By R. Bassett, B.A.

Headmistress, County Secondary School, Streatham

I. EXTERNAL EVIDENCE

Women are often limited in their amusements and in their hobbies for lack of power or of knowledge to use the requisite implements. We may wield the needle, the brush, kitchen utensils, even the spade and the trowel, but what knowledge have we of the chisel, the plane, the saw, or even the friendly gimlet and the screw-driver?

The scissors answer many purposes until the points are broken, but how helpless we are with a screw or a saw, how futile are our attempts to adjust a loose door-handle, or to set the knives of a mowing machine! It is humiliating to call for help in such simple jobs, and tantalising not to be able to enjoy the carpenter's bench as our men-folk do in their hours of leisure.

A really active hobby, one entailing exercise of many muscles, otherwise resting, does help to keep a well-balanced mind and a healthy body. It saves one from fretfulness, from too great introspection; it keeps one cheerful and changes one's attitude of mind when change is needed.

It is possible that the management of big things falls into men's hands because from babyhood they have dealt with larger things than women, and through handling manageable things from an early age have developed the constructive faculty more thoroughly. The little girl deals with 'wee' things: stitches are small, dolls are small; there is a fatal tendency sometimes to 'niggle,' to 'finick'—not that men-folk are immune from this—to love uniformity and tidiness for their own sakes, to seek regularity rather than utility. The little girl, however, must, unless she is too thoroughly supervised, exercise some ingenuity in planning a doll's dress out of a cutting from the rag-bag; but her amusements and hobbies tend to pin her down to small things, and she does not rise far enough from her immediate surroundings. The dress of her little doll will follow the prevailing fashion. Originality in dress is eccentricity.

The girl takes pains to carry out her work (neatness is often the sole aim put before her), the boy finds methods. The girl hovers round the well-known place, the boy makes a bee-line to fresh fields. See how this affects reading: the girl still hankers after What Katy Did, What Katy Did Next, while the boy of her age is reading Jules Verne or Ballantyne or Henty, or if there is open access to shelves in the Free Library near him, you see him finding books on Airships, Submarines, Carpentry, or Engineering.

We started our voluntary classes with these ideas in mind, and at first allowed girls to choose an indoor occupation in the two winter terms instead of outdoor games. Many girls preferred games, but others chose Art or First Aid or Cookery or Handwork or Needlework. They had to work at least a term at the chosen occupation. We felt that the girls gained great benefit from the hobbies, not only in the additional happiness of working at what they enjoyed, but in an increase of freshness of mind for other work. This year we have gone still farther and have given each girl one period of voluntary work in addition to a whole afternoon for games or gardening; moreover, the four lowest forms have each one period of class work in toy-making; yet even now the children say that the time is too short. It is really amusing to see a change of classes in the woodwork-room; the first class dare not and cannot stay a minute after the bell has rung, for the second class is in and already at work.

I have tried to find out what is the great attraction to the child in the handwork lessons; the children's appreciation of the subject will be found in Section II. Probably the strongest attractions are: firstly, they see the building up of a piece of work and the result pleases them (at all events, until they do something better); secondly, they are actively employed, learning by doing, not learning by listening; and, lastly, they love the cheerful noise of the hammer and the saw and friendly conversation.

It is hard to estimate the value of handwork in education, for one cannot separate the influence of one subject in the curriculum, but one is tempted to say that it has a beneficial effect upon the child's attitude toward work in general; she looks into the why and wherefore of an object in order to see how it is made; unconsciously she adopts the same attitude toward things abstract. She learns to appreciate accuracy and to detect error, but how far she applies this to subjects other than handwork it is hard to say. It is possible, also, that handwork helps to develop the sense of justice.

Certainly the girl who has had a course in handwork does take a more intelligent interest in things around her, and does find out a way of 'setting about' a piece of work by herself. She has something pleasant and profitable to think about; she becomes more businesslike; in the lesson itself she resents interruption (this was the case when the photographer came for illustrations for this book); more strangely still, she plays no tricks with glue-pot or tools, although she has innumerable opportunities for mischief. The joy over the finished article is greater than the spirit of mischief. She realises how short the time is when there is work to be done, and looks out for devices for saving time, putting tools in handy places, saving pieces of wood of useful sizes to avoid sawing, and so on.

