Hubbard, Elbert 1856-1915

HUBBARD, ELBERT 1856-1915

Manufacturer, publisher

From Soap to Art

In 1893, at the age of thirty-s even, Elbert Hubbard had already made his fortune in soap manufacturing and abandoned the business world for a life dedicated to educating the American public about the Arts and Crafts movement. Using his business savvy and motivated by a passion for medieval-inspired designs for fabric, paper, ceramics, and furniture, Hubbard turned a small publishing venture into the lifeblood of a community of artists, craftspeople, and workers dedicated to preserving superior craftsmanship in an era of mass production.

Background

Elbert Hubbard was born on 19 June 1856 in Bloomington, Indiana. At fifteen he moved to Buffalo, New York, to help his brother-in-law, John Larkin, start a soap-manufacturing business. He would later say that he had achieved his education in the "University of Hard Knocks." As a charming, handsome, talkative young man, Hubbard was a successful salesman who was willing to experiment with promotional techniques, gimmicks, and prizes at a time when the art of advertising was in its infancy. By the time Hubbard left the company in 1893 it was worth $30 million.

Roycroft

In 1893 Hubbard entered Harvard College to prepare himself for a new career as a writer, but he left after a few months for a trip to England. While there he met artist-designer William Morris, who—along with John Ruskin—was a guiding light of the Arts and Crafts revival in England. Inspired by a tour of Morris's renowned Kelmscott Press, Hubbard returned to upstate New York in 1894 and founded the Roycroft Press, as well as a community of designers and craftsmen dedicated to making handcrafted, useful objects and to restoring the ideals of the medieval guild system. Roycroft Press published several periodicals to spread these ideals, including The Philistine and The Fra (Hubbard's self-invented nickname, which alluded to his vision of himself as a medieval-style master craftsman). The press specialized in finely crafted books with features such as borders inspired by Morris, hand-colored illustrations, hand-tooled leather covers, and exquisite Japanese papers.

Furniture, Lamps, and Ceramics

Although the overall design concept for goods produced at the Roycroft community was based on the Arts and Crafts style, Hub-bard was more concerned with the process of the work and the life of the community than with imposing a single unifying philosophy of design. The profound respect for hand craftsmanship and fine work that characterized the Arts and Crafts movement permitted a wide range of taste and styles. As Hubbard said, his lamps, chairs, and pots were made according to "the principles of artistic quality, sound mechanical construction and good workmanship." In addition the Roycrofters' products were intended to be mass produced. Hubbard's expertise in marketing and advertising enabled him to find a large market for the Roycrofters' wares. By the early 1910s the Roycroft community was producing Morris-style chairs and simple benches and cabinets, some with tooled leather and carved decoration. His furniture designs owed much to Gustav Stickler's "Craftsman" furniture. Hubbard's metal shops produced wrought-iron lamps, copper-and-silver cups, vases, steins, and beautiful jade, silver, and copper jewelry. There were also painters, graphic artists, photographers, and sculptors in the lively and creative Roycroft community. The Roycroft Inn, established in 1903, was a favorite destination for tourists, writers, and craftsmen.

Death aboard the Lusitania.

Hubbard and his wife died aboard the ocean liner Lusitania after it was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1915, but the Roycroft community remained a mecca for artists and writers until 1939, when its shops and inn were sold to Samuel Guard. The Roycroft complex, including many of the workshops, the inn, and gift shops, are now part of a historic-preservation project.

Sources:

Marie Via and Margaret Searie, eds., Head, Heart and Hand: Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters (Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press, 1994).