Little Journeys
Jordan-Volpe Comes to Asheville
June 1, 2020This article has been republished. Original date of publication: March 26th, 2017. Bruce is out of town this week, so we’re bringing you a Little Journeys from the archives. Bruce remembers the time he found an endtable at Brunk Auctions with a couple of shopmarks, each with their own history. …
Read More...Memories of Memorial Days
May 26, 2020This article is a republication and has been edited to include archived images of the author’s father and family. Original date of publication: May 27th, 2012. There will be hundreds of columns written this week on the meaning of Memorial Day, the least insightful of which will be this …
Read More...The Paper Chase
May 19, 2020This Little Journeys article is a republished article. Original date of publication: September 10th, 2012. I keep a motto here in my office that reads: The historian wants more documents than he can really use; the novelist wants more liberties than he can really take. It has been …
Read More...The Forgotten Brother
May 12, 2020Publisher Peter Copeland of the Parchment Press was correct when he wrote, “If Gustav Stickley was considered ‘the forgotten rebel,’ surely Charles Stickley is ‘the forgotten brother.’” Born in 1860, four years after Gustav, Charles Stickley also trained in their uncle’s chair factory as a teenager, helping to …
Read More...An Update on Gardens
May 4, 2020One problem with building a virtual online soapbox from which you can spout your opinions on just about any subject is that you can give people the impression you are an expert. Such was the case when a homeowner called me last week wanting to hire my services as …
Read More...A Time for Projects
April 28, 2020When the time comes that we can look back over this season of self-confinement, it may well be known as The Project Period. As proof, garden centers, hardware stores, and craft shops have shelves that look like the paper goods aisle in your local grocery store. I went online …
Read More...Mottos To Live By
April 21, 2020Some people call them clichés. Elbert Hubbard called them mottos. Intended to inspire confidence, diligence, hope, and common sense, Hubbard could whip off a half dozen even before he had finished his Cream of Wheat breakfast. Originally displayed in the Roycroft workshops in East Aurora, they became so popular …
Read More...Mrs. Zamansky’s Bookcase
April 15, 2020You know its time to get organized when you find yourself buying books you already have – but cannot find. I have had a love affair with books since I was a junior in high school writing a term paper on F. Scott Fitzgerald for my English …
Read More...Five Ways To Stay Sane
April 7, 2020Faced with any crisis, people can react in one of two ways: work yourself into a paralytic frenzy, effectively preventing yourself from getting anything meaningful accomplished, or find alternative ways to utilize your skills, your energy, and your creative spirit. Naturally, Elbert Hubbard had a quote for it: “Work …
Read More...Auction Fever?
March 30, 2020I’m not sure if it has anything to do with our self-imposed Stay At Home order, but last week I found myself more than just casually interested in a piece of Arts and Crafts furniture being offered at Brunk Auctions here in Asheville. Now, it is safe to say …
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Bruce Johnson
Author, Columnist and Director of the National Arts & Crafts Conference at The Grove Park Inn since 1988
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