A fascinating and informative survey of early metalworking trades. Each is covered in its own separate chapter: the blacksmith, whitesmith, edgetool maker, cutler, locksmith, wheelwright, gunsmith, nailer, and tinsmith. Introductory chapters describe and explain the blast furnace, forge, and iron foundry, processes that provided the raw material for the early metal trades. Quoting extensively from contemporary sources, Mr. Kauffman describes not only what was made, but also how it was made. Enhancing the text are more than 200 illustrations, many never before available. Here is the complete story told in straightforward words by an authority who has spent a lifetime working in, teaching, and writing about the early American metalworking trades. A valuable resource for the collector, practitioner, student, or anyone interested in American
Metalworking Through History provides a comprehensive, historic overview of the subject of metalworking while exploring it within its cultural context. It is written from the perspective that the crafting of objects in metal is a unique way of understanding a particular time and culture. As a broad encyclopedia of metalworking, it allows the reader to view the different societies and periods that produced work in this medium as part of a global, interrelated practice. Comprised of over sixty entries on relevant time periods, cultures, makers and processes, the book is a much-needed general reference text in the survey of this craft. The subjects span all the major metalworking periods and peoples, from the rituals of African iron smelting to the twentieth century studio movement. Outstanding individual makers are highlighted to give additional insight into the times at which they were active. Furthermore, the materials and techniques used in the act of metalworking are clearly explained in terms that are easily understood by a practitioner with tacit knowledge of the medium. Suggested further readings and cross-references allow for the expansion of research and additional study. It is an excellent first resource for understanding the concepts and terminology of the ancient and pervasive craft of metalworking. Volume includes eight pages of color plates, and black and white photos throughout. Metalworking Through History provides a comprehensive, historic overview of the subject of metalworking while exploring it within its cultural context. It is written from the perspective that the crafting of objects in metal is a unique way of understanding a particular time and culture. As a broad encyclopedia of metalworking, it allows the reader to view the different societies and periods that produced work in this medium as part of a global, interrelated practice. Comprised of over sixty entries on relevant time periods, cultures, makers and processes, the book is a much-needed general reference text in the survey of this craft. The subjects span all the major metalworking periods and peoples, from the rituals of African iron smelting to the twentieth century studio movement. Outstanding individual makers are highlighted to give additional insight into the times at which they were active. Furthermore, the materials and techniques used in the act of metalworking are clearly explained in terms that are easily understood by a practitioner with tacit knowledge of the medium. Suggested further readings and cross-references allow for the expansion of research and additional study. It is an excellent first resource for understanding the concepts and terminology of the ancient and pervasive craft of metalworking. Volume includes eight pages of color plates, and black and white photos throughout. *Art Deco *Marianne Brandt *Chinese *Dark Ages *Enamel *Engraving *Georg Jensen *Judaica *Metals and their Alloys *Native American *Plating and Leaf *Renaissance *June Schwartz *Soldering *South American *Samuel Yellin
In the struggle to create an indigenous industry, in the efforts to encourage and support the work of metals craftsmen, in the defiance of British attempts to regulate manufacturing of metals, the colonial society developed a metals technology that became the basis for future industrial growth.
Metalworking Through History provides a comprehensive, historic overview of the subject of metalworking while exploring it within its cultural context. It is written from the perspective that the crafting of objects in metal is a unique way of understanding a particular time and culture. As a broad encyclopedia of metalworking, it allows the reader to view the different societies and periods that produced work in this medium as part of a global, interrelated practice. Comprised of over sixty entries on relevant time periods, cultures, makers and processes, the book is a much-needed general reference text in the survey of this craft. The subjects span all the major metalworking periods and peoples, from the rituals of African iron smelting to the twentieth century studio movement. Outstanding individual makers are highlighted to give additional insight into the times at which they were active. Furthermore, the materials and techniques used in the act of metalworking are clearly explained in terms that are easily understood by a practitioner with tacit knowledge of the medium. Suggested further readings and cross-references allow for the expansion of research and additional study. It is an excellent first resource for understanding the concepts and terminology of the ancient and pervasive craft of metalworking. Volume includes eight pages of color plates, and black and white photos throughout. Metalworking Through History provides a comprehensive, historic overview of the subject of metalworking while exploring it within its cultural context. It is written from the perspective that the crafting of objects in metal is a unique way of understanding a particular time and culture. As a broad encyclopedia of metalworking, it allows the reader to view the different societies and periods that produced work in this medium as part of a global, interrelated practice. Comprised of over sixty entries on relevant time periods, cultures, makers and processes, the book is a much-needed general reference text in the survey of this craft. The subjects span all the major metalworking periods and peoples, from the rituals of African iron smelting to the twentieth century studio movement. Outstanding individual makers are highlighted to give additional insight into the times at which they were active. Furthermore, the materials and techniques used in the act of metalworking are clearly explained in terms that are easily understood by a practitioner with tacit knowledge of the medium. Suggested further readings and cross-references allow for the expansion of research and additional study. It is an excellent first resource for understanding the concepts and terminology of the ancient and pervasive craft of metalworking. Volume includes eight pages of color plates, and black and white photos throughout. *Art Deco *Marianne Brandt *Chinese *Dark Ages *Enamel *Engraving *Georg Jensen *Judaica *Metals and their Alloys *Native American *Plating and Leaf *Renaissance *June Schwartz *Soldering *South American *Samuel Yellin