There is a spirit of earnest endeavour abroad in the handwork class which prevents a girl from throwing aside in a pet something she has done badly; she does not give up in disgust; she finds out the cause of the failure and tries again and again until she gets better results. It is no unusual thing to find a girl return to a job that, five or six weeks before, she had thought finished, and do it again, because her progress with other articles has made her dissatisfied with her previous standard. This comes, not from suggestion from outside, but from the development of the child's own judgement. These are the things which show what is the real value of this training.

II. INTERNAL EVIDENCE

In order to find from internal evidence the educational value of toy-making, the following questions were put to the two lowest classes (ages ten to eleven). The girls were told to write frankly what they really thought, not what they thought might satisfy the mistress.

To the question, "If you like handwork, say why; if not, say why you do not," out of forty-five papers one answer only was against handwork—"Because I do not like sawing." The answers in favour were of this type:

"Because we can make what we like."

"Because I like sawing and hammering."

"Because it is nice to see the things when they are finished."

"Because you can make interesting things."

"Because it is interesting making things out of wood like boys."

"Because I make useful things."

The favourite tools were the hammer and saw. There was considerable difference of opinion on the question, "Has it done you any good?" A fair number think it has made them careful or patient or more useful; others seem to think that the exercise in sawing has some good effect on the arms; one says her "fingers are better for music." Others see in handwork a pleasant occupation for future grown-up days; another thinks it has made her "not so flabby and fat."

If they admit that it has cured them of any faults (and they are not very ready to do this), the chief are laziness, clumsiness, and carelessness. To the last question, "Will it be of any use to you when you are grown up?" the majority look forward to the joy of mending their little girls' toys. (Not one mentions a little boy; is he expected to mend his own?) Others will make things instead of buying them ready-made. Some look forward to mending broken chairs or door-handles. One says: "It will teach me to earn my fortune," and finally one writes philosophically: "Ordepents." (No! handwork does not cure bad spelling.)

The girls of the next highest forms (ages eleven to twelve) were given the questionnaire as suggestions and were asked to write an essay on handwork. From them we get the 'home' point of view, the views of the mother, father, sceptical brothers, and of the younger children, who appear to clamour for the toys.

"Handwork is my favourite lesson next to Botany. It is a delightful pastime for myself and a great amusement for my little brother when it is finished. 'Have you finished the swing yet?' is the usual question which greets me every Thursday evening. When I am able to do handwork extra nicely I shall do a very nice piece of work and keep it as long as I can, and when I get old it will remind me of youth."

"My brother tries to make some of the things I bring home. My sister likes the swing and uses it for her dolls."

"It is a source of enjoyment to most children, but until I entered this school I had never heard of girls being taught it. I enjoy this so much that I hope to buy some tools and wood and do some work at home. My three brothers tease me terribly and call me the 'left-handed carpenter,' because I always work with my left hand. I am not satisfied with the handwork I have done at present, but hope greatly to improve. I enjoy making useful things because they make very useful presents at all times. I should like to teach handwork to others, as I think it so interesting. I have discovered that handwork needs patience and neatness in every way."

"I have learnt that everything must be done properly, because I made a motor-car and gave it to my little sister, but she happened to drop it and it came unstuck. My little brother thinks it's silly for girls to learn handwork, and everything I bring home he says, 'I should not have done it like that,' and goes on to explain how he would have done it, although he has never learnt himself. I don't like the part much where you have to prepare everything to put together. I like putting it together and then you can see something for your work."

Some show the ethical value of the training; the need of patience seems to appeal most forcibly to children who are making their first attempts at handwork.

"To make toys and other wooden things teaches us to be patient, for often just at a critical moment something will come unstuck and we have to begin all over again. The top of the roundabout which I am now making has come off three or four times, and consequently it has taken me about twice as long to make as it would if all had gone smoothly."

"Sometimes you have to wait for a piece of wood to stick. The other Friday I was waiting for a piece to stick and after a while I went on, thinking it had got stuck; unluckily it had not and it came off. That very same piece of wood has come off every day except to-day. This shows any one that one needs time and patience. Also you have to wait a while because some one has run off with the glue-pot, or else I find my file or gimlet disappeared."

"When I first began handwork I could not knock a nail in straight or else I would hit my fingers. But I can now knock a nail in straight and without knocking my fingers. I can saw much more quickly than when I first began."

