Gustav Stickley - Stickley Craftsman Furniture Catalogs

A NYBODY who knows Craftsman furniture has no difficulty in perceiving that the principles upon which it is based are honesty and simplicity. This is quite true, for when I first began to make it I did so because I felt that the badly-constructed, over-ornate, meaningless furniture that was turned out in such quantities by the factories was not only bad in itself, but that its presence in the homes of the people was an influence that led directly away from the sound qualities which make an honest man and a good citizen. It seemed to me that we were getting to be a thoughtless, extravagant people, fond of show and careless of real value, and that one way to counteract this national tendency was to bring about, if possible, a different standard of what was desirable in our homes.

I suppose it was because I began as a farmer boy and got my training for the work I was ultimately to do by doing as a matter of course the thing which had to be done, that I grew up with the habit of going at things in a natural way. The farmer boy is not given to theorizing about his work, but he soon learns to accept without question the fact that certain things have to be done and that the best way is for him to get right at it and get them done as soon as possible.

Therefore, when the idea came to me that the thing for me to do was to make better and simpler furniture, I naturally went at it in the most direct way. Having been for many years a furniture manufacturer, I was, of course, familiar with all the traditional styles, and in trying to make the kind of furniture which I thought was needed in our homes, I had no idea of attempting to create a new style, but merely tried to make furniture which would be simple, durable, comfortable and fitted for the place it was to occupy and the work it had to do. It seemed to me that the only way to do this was to cut loose from all tradition and to do away with all needless ornamentation, returning to plain principles of construction and applying them to the making of simple, strong, comfortable furniture, and I firmly believe that Craftsman furniture is the concrete expression of this idea.

Because of the sturdiness and beauty of our American white oak, I chose it as the best wood for the kind of furniture I had in mind, and the style, such as it was, developed naturally from the character of the wood and the application to it of the most direct principles of construction. The result was that I soon found that there was a quality in my plain furniture which took hold of nearly all thinking people as it had taken hold of me, and that in giving expression to what might have been considered an impractical ideal under present-day conditions, I had hit upon an idea which was destined to have a far greater success than even I had hoped for it.

The first pieces of Craftsman furniture were completed in 1898 and then for two years more I worked steadily over the development of forms, the adjustment of proportions and the search for a finish which would protect the wood and mellow it in color without sacrificing its natural woody quality. Then in 1900 I introduced Craftsman furniture to the public at large by exhibiting it at the Furniture Exposition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The result showed that I had not been mistaken in supposing that this,the first original expression of American thought in furniture,would appeal strongly to the directness and common sense. of the American people. From the time of that first exhibition Craftsman furniture grew rapidly in favor, and after the Pan-American Exposition in 1901 its success was assured.