A Museum of Early American Tools
by Eric Sloane

Review by Mark Gazella – March 2008

When I think about artists of "Americana", several immediately come to mind. Norman Rockwell is probably my favorite for capturing the essence of American life on canvas. Grant Wood is another well-known artist, largely due to the pitchfork-holding farmer and woman beside him in "American Gothic" (ca. 1930). But these artists, though incredibly talented, chose to hone their skills in a single medium. Were there artists with commensurate talent that expanded this genre via mixed media? Yes. Enter Eric Sloane - a man wholly devoted to capturing the exuberant state of life in our nation’s early years. He not only painted, but wrote, sketched, philosophized, and collected what has now become some of the most definitive works on early Americana.

Born into wealth as Everard Jean Hinrichs, he developed an interest in art as a young boy. During his youth, he spent many hours with a neighbor who taught him to hand paint letters and signs. He nurtured his talent for script during his formative years, which served him well in the many books he authored (almost 40 throughout his life). As his talent matured, many pilots hired the young Hinrichs to paint lettering on their airplanes. One pilot chose to barter flying lessons for signage, which is how the young lad discovered his fondness for sky and clouds. His work with airplanes also led to acquaintances with several famous individuals. Amelia Erhardt bought his first cloud painting, and a large mural of clouds painted by Mr. Sloane is on display in the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC. It's been said he is the finest cloud painter of his generation.

Everard had a falling out with his family during his teen years, which also approximates when he chose to use an alias for his work. He became an iterant sign painter, working his way across America from east to west, tracing the steps of pioneers that had gone before him. While he considered home to be Connecticut, he became quite enamored with New Mexico. He wound up spending much of his adult years living and painting between two residences, a Connecticut farmhouse he restored and a second home near Santa Fe. He painted as a member of the Hudson River School, and is considered by many to be an artistic genius. But he was quite eccentric, with interests that ranged from weather (he was the first "television weatherman"!), to Pueblo Indians, to European settlers. He married five times and lived to be eighty years of age. Just after his eightieth birthday, and prior to release of his final book (aptly entitled "Eighty"), Mr. Sloane suffered a massive heart attack on the way to meet his wife for lunch. It is believed to be the only appointment he missed his entire life.

Mr. Sloane filled A Museum of Early American Tools with an extraordinary amount of material, given it's diminutive size. It was published in 1964, and many historians believe it was the catalyst that spurred a nascent interest in tool collecting during that era. Considered a sketchbook by the Author, it's dedicated to American Pioneers who made their own tools, then employed them to create everything else necessary for survival. Simply put, it's an incredible tribute to early American craftsmanship.

The book holds many chapters, most just two or three pages in length, which are literally overrun with drawings that clearly illustrate each topic. Together they provide a glimpse of virtually every extant craft from the period; e.g., wheelwrights, housewrights, sawyers and lumbermen, blacksmiths, farriers, tanners, etc. I selected this book for its copious contingent on woodworking tools, but it is definitely not limited to this singular method of work. In fact, I get the impression farmers should be considered among the most talented and versatile of all American laborers, since their daily tasks required such a vast array of unique implements. Consider maintaining a harness and plow for field work, all of the tooling necessary for sundry tasks in the barn, grass shearers and cutters, as well as planes, chisels, drawknives, etc. for building maintenance and repair. Each workday left little time for rest.

Reading this book and accompanying information from the web and public library gives me incite to how our nation flourished centuries ago. I'm grateful to individuals like Mr. Sloane who devote such boundless energy to salute those who came before us, and encourage us all to be aware of and appreciate all that we have. Please visit these websites to learn more about Eric Sloane;

A Museum of Early American Tools will be available for checkout at the general member meeting in April.