The development of the rug hooking industry in Chéticamp originates with a visit by American artist Lillian Burke to Cape Breton in 1927. Burke, who was visiting the family of Alexander Graham Bell at their summer home in nearby Baddeck, saw the hooked rugs being produced in Chéticamp and saw the potential retail value in the rugs. Being an artist, she also saw how the rugs could and should be improved and it was at this point that the way the hooked rugs were being made in Chéticamp champed under Burke’s direction. Lillian Burke eventually opened a studio in New York where she spent time finding buyers for the rugs as well as stamping designs on rugs to be hooked, which were sent back to Chéticamp.
In the 1940s the first tourist buses arrived in Chéticamp and in their book, Chaisson and Deveau offer a hilarious account of a local’s alarm at witnessing this event:
“The first visit of a busload of about forty tourists caused a sensation in Chéticamp. Polite a Canivet, who had gone down to the harbor, returned home completely overwhelmed. He said to his wife, “The world has gone mad! A bus load of people from God only knows where has arrived. They have bought all the rugs from the exhibition and what is even more crazy, they have accorded first prize to Catherine’s rug.” Deep down, he was a bit jealous for his own daughter Adele, who had also exhibited some beautiful works but had not won the prize.”
The tourism business continues to thrive in Chéticamp today, with hooked rugs being the choice item of purchase. I have two small pieces myself, given to me by my sister-in-law Karen, which now adorn my vanity table.
The photographs on either side of the mirror are images of Auntie`s hooked rugs.
Testament to the quality of the Chéticamp hooked rugs is documentation of the various rugs presented to the Canadian Prime Ministers, American Presidents, and other public figures over the years. When Elizabeth LeFort presented her hooked rug to Queen Elizabeth in 1959, she told Queen it took her eleven days to compete it, to which the Queen replied “Eleven days of work, but no doubt a lifetime of experience.”
What I also liked about the book is that in addition to documenting the development of the rug hooking industry, the book also profiles various men and women in the community who made significant contributions to the industry and who were considered leaders in the craft for doing so. One such individual was Elizabeth LeFort, for whom a gallery is named in the Acadian Museum in Chéticamp. Considered Chéticamp's most famous artist in wool, Elizabeth LeFort was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Université de Moncton in 1975 and was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1987.
For anyone else who has dabbled in any such craft, hooking rugs offered the women (and some men) of Chéticamp an artistic outlet, but it was not without a lot of work in itself. In their book, Chaisson and Deveau offer a glimpse of the work that was initially involved in rug hooking:
“In the days when homes had no running water, the women, during the summer, would go to a river or brook to dye their wool. The necessary materials, the wool, the dye, the acid, the vats, and the wood for building the fire, had to be transported to the chosen site. Everything was loaded into carts which the men drove to the brook or river in the morning and brought back home at night with the results of the day’s work. So they would not waste time, the women would bring their spinning wheels and would spin the wool while the water heated up. When the water had reached the right temperature, they would dye their wool.”
In the descriptions of this work and these women, I saw Auntie. I was reminded that unlike myself, these women didn`t just go to the local woolen mill and purchase beautifully dyed skeins of wool. They sheared the sheep, spun the wool and dyed it themselves. I recall Auntie talking about going to Ashton (a woodlot area near St. Peters Bay where our family owns wood land) and getting the bark from various trees to use in the dyeing process – and then her pointing that specific color out to me in her rugs. There was a lot of work involved, but I suppose it was *different* work from the everyday chores. It allowed women like Auntie a way to express themselves and take pride in their artistic abilities.
I still have her oversize rug hooking frames at home, which actually belonged to her mother Sarah (McIsaac) Lewis. I also have their hooks and one from my maternal side of the family that belonged to my great-great Grandmother Josephine (MacAulay) Steele, which was made for her by her father Michael MacAulay.
The sketch above shows how hooks were traditionally made.
Rug hook made my Great-Great-Great Grandfather Michael MacAulay for his daughter Josephine.
My Great-Grandmother’s rug hooks. On the left – hook used by Josephine Steele and on the right, the hook used by Sarah Lewis. The hook on the right is the one I have used for the majority of my own hooked rugs.
My collection of rug hooks – including an example of a modern one (snazzy orange one) given to me by my craft friend Krista.
Growing up in small community and growing up in the same yard as my grandmother, I very early on saw the value in hooked rugs. The stories they told and the memories they represented. I thorough enjoyed the book written by Anselme Chaisson and Annie-Rose Deveau and now have a better understanding of why the rug hookers in Chéticamp had gained the recognition and notoriety they have.
For more information on Chéticamp hooked rugs:
Cheticamp Hooked Rugs – instructional video
Cheticamp Hooked Rugs Coopérative Artisanale
Hooked Rug Museum of North America
Winter 2008 issue of O (Oprah) at Home magazine
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