boorite wrote:


The American Craftsman style definitely has roots in the British A&C
movement, which dates back to the 1860s and was indeed a reaction to
the Industrial Revolution and its dehumanization of labor.

Ironically, on much of the Craftsman style furniture I see around these
days, even the handmade stuff, the through tenons are fake. :-)

While that's to be expected - cut cost by cutting quality/integrity
of the joinery - but make it LOOK strong. More ironic is that
Stickley and maybe even the guy who did most of the Greene &
Greene stuff for the Gamble House - used SCREWS and covered
them with plugs that looked like the ends of through tenons.
Visible traditional joinery, or at least what looked like traditional
joinery, were design elements, not for function.

It seems "business and the bottom line" takes precedent (sp?)
over quality and integrity almost every time. It's typically the
"amateur" who makes the better quality furniture - though
there are several exceptions.

charlie b