ITEMS MADE AT THE MODERN SCHOOL,, 1932-1935 and 1960

Summary: Collected items created at the Modern School.

This series comprises a rug handloomed by the Modern School children from scrap wool material which was purchased at the craft exhibit held at the Stelton Annual Ball in 1934 by Wanda Sweida; a table runner made of pure wool in the colors of the rainbow always used at the Modern School handloomed in about 1932; a woven hanging depicting a woman bathing; and "Baby's First Toy," six knitted balls on a string given to the baby of Frances Browning by Anna Schwartz in November 1960. This item is an example of one of the toys designed by German educationalist Friedrich Froebel known as gifts, which were supposed "to train children in dexterity of movement and teach them something of the laws of nature." This particular example, known as "Gift 1," because the sphere was a child's first shape, was specified as being made up of six worsted balls of one and a half inches in diameter, red, yellow, blue, orange, green and violet. (9)

Additional items present are a mahogany square with a carving of a girl's face on the front, signed on the back, "Eleanor," and apparently sold for 50 cents at a Modern School benefit, and two cards done by six and a half year-olds Philip and Sasha Hourwich, one a birthday card for their mother made out of construction paper with linoleum cuts, and one a series of abstract designs in watercolor.