Saturday 3 January 2015

Peasant Shopping - Part 6 - fair trade

Amongst the Haslemere Educational Museum's news clippings is a notice, presumably issued in 1907 as the accompanying article in my previous post was dated, that reads:

Haslemere Weaving and Handicrafts Shop
Haslemere High Street
c.1939
from Around Haslemere, Winter, T.,
Tempus Publishing Limited, 2002
"The members of the Peasant Arts Society take the opportunity of the opening of their first Country Shop to explain the nature of their work and hope.  Their desire is to restore the true country life, its faith and its crafts which they believe to be absolutely essential to the saner life of this and every country.  And their work is directed to this end.

"To increase the knowledge and love of Traditional Design, to encourage beautiful useful Hand-work, done under happy conditions in the country, and to sell the products to those who can appreciate them, is their immediate purpose.  The Society is purely philanthropic in this respect, that no private profits will be taken from its own Industries and Shops, all such profits going to further the work and increase its scope.  On the other hand, care is taken to price work at its proper commercial value, so as to maintain a right standard, and in no way to undersell individual craftsmen."

Vision Express, site of Haslemere Weaving and Crafts Shop,
High Street, Haslemere, present day

There is also a section of a newspaper article (presumably dated 1907) which reports:

"The Arts Shop

The Peasant Arts Shop is there at Haslemere with its conspicuous sign and window display, to remind the public what peasant art can be.  Here is surviving peasant art; vessels in wood and ware for peasant workers all over the Continent as well as beautiful homespun and other products of the hand looms of Haslemere."

Vision Express, site of Haslemere Weaving and Crafts Shop,
High Street, Haslemere, present day

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