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| The Hands of Master Craftsman David Smalley- The Toymaker |
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A couple of years ago, a high school friend of David's showed up at our door with a table. It was a big oak drop leaf table, and he said it belonged to David. David wasn't home at the time, so he missed seeing his friend Westy, but when he got home he found the old table, a gift left here for him on December 23rd, two days before Christmas.
He knew right away that it was a table
made by his Grandfather Frank H. Smalley.
David looked at the piece with love and awe, and as he did he got down on the floor underneath, and looked up with tears streaming down his face, and his heart full of pride at the beauty in the craftsmanship, and the care put into all the joints, and how the glue was used to invisibly fuse together two pieces of wood.
Immediately, He was right back there in Pappa's workshop...
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| Frank H. Smalley Cabinetmaker |
Immediately, He was right back there in Pappa's workshop...
"I remember how he mixed up the glue in an old tin can, and carefully spread it on the wood", he exclaimed.
What was it that made that old table so special? It was the love and care that went into making it, every step of the way, and it was the heart of a boy, who more than 55 years later remembered the Loving Hands that mixed the glue, and shaped and sanded the wood, to create a thing of beauty.
Never rushing, always patiently working to create something of value, that would reflect the love in his heart.
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Today, you and your children receive the same love and care that "Pappa" imparted to David, way back in the fifties. It's alive and it's generational, and the world desperately needs to see and feel, touch, and experience handmade, hand crafted goods. It is healing to our hearts, living in this fast- paced fragmented society.
When a person creates something with their hands, there is a transmission of the soul of that person into the creation being made. This is why artists, writers and woodworkers have their own style, that is evident and reflected in all of their work. It is why handmade gifts are so special. They can convey through the materials, the heart of the maker, and the love in their heart as they created the gift.
What was it that made that old table so special? It was the love and care that went into making it, every step of the way, and it was the heart of a boy, who more than 55 years later remembered the Loving Hands that mixed the glue, and shaped and sanded the wood, to create a thing of beauty.
Never rushing, always patiently working to create something of value, that would reflect the love in his heart.
Today, you and your children receive the same love and care that "Pappa" imparted to David, way back in the fifties. It's alive and it's generational, and the world desperately needs to see and feel, touch, and experience handmade, hand crafted goods. It is healing to our hearts, living in this fast- paced fragmented society.
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| Frank H. Smalley and his father Fred W. Smalley |
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| David Smalley Grandson of ..... |
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| Dolls created by Suzanne ( Smalley) Barker -of the Smalley children, all 12 of them. |
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| Dolly made for my granddaughter, Angelina |
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| Cobbler's bench Coffee table, my Christmas gift from David last year. It was modeled after the one his Grandfather had in his living room back in the 1950's. |
Nowadays, children (and adults) are surrounded by high tech, fast paced, bleeping sounds, dead plastics, and just plain evil products that are destructive to the higher nature of the child. The darkness has drowned the dignity, and the images are defiling to the sensitive nature of a child.
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Children love to have a doll to talk to, and carry around, as a special friend. The first doll I ever made was for our oldest son, Jeremy.
Children are starving for simple, quiet hand made toys that soothe their souls, and feed inspire their imaginations toward that which is inherently good in them.
Beauty, innocence, and wholesomeness are quickly fading from our world, and our children are being robbed of the chance to even be a child anymore, and instead they are exposed to all kinds of negative images and fearful events. We need to preserve for them, the peace and safety of a childhood of joyful, delight in life itself,
and full of the love of a caring family.
Seri Smalley feeding the birds in her mittens.
I have been making dolls for nearly forty years. I've lost track of how many, but our children each had several dolls handmade by Mama when they were little, boys included. Don't worry, one of those boys is now a US Marine, and another is an avid hunter and fisherman. Children love to have a doll to talk to, and carry around, as a special friend. The first doll I ever made was for our oldest son, Jeremy.
He named his doll "Friend".
Having 12 children created a need for many dolls, so every year somebody got a new doll, either for a birthday, or Christmas gift.
Most of the dolls have stood the test of time, and some have been passed on to the grandchildren.
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| Jeremy's "Friend" |
Most of the dolls have stood the test of time, and some have been passed on to the grandchildren.
That was the case with "baby Jacob". I made him for our son Jacob when he was two years old. Then about 28 years later, I gave him to his son Jakey, when his father said he no longer wanted his childhood toys.
Last summer, "Jakey" told me that his doll was ripped, and has some holes in his hands and face.
I told him I could fix him for him, so baby Jacob came to the "doll hospital."
Baby Jacob had light brown hair and blue eyes. Jakey has Dark brown hair and brown eyes, so when I repaired the rips and made new hands for him, I also changed his hair and eyes to match my grandson's coloring.
Jakey was delighted, and now his father's doll is still being loved, but with a the love of a different heart, and the joy of another child.
The love that Grammie put into making the doll for her boy, is still nurturing the soul of the next generation, and the love goes on, and heals the world one child at a time.
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At Elves and Angels, we strive to create for a child, an experience of something of beauty, a toy that reflects the love of children, and nourishes the imagination toward wholesome innocence, and the freedom to experience the essence of childhood.
We create "Generational Toys", that keep alive the thread of family, quality, dignity, and love of a job well done.
Last summer, "Jakey" told me that his doll was ripped, and has some holes in his hands and face.
I told him I could fix him for him, so baby Jacob came to the "doll hospital."
Baby Jacob had light brown hair and blue eyes. Jakey has Dark brown hair and brown eyes, so when I repaired the rips and made new hands for him, I also changed his hair and eyes to match my grandson's coloring.
Jakey was delighted, and now his father's doll is still being loved, but with a the love of a different heart, and the joy of another child.
The love that Grammie put into making the doll for her boy, is still nurturing the soul of the next generation, and the love goes on, and heals the world one child at a time.
At Elves and Angels, we strive to create for a child, an experience of something of beauty, a toy that reflects the love of children, and nourishes the imagination toward wholesome innocence, and the freedom to experience the essence of childhood.
We create "Generational Toys", that keep alive the thread of family, quality, dignity, and love of a job well done.
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| Hands of John Smalley |