"It teaches us a great lesson of patience. For instance, it is very trying to have to sit or stand for quite a long while holding some little refractory piece of wood that will not stick however much one tries: but it is no good getting cross, for the work will not be finished if we do not stick the little piece of wood or paper."

"Once mother told me I had not any idea for anything, but now she says I am much better, this being one result of handwork."

"Handwork, I think, has cured me of one fault and that is inaccuracy, for if the wood is not the proper length, it will not fit on to the thing which is being made. I have never done this kind of work before, but I think it does help us when we are grown up; one way is that everything must be accurate; and it is also very nice to make things."

"I find that handwork helps me greatly, as I am bad at my drawing and needlework."

"I love using the saws and hammers. Mother is going to give me a set of fretwork tools so that I can put fancy tops to my frames, etc. If I had a little sister or brother I would make a motor or train, but as I am the only one, I make things for ornaments. Next I shall make a table with the two sides to let down, or one with a separate leaf to put in. Handwork teaches you to be exact and to hold things delicately. It is very awkward to hammer a nail into a thin leg of a table or chair, because they wobble over."

"I think handwork is very interesting and it has taught me patience. I am not allowed to read more than half an hour after I have done my homework and practice because my eyes are weak, and as I am what some people call a bookworm I used to miss reading a great deal, but now I do handwork in my spare time. One day I hope to complete my doll's house, its garage and furniture, but I have not finished the house yet. I like making such things as chairs and tables best of all. Handwork lessons were unknown to me until I came to this school nearly two terms ago, and at first Mamma was always telling me that she would not let me do any more at home, until I thought of putting paper on the floor, which keeps the shavings and sawdust from untidying the floor. I always do this now, and when the paper is taken up I do not have so much trouble as that of picking the pieces off the mat and then sweeping the floor before I go to bed."

"Handwork also helps to make one accurate and careful; perhaps your fingers 'were all thumbs,' as the saying goes, before you started handwork, but you find that after say a month your fingers would be able to touch a frail thing without breaking it."

Their desire to make and remake varies between 'pleasure toys' and useful articles; one suspects sometimes a desire to appease the vexation of the 'house-proud' mother when there is much disorder caused at home with shavings and sawdust.

"I can not only make toys, but useful things such as dish stands, brackets, photo frames, also easels to stand photographs on."

"I like handwork. For voluntary work I do handwork, and it is also our first lesson on Friday afternoon. I like it because it helps us to make useful things. For voluntary work I am making a medicine chest. It will be handy, because we always have a great deal of medicine at home. Last term I made a knife-box, and it was useful, because Mama's was getting old. My favourite tools at handwork are the saw and hammer. Next term I want to make a writing-case and a Red Cross motor."

"I enjoy going to handwork very much. The first thing to think about, on getting down to the handwork-room, is setting to work, and going about everything quietly. Everything in handwork, to be done nicely, must be neat, clean, and carefully made and put together. In handwork I have made an easel (which is a bit difficult to fix, unless one has a proper hinge at the back) and a picture-frame and a little doll's house, and I would like to make another one, as I think it is so interesting planning out each little corner for different things, and it helps one to think of how they would plan out a home if they had one of their own, as perhaps some of us will. I am now making a tram-car, which is really very difficult. I have not nearly finished yet, as there is such a great deal of work in it."

"Girls' likings for tools differ, but a file is the nicest tool, in my eyes; it makes the rough places quite smooth and nice. In my experience of handwork I have made a boat with the captain's bridge and riggings, funnels, masts, and railings around the edge. I have also made a picture frame and doll's furniture for a friend's sister. At home I have made a basement for a doll gentleman's house for the servants to live in; I papered it and made it look neat and tidy."

"It is rather nice to see all of the girls making things at the tables as busy as bees and it is nice to see their faces when they look at the thing which they have just finished."

"The lesson I enjoy most during the week is the one termed handwork, really carpentering on a small scale. There are many things you can make, and if you take great pains with them they become really pretty little ornaments; in fact, I am thinking of having some shelves specially for my toys."