Strikes have been part of American labor relations from colonial days to the present, reflecting the widespread class conflict that has run throughout the nation's history. Against employers and their goons, against the police, the National Guard, local, state, and national officials, against racist vigilantes, against their union leaders, and against each other, American workers have walked off the job for higher wages, better benefits, bargaining rights, legislation, job control, and just plain dignity. At times, their actions have motivated groundbreaking legislation, defining new rights for all citizens; at other times they have led to loss of workers' lives. This comprehensive encyclopedia is the first detailed collection of historical research on strikes in America. To provide the analytical tools for understanding strikes, the volume includes two types of essays - those focused on an industry or economic sector, and those focused on a theme. Each industry essay introduces a group of workers and their employers and places them in their economic, political, and community contexts. The essay then describes the industry's various strikes, including the main issues involved and outcomes achieved, and assesses the impact of the strikes on the industry over time. Thematic essays address questions that can only be answered by looking at a variety of strikes across industries, groups of workers, and time, such as, why the number of strikes has declined since the 1970s, or why there was a strike wave in 1946. The contributors include historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and philosophers, as well as current and past activists from unions and other social movement organizations. Photos, a Topic Finder, a bibliography, and name and subject indexes add to the works appeal.
American folklife is steeped in world cultures, or invented as new culture, always evolving, yet often practiced as it was created many years or even centuries ago. This fascinating encyclopedia explores the rich and varied cultural traditions of folklife in America - from barn raisings to the Internet, tattoos, and Zydeco - through expressions that include ritual, custom, crafts, architecture, food, clothing, and art. Featuring more than 350 A-Z entries, "Encyclopedia of American Folklife" is wide-ranging and inclusive. Entries cover major cities and urban centers; new and established immigrant groups as well as native Americans; American territories, such as Guam and Samoa; major issues, such as education and intellectual property; and expressions of material culture, such as homes, dress, food, and crafts. This encyclopedia covers notable folklife areas as well as general regional categories. It addresses religious groups (reflecting diversity within groups such as the Amish and the Jews), age groups (both old age and youth gangs), and contemporary folk groups (skateboarders and psychobillies) - placing all of them in the vivid tapestry of folklife in America. In addition, this resource offers useful insights on folklife concepts through entries such as "community and group" and "tradition and culture." The set also features complete indexes in each volume, as well as a bibliography for further research.
Often compared unfavorably with colonial New England, the early Chesapeake has been portrayed as irreligious, unstable, and violent. In this important new study, James Horn challenges this conventional view and looks across the Atlantic to assess the enduring influence of English attitudes, values, and behavior on the social and cultural evolution of the early Chesapeake. Using detailed local and regional studies to compare everyday life in English provincial society and the emergent societies of the Chesapeake Bay, Horn provides a richly textured picture of the immigrants' Old World backgrounds and their adjustment to life in America. Until the end of the seventeenth century, most settlers in Virginia and Maryland were born and raised in England, a factor of enormous consequence for social development in the two colonies. By stressing the vital social and cultural connections between England and the Chesapeake during this period, Horn places the development of early America in the context of a vibrant Anglophone transatlantic world and suggests a fundamental reinterpretation of New World society.
The working class in New York City was remade in the mid-nineteenth century. In the 1820s a substantial majority of city artisans were native-born; by the 1850s three-quarters of the city's laboring men and women were immigrants. How did the influx of this large group of young adults affect the city's working class? What determined the texture of working-class life during the antebellum period? Richard Stott addresses these questions as he explores the social and economic dimensions of working-class culture. Working-class culture, Stott maintains, is grounded in the material environment, and when work, population, consumption, and the uses of urban space change as rapidly as they did in the mid-nineteenth century, culture will be transformed. Using workers' first-person accounts—letters, diaries, and reminiscences—as evidence, and focusing on such diverse topics as neighborhoods, diet, saloons, and dialect, he traces the rise of a new, youth-oriented working-class culture. By illuminating the everyday experiences of city workers, he shows that the culture emerging in the 1850s was a culture clearly different from that of native-born artisans of an earlier period and from that of the middle class as well.
