk County News and the Tryon Bee.
The early 20th century marked a revival of interest in handcrafts throughout Western North Carolina, with the founding of organizations such as the Penland School of Crafts, John C. Campbell Folk School, and Allanstand Craft Shop. As local historian Mike McCue points out, however, those old-fashioned skills were almost as exotic to the local craftspeople of the time as they were to the tourists and city folk who bought their wares.
“By 1910, the mountain people already had access to manufactured goods, just like everybody else did. They weren’t making baskets to carry eggs — they bought tin pails from the general store,” says McCue. These mountaineers often had to relearn the lost techniques of their grandparents from people outside the community. In Tryon, that education started with Mountain Industries, which McCue will be discussing at the Tryon Arts and Crafts School on November 16.
The first nonprofit crafts enterprise in Polk County, Mountain Industries was founded by Mary Large, about whom much remains unknown. McCue emphasizes that Large came to Tryon with a mission beyond crafts alone. Originally from Kentucky, she’d been involved in Hull House, the organization founded by Jane Addams that helped working-class European immigrants living in Chicago. He describes Large as “part of a community of publicly spirited, college-educated women who wanted to help the less fortunate.”
To that end, Mountain Industries followed the “settlement house” model Large had learned in the big city. (They were assisted locally by Ralph and Emma Payne Erskine, who owned a for-profit craft-furniture factory in the area.)
Far more than a crafts school, the house served as a library with newspapers and books, a social hub with daily afternoon tea, and even a basic medical clinic. “If somebody hurt his foot or needed medicine, he could come in and get treated. It was a general social-services center as well as a crafts center,” explains McCue.
Crafts entered the equation as an economic-development strategy. “People in the mountains realized that society was progressing to a cash economy and that ways to earn money were important,” McCue says. Mountain Industries focused on basketry and woolen goods, marketed as souvenirs for tourists. “It was just like today: cosmopolites would come to Tryon, stay in the hotels, enjoy the mountains, and buy something to take back,” he says.
Those visitors took Mountain Industries products back to homes across the U.S. — including the most famous house of all in Washington, D.C. Woodrow Wilson’s first wife, Ellen Axson Wilson, was a Georgia native who appreciated the work of the Southern craft revival. When the Wilsons moved into the White House, she decorated one of its bedrooms as the “Blue Mountain Room,” with Mountain Industries weaving in a place of pride: a cover for a bed once occupied by Abraham Lincoln.
In later years, Gertrude Stone of Tryon directed the operation, no longer a nonprofit, and it ceased sometime early during the Depression. (Barbara Oklesen, who lives in what was once Mrs. Stone’s house, will join McCue for the November event.) Eventually, Mountain Industries was succeeded by other enterprises in Tryon, most notably the well-known Tryon Toy Makers and Wood Carvers. Its story has received comparatively little attention compared to similar regional ventures such as Biltmore Industries (now comprising a museum and Grovewood Gallery on the grounds of the Grove Park Inn). McCue hopes his research and talk will put it back in a well-deserved spotlight. “Mountain Industries helped Tryon become such a vital place,” he says. “It was a revival for everybody.”
Mike McCue and Barbara Oklesen will lead a conversation about the history of Mountain Industries at noon on Thursday, November 16, in the gallery area of Tryon Arts and Crafts School (373 Harmon Field Road). Free. No reservations are necessary to attend; to be part of the discussion panel, call Cathy Fischer at 828-859-8323 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