"When thinking of what measurements to make your toy and planning it out in figures I think that it helps you greatly in arithmetic. The hardest tool to use, I find, is the saw; you have to have a steady hand to use it. When I first took handwork lessons I used to think it hard work, but now I think otherwise, and feel rather grand when I show my parents the things I have made. The most important use of handwork is that when you are older you can knock a nail in or mend anything that needs mending in the wooden line, instead of having to wait until father, brother, or husband comes home tired for them to do it. As well as this there might come a time when the making of toys would help to earn the daily bread."

"I am making a tram-car now, and when I have finished it I want to make a whole set of furniture for a doll's house. The hardest part of it will be when I am putting legs on tables or chairs. They have to be quite straight or the table will not stand up."

"Sometimes we have just settled a post or a rail in the right place with the help of some glue when somebody knocks the table and over goes our piece of wood. Then we have 'to grin and bear it.'"

"Our teacher's name is Miss Polkinghorne, she being very skilful and does much better work than us for we are only miniatures yet awhile!"

"When I grow up handwork will be useful to me, for if anything breaks I shall know how to mend it, and if I had children I could make things to amuse them. Often I do handwork at home. I like using the saw better than any other tool. I have made a good many things, but I think the best was a little toy motor-car. Handwork is my favourite lesson; when I grow up I shall never leave off doing handwork. My little sister helps me sometimes. I think she will like it. My mother has asked me to make a little thing to put match-boxes in."

"I think that it helps to make you very careful. For when one is hammering and the hammer slips you get hurt and that makes one careful. The hardest thing to do in a writing-case is to saw the piece of wood for the ink division. It is hard to get the exact size, but it does not look nice if it does not fit exactly."

"I like handwork because it is different from any other lesson in the week; there is not much writing to do, only to mark on the wood certain lengths."

"I once spent a long time in doing a ship, but I could not get on. I spent a very long time in trying to take the paper off a tobacco box, but it was not going to come. I then went on with the making, but it kept falling to pieces. I took it home, and took necessary materials with it; paper for flags and nails. I was a long time in doing it, as I took everything apart and scratched all of the paper off; but it now looks very much better. Handwork is rather a funny kind of occupation for girls, but it teaches us how to do things."

"Handwork is one of the most interesting lessons that there is. It helps one to have ideas, and also to be careful. The reason why I like it is because I think that most people should have a pastime and this is a very pleasant one, and I think most children will agree to this point."

"I have to use many kinds of tools but the nicest is the hammer, because when I use it I know I am near the end of a piece of work. (It is not that I dislike handwork, but that I am going to start something fresh.) I have already made two picture-frames, two beds, a swing, a chair, a motor-car, an easel, and I am now making another swing. I think I shall try to make a baby's cot after I have finished my swing."

"I prefer to saw wood and stick pieces of wood together to hammering nails in the wood, because the nails are sometimes difficult to get in, for they very often go in crookedly. When we get older and understand handwork more thoroughly we may be able to make things for the home, such as knife-boxes and paper-racks; the things we make now are mostly pleasure toys that we will amuse our younger brothers and sisters with. In most cases it needs a great deal of patience, for the things, however simple, have some difficult part."

"I like making toys, so then if you make them nicely you can take them home for your little sisters and brothers to play with. Handwork gives you ideas about things. We can make very useful things such as letter-racks and pipe-racks. I like making furniture for dolls' houses—chairs, tables, and sofas. I like making swings. Some of us make animals."

"I do not know very much about handwork, as I have scarcely handled a tool before I came here this term, but I think I shall always enjoy it very much."

"I am making a doll's house now, for my little sister (aged five), and I think it is teaching me to make myself useful, because nobody at home cares for it much, so I will soon be able to mend chairs, make brackets, etc., etc."

"Since we have not been able to have proper firewood at home lately, mother has had large wooden boxes to chop (a thing I delight in doing), and now and again mother has given me a few of them. I tried to make things out of them and soon found it too rough: so father has given me some nice polished wood, and he says that perhaps soon he will buy me a nice little fret-saw set of tools as his are so large and clumsy."

"I think I like sawing best of all, but I think I like all the rest very well; I get quite excited when Thursday and Friday come round (for those are the days on which we have handwork)."

"Mother thinks it is a splendid thing for girls, and I quite agree with her. And we both think that it will help me on with my geometry (which I'm not very brilliant in, but am trying my best)."

These compositions were written in school and the extracts have not been corrected, they are just as the children wrote them; we add no commentary, but let them speak for themselves.

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