Finnish American Rag Rugs is about rag rug culture and the role of rag weaving in Finnish America. In a larger sense, it is also a study of how a craft can persist over centuries, reinforcing the culture, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and values of an immigrant group that retains a strong sense of its ethnic identity.
Finnish American Rag Rugs provides a history of Finnish immigration to and settlement in Michigan's Upper Peninsula alongside an examination of the tradition of rag weaving in the United States and the Nordic region. Although many other immigrants have a tradition of making rag rugs, Finnish Americans are one of the few groups to have maintained the culture of rag weaving since their immigration. In the process of studying this one activity of one ethnic group, the author uncovers new information about both the history of a ubiquitous form of fiber art and the beliefs and values of an understudied ethnic group. Illustrated with more than 200 color photos, Finnish American Rag Rugs is both informative and beautiful.
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About the Author
Yvonne R. Lockwood is Curator of Folklife at the Michigan State University Museum and Associate Coordinator of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program. She is co-editor of the Michigan Folklife Annual and of Michigan Folklife Reader.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
FinnishAm rag rug review,
This review is from: Finnish American Rag Rugs: Art, Tradition & Ethnic Continuity (Hardcover)
This book is a wonderful addition to your collection if you are interested in the history of the art of Finnish Rag Rugs. It gave wonderful interesting stories about Upper Peninsula weavers and their craft. I had hoped it would have had a little more in regards to the mechanics of weaving this type of rug with more patterns, color choices; more like a pattern book. I still love the book and would purchase it again, but it wasn't what I expected.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A simply fascinating read,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Finnish American Rag Rugs: Art, Tradition & Ethnic Continuity (Hardcover)
Among their contributions to American popular culture, Finnish immigrants are especially noted for weaving ordinary rages into extraordinary rugs. "Finnish American Rag Rugs: Art, Tradition, and Ethnic Continuity" by Yvonne R. Lockwood (Curator of Folklife Emeritus, Michigan State University Museum) is a profusely illustrated, 256-page compendium of impeccable and original scholarship providing an informed and informative history of Finnish settlement in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with a special focus on their tradition of rag weaving, a homespun craft that over the centuries in their homeland had reinforced their ethnic identity, attitudes, beliefs, and values. A simply fascinating read which will prove to be of immense interest to cultural anthropologists and needlecraft enthusiasts alike, "Finnish American Rag Rugs: Art, Tradition, and Ethnic Continuity" is highly recommended for both academic and community library collections.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finnish folk art tradition in Michigan,
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This review is from: Finnish American Rag Rugs: Art, Tradition & Ethnic Continuity (Hardcover)
"Conservativism and dynamism are two powerful forces pulling at the traditions of [Finnish] rag rug weaving...Over time, Finnish American rag rugs have changed in size, content, appearance, and function from those made by the immigrant generation." Lockwood, a Michigan folklife museum curator and author of books on Michigan folklife, covers the origins, evolution, and present of this distinctive folk art tradition practiced mostly on Michigan's upper peninsula. The style of much of the book is like oral history as the content is based on interviews with rag rug weavers with nearby photographs of them holding a rug of theirs. Most of the weavers are women, though there are enough men so this is not unusual. Lockwood also goes into techniques and equipment for the rug-making, especially the all-important loom, with respective photographs.
The Finnish rugs have changed "in size, content, appearance, and function from those made by the immigrant generation" of the earlier 1800s. The larger rugs often made up of narrower rugs sewn together covering entire room floors have given way to scatter rugs. Rugs from the modern era also make use of modern fabrics such as polyesters, brightly-colored cottons, and subtly-colored pastels. Even plastic bread wrappers have been used by some weavers in the innovation constantly going on within the bounds of the tradition. Today, some rag rugs are made specifically as products for folk art collectors and mementos for visitors to Michigan. Lockwood's book is comprehensive and learned. With its balance between academic-like historical and ethnic material and material for popular interest in a colorful tradition and its craft, it appeals to varied types of readers.
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