One of Ed’s many reproductions of the Declaration Desk.
In December of 2024, I traveled to Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, to meet Ed Zappen (and his lovely family – thanks again for the cheese curds, Kathy!) and take pictures in his shop for his book, “Jefferson’s Declaration Desk.”
We should, barring catastrophe, have the book to the printer this week or next, so look for it in about two months. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing some glimpses inside.
Below is Zappen’s introduction.
– Fitz
The baize-covered writing surface of the reproduction.
My interest in the events leading to the Colonial separation from Great Britain led me to a little writing box that Thomas Jefferson used to write the Declaration of Independence. I contacted the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., where the desk was located. They put me in contact with senior Curator Harry Rubinstein, who invited me to the museum on two separate occasions to study, measure and photograph the desk. That started me on a 15-year journey to learn more about the desk, its history and how to make the best possible reproduction. I decided I should share this information with other woodworkers and the general public rather than keeping the history and plans for the desk to myself. Hence, this book.
Known as the Declaration Desk, Jefferson’s writing box is typical of writing boxes used among the upper classes in Colonial America and England. These desks were small, portable and often had a sloping area covered with baize, a coarse woolen cloth used for gaming tables, and suitable as a writing surface. Various compartments and drawers in the desk allowed the 18th-century professional to carry correspondence, writing materials and other items similar to those that might be found in a briefcase today. I call this an “18th-century Laptop.”
This is a story about that writing box and its place in American history, and it describes in some detail how to make an accurate reproduction of Jefferson’s Declaration Desk. Failure to place the desk in its historical setting presents this piece as just another vintage writing box that can be purchased in antique stores on the East Coast or eBay for a small price. So that is where I shall begin.
You can now order The Stick Chair Journal No. 3 from our store. This issue features plans and construction information for a Lincolnshire Windsor chair, the earliest-known form of Windsor. Plus lots of other articles that will help you as a chairmaker.
If you buy the Journal from us, you’ll also receive a pdf of the journal and a pdf of full-size patterns for the Lincolnshire chair in this issue. The printed Journal (with the digital extras) is $25.
You also can buy just the pdf of the Journal plus the pdf of the full-size patterns for $12.
We have sold out of all the printed back issues of the Journal, but you can purchase digital copies of back issues at the same page.
The printed Journals are made to a ridiculously high manufacturing standard. We print the journal on #80 matte coated paper, plus we sew the signatures (no “perfect” binding for us). No ads. No sponsorships. Just stories.
Issue No. 4 is already in the works, and I plan to have it out this fall.
What other craft would be interested in Welsh chairs? Try the workwear industry.
Recently TOAST sent a crew to Williams’ shop in Wales to interview him about his chairmaking and Welsh chairs in general. They produced a lovely little feature on Williams that you can read (for free) here.
And then last week, Paynter featured Williams’ book in their online newsletter as one of the books they’re reading. See the image above.
Both of these workwear companies are influential in the workwear market. Heck, I even own a couple Paynter garments (a jacket and a wool vest/waistcoat – good stuff).
Congrats to Williams for finally being recognized as the fashion icon that he is.
The gate Don Weber built, which is still in use on Monroe Robinson’s property.
I’m working on a profile of Don Weber, which will appear in Issue 4 of “The Stick Chair Journal.” To help share Don’s life story – so rich and full it could be a book – I’ve been reaching out to folks he’s known at various points in his life, folks he calls friends to this day.
Earlier this week, Matty Sears spoke with me on the phone about his deep friendship with Don, and their respect for each other.
Mike Abbott wrote, “His great enthusiasm for anything to do with green woodwork and chairmaking encouraged me to throw myself into giving pole-lathe demonstrations at country fairs, which helped publicise my chairmaking courses.”
“Don first started working with greenwood and blacksmithing while he lived here,” Monroe Robinson wrote of the time period years ago when Don lived on his property. “He built a small bodger structure on the edge of the redwood forest using small redwood trees and recycled corrugated steel for roofing and siding. Eventually, he put a triphammer in the little structure. I always loved the sound of Don working there, including the triphammer. Don’s work always inspired me – making something useful and beautiful out of what most folks would call nothing. He made a little gate that he installed between our house … I love the gate to this day.”
