Made in the USA

“The harsh reality is that a lot of US textile mills are still in business only because they have government contracts making uniforms for soldiers – all uniforms are supposed to be American made, which is why they are so expensive. There is a glove factory in North Carolina that makes trigger-finger gloves with antimicrobial liners for the soldiers in Iraq, so that their hands don’t fall off from sweating so much. That’s the kind of thing keeping domestic factories alive.”

Liz Collins, in Bryan-Wison, Julia, Collins, Liz, Gschwandtner, Sabrina, Mazza, Cat and Smith, Allison (2008), The politics of craft: a roundtable, in Adamson, Glenn (ed) (2010), The Craft Reader, Berg, Oxford, New York, p. 624

"a rich, creative, and forceful art"

“In the peace and quiet seclusion of the countryside the village community evolved a culture of its own out of the steady flow of its own life and of nature around it. […] Out of a million coloured strands of tradition filled with song and verse, legnds, myths, native romances and episodes, from the substance of the every day life of the community, and out of nature’s own rich storehouse, was woven a rich, creative and forceful art.”

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Indian Handicrafts (1963), in Adamson, Glenn (ed) (2010), The Craft Reader, Berg, Oxford, New York, p.192

Persil washes whiter

Advertisement from Housewife, 1947

Snap fastener

“A snap fastener (also called snap, popper, and press stud) is a pair of interlocking discs commonly used in place of buttons to fasten clothing. A circular lip under one disc fits into a groove on the top of the other, holding them fast until a certain amount of force is applied. Snap fasteners are often used in children's clothing, as they are relatively easy for children to use.
Snaps can be attached to fabric by hammering (using a specific punch and die set), plying, or sewing. […]
Snap fasteners were first patented by German inventor Heribert Bauer in 1885 as the "Federknopf-Verschluss", a novelty fastener for men's trousers. Some attribute the invention to Bertel Sanders, of Denmark. These first versions featured an S-shaped spring in the top disc instead of a groove.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_fastener
Retrieved 3.1.2010

The Holy Tree

“Above all this stood an enormous tree all bleached under the sun, the rain, the cold, and deprived of leaves. This was the Holy Tree. I myself don’t know why this tree was holy but I had witnessed many people, whoever did pass by, that would tear voluntarily a strip of their clothes and attach this to the tree. Thus through many years of the same act, like a veritable parade of banners under the pressure of wind all these personal inscriptions of signature, very softly to my innocent ear used to give echo to the sh-h-h-sh-h of silver leaves of the poplars.”

Arshile Gorki (1942)
In: Herschel B. Chipp (1984), Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics, University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles & London, p.536