Bookmarks

1895

Convenient and pretty little bookmarks are made in this fashion: Cut off the corners of a square envelope of nice Irish linen paper, and you will have the material for four. These little caps fit on the corner of a page and mark one's place as well as more costly devices. They are made pretty by painting on them little designs done in water color, such as a bowknot, a conventional flower-de-luce, a festoon of roses or a Cupid. The paper for those marks is sometimes tinted a pale blue, green or rose color and the edges touched with an irregular line of gold or silver paint. — New York Post.


Properly Put

Watts — Well, how are you today?
Potts — Only sew sew. I have had a stitch in my back for two or three days. — Indianapolis Journal.

A Chinese Curiosity

1901

"A Chinaman in San Francisco," says a gossiper in the Philadelphia Record, "showed me once an ivory ball as big as your two fists, with six smaller balls inside it. It was the most wonderful thing I ever saw. The Chinaman said that the balls had been begun by his grandfather and that he was the third generation to work on them. He told me how the work was done.

"It begins with a solid block of ivory, which is turned into a ball and then carved in a latticed pattern with tiny saw toothed knives. Through the lattice, with other knives that are bent in various shapes, the second ball is carved, but is kept fast to the first one by a thin strip of ivory left at the top and by another left at the bottom. Then the third ball, with still finer knives, is tackled through the first and second ones, and so the work goes on till all the balls are finished, when the strips that hold them firm are cut away, and they all revolve freely, one inside the other.

"This Chinaman said it was a common thing for families to have such balls for hundreds of years — grandfather, father, son and grandson working on them when they had nothing else to do. They are priceless, of course. Some cheap balls are made of vegetable ivory, being carved while the material is soft, like a potato. These, though, are not worth more than a few dollars at the most."

Navajo Blankets

1903

How They Won Their National Reputation

Though Navajo blankets as rugs, portieres, couch coverings and a dozen other things, have held their own in American homes for a season and more, there are many interesting details of their manufacture which are not known to the casual customer.

The impress of the Spanish cross, recalling the invasions of the Coronado expedition of 1540 is still paramount in this industry of the tribe. This marked the Navajo's first knowledge of the white race, and the later influence of Mexican art can be traced in the zigzagging diamond.

There is always one blanket weaver in a Navajo family, generally a woman, though sometimes a man, and the blanket frame which is erected outside the "hogan," or hut, is part of its architecture. This frame is of upright posts or rude poles. Kneeling or squatting in front of it is the patient weaver from morning till night.

The blankets are considered a medium of barter, as current as any coin among the neighboring tribes, for the Navajo's country is the finest for flock raising, and their wool far famed. The dyes used, too, are practically indelible, and their manufacture is a tribe secret.

The blanket is the banner garment of the squaws with 'dressy" aspirations, and the choicest of wigwam decorations. The care taken in the making of these blankets may be realized when one knows that two or three months are given to the manufacture of some of the more elaborate. No two of these are ever exactly alike, and for certain tribal ceremonies especial patterns are introduced. The choicest designs are reserved for enshrouding the dead, as the journey to the "Happy Hunting Ground" is considered much enhanced by the richness of the traveler's wrapping.

It is the Navajo blanket, too, that oftenest forms the charmed square of the snake dancing Mokis, and the sun dancers of the Shoshones and Arapahoes carpet their sacred enclosures with these same weaves that American bachelors and den devotees pay such round prices for. No wonder, with its history, its wealth of association, with its richness of color and originality of design, the Navajo blanket has attained a National reputation.

Making Scarfs At Home

1910

Some New and Very Attractive Effects Which May Be Easily Obtained

A black satin scarf of double width satin and three yards long can be lined with soft white satin and left plain across the bottom or lashed for a quarter of a yard in the middle of each end, and the half sections drawn into points, each finished with a tassel.

In diaphanous scarfs those of black lace and two colors of chiffon are dividing favor. Beautiful Spanish lace shawls in black and white are to be found just now much reduced. One to be made at home is of fine black net the full width. This can be embroidered over the whole surface with jet disks and spangles or the jet can be arranged as a deep border across each end and a narrow one along the lengths.

The scarf of black and white foulard, finished with white silk fringe or a black tassel, is simple enough. If the selvedge is not liked, the material can be turned back on the right side to a depth of a quarter of an inch and held in place by a line of chain stitching.

The double-toned chiffon scarfs are easily constructed. Choose contrasting colors, as blue and green, purple and gray, pale violet and purple, two tones of pink or blue. Baste the two pieces carefully along the sides and ends, taking precautions that they are even, and do not draw apart.

Bind all around with two-inch ribbon of soft satin, or sew the edges of chiffon together with blind stitches, and having made a two-inch hem of the two fabrics, one folded within the other, fagot it to the main scarf.

Seeking to Help Wounded Veterans Regain Lives

1915

No one has yet computed the sums which have been contributed by this country to the relief of war victims in Europe. The list of the official relief societies grows daily and the contributions run into seven figures, while placards announcing teas, dances, bazaars, fashion reviews and theatrical performances meet us on every hand. And still the insistent appeal goes on, in changing form to catch the attention of the generous. The greatest artists turn orators to beg for their pitiful, starving compatriots, and every ship brings an emissary with another earnest plea which cannot be resisted.

The latest of these emissaries is Mme. Charles Le Verrier, wife of the head of the College Chaptal, the great Lycee, or boy's school, of Paris, which is now, like all the others, a military hospital. She comes to the United States as the accredited representative of the Federation des Jouets, which has been formed for the benefit of the mutilated soldiers of the republic.

"Something had to be done to bring together individual effort and save the waste of funds and energy which comes from the lack of cooperation," Mme. Le Verrier says. "Wonders have been accomplished, but there is still so much to be done that we cannot afford to lose the smallest amount of time, strength or money. We found that we must organize, affiliate with the relief work of the provinces, and all pull together toward a definite end. The Federation des Jouets is one of the results of this attempt at organization.

"One of our greatest problems is the maintenance of disabled men after the war is over and during its course. We cannot consign them wholesale to institutions. There are too many, in the first place; France would become one vast institution if she attempted to care for all the wounded, the widows and orphans, and the destitute in that way. Besides, family life, the very foundation of the nation's life, would be in large measure destroyed. How to leave the wounded soldier in his home, how to provide him with a means of livelihood so that he may remain there with his family, is our great problem. Obviously he must first be taught to make something, and then a steady market must be secured for his work.

"We naturally thought of toys. Years ago the dolls of France had a great reputation, but we allowed Germany to learn from us how to make them, and then apply her genius for organization to take our market away from us. But we are going to win it back. The education of the men has already progressed wonderfully. While they are still helpless on their backs in the hospitals they are given wood and tools and models, and they dab at the bit of wood, happy in their hopes for the future. I have brought some of these tentative efforts with me, not that their crudity is interesting or attractive, but to compare with their later work as examples Of the rapidity of their progress. They learn very quickly indeed, and their delight in their own achievements is touching.

"More difficult than the teaching of the men is the finding of a market for their work. Europe doesn't want toys."