WICKER WEAVING AND PROD UCTS. The predecessor of all arts, the most universal art and the least changing art in th. realms of history is wicker weaving. True. there have been changes in the commodities used for weaving and changes in the artiele• made by weaving, but the actual method ut weaving wicker strands has passed down from the very earliest days of mankind with marked uniformity. Weaving in its general sense —in cluding that of textiles as well as wicker is considered by historians and biblical students as the oldest of arts, but when the general sub ject is studied it is found that wicker wear ing estn precedes all other processes. Just v. hen it was born and by whom created is im possible to say. Some biblical students coss tt :id that Eve, iollowing her great sin, wove a skirt of twigs and leaves through an endowed art. Other equally studious students assert that Eve and bet fellow biblical personages learned the art of weaving by viewing the interlacing growths of tree limbs and noting the protection resulting therefrom. Still more assert that the an became known by persons through watch ing and adopting methods used by birds in %caving their nests or spiders and other in sects in weaving their webs. Whatever caused human intelligence to grasp the art of weaving may never be known, but that it is the earliest art is taken as an established or accepted fact. Actual biblical evidences showing an early knowledge of weaving are found in Exodus xxviii, 32, where it relates that bindings were made of woven work. The same book, xxxix, 22, says that robes were made by weaving. Exodus ii. 2, tells of an ark (basket) being woven of papyrus reed and Moses set adrift in it on the river Nile. Biblical commentaries also add that boats, sails, mats and ropes were made by weaving. There are other Bible references to weaving, thus in dicating that the art, so far as wic ker-work is concerned, was well known in those days. Historians, here and there, speak further of wicker weaving although they do not swafically use the word °wicker.° word has long been understood, however, as perfectly proper in classifying all materials used in the weaving of furniture, baskets and baby carriages. Modern dictionaries define 'wicker* as (1) 'a pliant voting shoot or rod; twig; osier; withe; as. a willow wicker; (2) ware made of wicker work; (3) a wake; mark.• •Wicker-work' is de tined as 'a fabric or texture, as a bas ket, of woven or platted osiers, %lathes or twigs; basket work, as a chair of wickerwork.• Since the ac cepted meaning is so broad it is quite easy to trace wicker weaving down through the many ages to the present day although there is a sur prising lack of written information on the entire subject. It is known that practically every race of human beings has been familiar with the art of wicker weaving, for in the his tory of all races there are references to woven bags, baskets, roofs, floors, furniture. etc. And yet with all this great age and universal use we find that wicker weaving (no textile weaving) has remained as it began — a slow hand vocation in which the strands have been woven about a frame. That is. the development has remained unchanged until 1916, when Marshall B. Lloyd of Menomi nee, Mich., invented and put into practical use a new method for weaving wicker and a loom which weaves the strands into shapes desired.
Biblical data shows that the first wicker weaving was done by using natural leaves and twigs, interlacing them at right angles in just the same manner as mod ern hand weavers work with their more modern commodities Then came heavier pieces of wood as is indicated in 2 Kings xxiii, 7, which says. 'women weave hangings from the grove." Whether this means limbs of trees or vines hanging from trees is unknown although the latter is the accepted version. Exodus ii, 2, specifically states the ark (basket) of Moses was woven of papyrus reed just as were boats, sails and other articles. Medizval days find the willow branch popular for wicker weaving. It has remained so to the present day although the scarcity of it and the growing demand for woven work in general has made it necessary, as well as wise, for manufacturers to turn to other forms of wicker. Rattan has been most generally used in making wicker articles during recent years. It is a vine growing in India, China, South Africa and elsewhere in the Orient. It was first used as ballast for
vessels returning from the Orient. When the rattan reached America it was burned as firewood or waste. A man named Wake field, during the days of the hoopskirt, found that rattan would lend itself to the manu facture of hoops. This led to its becoming prominent in the manufacture of woven fur niture and bodies for baby carriages. Rat tan is usually known as reed when used for these purposes. The rattan vine is harvested by natives, then cured and classified as to size and texture. The bark is removed and treated, thus becoming °cane° and used most exten sively as seats for chairs, davenports and the like. The wood part of the rattan vine inside the bark is also treated and the finished prod uct is known as 'reed.' While being woven, reed is kept in water so .is to make it pliable. If it is not soaked the reed will not bend with out breaking, and despite its extensive o•e the article gives only limited satisfaction owing to its brittleness The most recent form of wicker is a fibre made from paper. Just whether it should be classified as a textile or kicker has not been established. It is manufactured much like a textile (sec TEXTILE INDUSTRY) and is used very extensively as a wicker and a tex tile. It, however, quite naturally fits in under the wicker classification. The lack of willow and the dissatisfaction over reed has long caused baby carriage, furniture and basket makers to seek a new article. The World War of Europe, perhaps, had most to do with the discovery of paper and its adaptability to tex tile and wicker-work. During the war there arose an amazing lack of clothing, bags, cord age and other articles of this nature. The strength of paper, which has long been used in railway car wheels, its pliability and other abilities to he treated chemically, so that when completed it can resist weather conditions with out injury, evidently turned the human mind to paper. Tests have proven that a piece of twisted paper gauging of an inch is stronger than any known steel of the same weight. Experiments have proven that certain hard or tightly-twisted paper .fl of an inch in diameter will not break unless the tension is more than 50 pounds, while the same thickness of reed will not stand a strain of 13 pounds. G L Brownell made the first real paper-twine machinery 17 Dec. 1895. Gradually the use of twisted paper as a textile became general in the manufacture of clothing, bags, cordage, belts, caps, hats, braces and leather substitutes. Thin it spread to wicker-work, where it finds its most adaptable place. Germany and Austria have made tremendous strides in the paper fibre trade Special machinery for making tex tile and wicker fibre from reels of paper are now manufactured. The Scandinavian coun tries are producing large amounts of paper fibres, while the Itrnish government has for some time Iii fl interested and busy in the manufacture of paper fibre articles. The even ness of strength, freedom from odor. absence of loose ends, flexibility, elasticity, strength, as well as weather and water-proofing qualities make paper fibre to-day the most important strand in the manufacture of wicker-woven articles. In addition to the above advantages it is much cheaper and more abundant than any other form of wicker. The ability of paper to permit itself to be manufactured into wicker fibre, either alone or with cotton, wool and even wire centres, and its ability to accept modern chemical and other treatments for purposes of strength and elasticity. adds to its importance and growing popularity. All other forms of wicker are used in a more or less natural state and do not require or lend themselves to chemical or other advanced treatments of mankind Wicker fibre, however, overcomes these objections. Since all other wickers except wicker fibre are used practically in their natural state it is necessary to weave the strands m large sizes. This does not make pos sible for them the beautiful finishes of the wicker-fibre articles. Owing to the smallness of the best hard wicker fibres, the article manufac tured usually has from two to four times as many feet of fabric as the natural wicker woven articles, there fore making the wicker fibre articAe stronger. The shortness of natural wickers, like willow and reed, make it necessary for ends to occur Er . . .