These conversations share a common thread of goodwill and generosity, a welcome respite from the flashes of news on my phone.
It’s a theme present in nearly every profile I write – folks not just talking about themselves, but sharing the kindness of people in their lives and especially the kindness that can be found in the craft community.
From a 1936 “Chips from the Chisel” column in The Woodworker Magazine, edited by Charles H. Hayward:
“The Italian Renaissance was the golden age of craftsmanship. There was an amazing flowering of genius in painting, sculpture, goldsmith’s and silversmith’s work, in fact in every kind of craft, research and experiment were carried to the limit. Ideas were in the air, bandied about in workshop and studio, till the fertile soil of genius brought them to perfection. And it is significant that it was an age of great good fellowship among craftsmen. Competition was terrific; there were so many of them at the game and the prizes were glittering, but again and again it is evident from the pages of Vasari how freely they pooled their experiences, and how freely criticism, advice and generous appreciation circulated. They were a mixed bunch too. Dullards and plodders worked side by side with talented men, and there were inspired cut-throats among the men of genius. But this much they all had in common: a love of the work they found to their hand and a readiness to pass on the knowledge they had acquired.”
And so often, good fellowship is unexpected.
Earlier this month, I received a package from Shad Watson. Turns out, Shad’s family are descendants of Nannau, now settled in North Carolina. They’ve lived on the same creek for more than 250 years in an area called Nanneytown.
In the package was a silver coin commemorating Nannau’s legends. On one side is a design heavily influenced by Sir Richard Colt Hoare’s 1813 sketch of the infamous oak, which is featured in my book, “Cadi & the Cursed Oak.” GS-JJ helped Shad adapt the design and together, they minted 10 medallions.
Shad simply wanted to thank those who have a deep affection for Nannau and work to share its stories. (Thank you, Shad!)
Kindness and making things, whether it’s woodworking, coins or jazz, always bring to mind one of my favorite stories from Jennie Alexander. Here, an excerpt from her Meet the Author profile:
Baltimore Jazz Trio, 2002
Jennie spent her childhood pounding away at the piano and later became a self-taught jazz musician who played professionally. “I enjoyed that very much and I met some wonderful people,” she says. “I grew up in the time when New Orleans jazz was being revised and at the same time be-bop was being created. And it was very interesting that the two groups coincided. In other words, they knew each other. They hung out together. We got together and had a good time.”
One of the more well-known jazz musicians at the time was a man named Benny, who Jennie said was very active on the be-bop side, when not in jail. The two never met until many years later, when Jennie was transitioning. It was 2007. The last job Jennie ever played as a male was with Benny on drums. The two were part of a trio playing at one of Jennie’s alma maters, St. John’s College.
“It was a wonderful job,” Jennie says. “I had driven Benny down from Baltimore and we drove back and I said, ‘Benny, would you like dinner?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’ And so I went upstairs, came back as a female and we went to dinner. We had a very pleasant dinner. He is just a nice, gentle person with a wonderful beat, by the way. And two-thirds of the way into dinner Benny looked and me and said, ‘John! You’ve really changed!’ And that was the nicest, from-the-heart little thing.”
Nothing more was said, and the two finished dinner. “It speaks to jazz, friendship and kindness,” Jennie says. “And those are such wonderful, wonderful aspects of life that I enjoy and, of course, friendship and kindness have much to do with woodworking, too.”
I hope you have found that kindness has much to do with woodworking, too.
This is your last chance at one of our blue coffee mugs. We are closing them out this month in the store. Here’s the story.
Last year, our warehouse flooded during a freak storm and the failure of our city’s stormwater system. We lost about 3,000 books in the flood, but other products got swamped, too.
Our final batch of our blue 12 oz. coffee mugs from Grey Fox Pottery in Wisconsin were submerged for several hours in the stormwater. It took us time to recover them from their cardboard packaging (which was ruined). During the last few weeks, we have cleaned off all the mugs and run them all through two sanitary cycles with high-strength detergent. They are cleaner now than when we first received them.
We are closing out this style of mug, so we are offering these at a significant discount. The mugs are safe for the dishwasher and the microwave. And are handmade by an artists’ collective. Quantities are limited. These are nice, handmade things at a crazy low price. Buy one here.