"Kwa vifaa vya kisasa na vidogo zaidi na miundo ya kisasa zaidi, maslahi mengi yameamshwa katika mpya, wakati ya zamani haitaruhusiwa kusahaulika. ""Wapenzi wa ufundi wa mlima wanaweza kujikuta wakikumbatia pamoja na hisia, wakidhani mila za zamani chini ya moto kutoka kwa vifaa vya kisasa na maisha ya haraka." "Hii ni kwa sababu ya ""mfano wa kuvutia"" wa hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi ya hadithi." Mwanzoni mwa karne ya 20, mashujaa wa sanaa walianza kuanzisha tena biashara ya ufundi wa mikono katika eneo la Magharibi la North Carolina, na kuanzisha mashirika kama vile Shule ya Ufundi ya Penland, Shule ya Watu wa John C. Campbell, na Duka la Ufundi la Allan Stand. Hata hivyo, kama mwanahistoria wa eneo hilo Mike McCue anavyosema, ufundi huo wa zamani ulikuwa wa ajabu sana kwa mafundi wa eneo hilo wakati huo kama vile ulivyokuwa kwa watalii na watu wa jiji walionunua bidhaa zao. Kufikia mwaka 1910, watu wa milimani walikuwa tayari na upatikanaji wa bidhaa zilizotengenezwa, kama vile kila mtu mwingine alifanya. Hawakuwa wakitengeneza vikapu vya kubeba mayai - walinunua ndoo za bati kutoka duka la jumla, "anasema McCue. Mara nyingi wapanda-milima hao walilazimika kujifunza tena mbinu zilizopotea za babu na nyanya zao kutoka kwa watu wa nje ya jumuiya. "Mwaka huu, ""Mwaka wa Maonyesho ya Ufundi"" utafanyika katika Chuo cha Sanaa na Ufundi cha Tryon, Marekani." Kampuni ya kwanza isiyo ya faida ya ufundi katika Kaunti ya Polk, Viwanda vya Mlima ilianzishwa na Mary Large, ambaye mengi bado hayajulikani. McCue anasisitiza kwamba Large alikuja Tryon na utume zaidi ya ufundi peke yake. Awali kutoka Kentucky, alikuwa amehusika katika Hull House, shirika lililoanzishwa na Jane Addams ambalo liliwasaidia wahamiaji wa Ulaya wa darasa la wafanyakazi wanaoishi Chicago. Yeye anaelezea Large kama "sehemu ya jamii ya umma spirited, wanawake chuo kikuu-kuelimishwa ambao walitaka kusaidia chini ya bahati". Kwa kusudi hilo, Mountain Viwanda alifuata "nyumba ya makazi" mfano Large alikuwa amejifunza katika mji mkubwa. (Waliasaidiwa na Ralph na Emma Payne Erskine, waliokuwa na kiwanda cha kutengeneza fanicha katika eneo hilo.) Nyumba hiyo haikuwa shule ya ufundi tu, bali pia ilikuwa maktaba yenye magazeti na vitabu, mahali pa kukutana na watu na kunywa chai kila siku alasiri, na hata ilikuwa kliniki ya msingi ya kitiba. <unk>Ikiwa mtu angejeruhiwa mguu au angehitaji dawa, angeweza kuja na kutibiwa. Ilikuwa kituo cha huduma za kijamii na pia kituo cha ufundi, <unk> anaeleza McCue. Ufundi uliingia katika usawa huo kama mkakati wa maendeleo ya kiuchumi. <unk>Watu katika milima waligundua kwamba jamii ilikuwa ikiendelea kwa uchumi wa fedha na kwamba njia za kupata pesa zilikuwa muhimu,<unk> McCue anasema. Viwanda vya Milima vilikazia fikira utengenezaji wa vikapu na bidhaa za sufu, zilizouzwa kama zawadi kwa watalii. "Ilikuwa kama ilivyo leo: watu wa ulimwengu wote mzima wangekuja Tryon, kukaa katika hoteli, kufurahia milima, na kununua kitu cha kuchukua nyuma", anasema. "Wazalishaji wa Mountain Industries walianza kuanzisha biashara yao huko Washington, DC, na mke wa kwanza wa Woodrow Wilson, Ellen Axson Wilson, aliishi huko Georgia, Georgia, na alikuwa ""mwanamke wa kwanza wa Georgia.""" Wakati familia ya Wilson ilipohamia White House, alibuni chumba kimoja cha kulala kama 'Blue Mountain Room' na viwanda vya Mountain Industries vikiwa na kitambaa cha kitanda kilichokuwa na Abraham Lincoln. Katika miaka ya baadaye, Gertrude Stone wa Tryon aliongoza operesheni hiyo, ambayo haikuwa tena ya faida, na ilikoma wakati fulani mapema wakati wa Mshuko Mkubwa wa Kiuchumi. (Barbara Oklesen, ambaye anaishi katika kile kilichokuwa nyumba ya Bi Stone, atajiunga na McCue kwa tukio la Novemba.) Hatimaye, Viwanda vya Mlima vilirithiwa na makampuni mengine huko Tryon, hasa makampuni maarufu ya Tryon Toy Makers na Wood Carvers. Historia yake imepokea umakini mdogo ikilinganishwa na biashara kama hiyo ya mkoa kama vile Biltmore Industries (sasa inajumuisha jumba la makumbusho na Jumba la sanaa la Grovewood kwenye uwanja wa Grove Park Inn). McCue anatumaini kwamba utafiti wake na hotuba yake itarudisha jambo hilo katika uangalifu unaostahili. "Viwanda vya Mlima vilisaidia Tryon kuwa mahali muhimu sana", anasema. "Mwanzoni mwa wiki hii, Mike McCoy na Barbara Oklesen walitoa hotuba ya ""Mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1960"" katika ukumbi wa sanaa wa Tryon Arts and Crafts School (373 Harmon Field Road)." Bila malipo. Kwa wale ambao wanataka kushiriki katika mazungumzo ya mazungumzo, piga simu kwa Cathy Fischer kwenye 828-859-823 au barua pepe kwa jina la kwanza.