In its earliest years, rug hooking was a craft of poverty. The vogue for floorcoverings in the United States came about after 1830 when factories produced machine-made carpets for the rich. Poor women began looking through their scrapbags for materials to create their own homemade floor coverings. Girls from wealthy families were sent to school to learn embroidery and quilting; fashioning floor rugs was never part of the curriculum. Another sign that hooking was the pastime of the poor is the fact that popular ladies magazinesin the 19th century never wrote about rug hooking. Despite the great beauty of hooked rugs, their creation was considered a “country” craft in the days when the word country was derogatory.
The Living Heritage Museum has several wonderful examples of historic hooked rugs in its collection.
The Museum also is home to an annual hooked rug show that features almost 200 hooked rugs each February through March. For more information on the rug show, call the Museum at 423-745-0329, or contact us today!
