We’ve all learned about the Industrial Revolution and how factories contributed to the growth of civilization, etc. But not everyone was happy about how craftsmen were being turned into factory workers. As the 1800s marched on, some people began to lobby for a return to items made by hand by a skilled craftsman or woman. This push against industrialization was called the Arts & Crafts Movement in England, and was later popularized in the United States in the early 1900s by furniture-maker Gustav Stickley in his magazine called The Craftsman.
It was clear that the focus was on improving the lives and lifestyles of ordinary people. “The Craftsman stands pledged to the support of art allied to labor, it is intended by the editors that each issue shall contain writings upon the present or the past status of the working classes, as well as expressions of thought devoted to plans for improving the condition and increasing the pleasure of the world’s producers” (The Craftsman, March 1903).
The magazine expressed the hope that “man himself may never degenerate into the tool or machine. Individualism is the watch word of the new century,” from a review of The Craftsman in the Brooklyn Eagle, December 10, 1901.