Who were John and Rodney Hooper?

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Eric The Viking

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I mean John Hooper OBE, and his son Rodney (who in 1954 was MSIA)?

So... we had a lovely two days in Dartmouth this week. Whilst there, I scored two excellent hits for the woodworking library:

#1: Sam Maloof's autobiography from 1983 ("Woodworker", lavish, full-colour coffee table size, with drawings and beautiful and detailed photography). Ghost-written (I think) by Jonathan Fairbanks, then of the Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, and an early champion of Maloof's work. It wasn't an absolute bargain, but in very good condition and well worth the £20 I paid for it (still has the dust jacket!). In fact there are several excellent bookshops in Dartmouth still, which is extraordinary and brilliant.

In the National Trust s/h bookshop at Greenways, Agatha Christie's holiday estate, I really scored though:

#2: "Modern Furniture And Fittings" by Messrs. Hooper, hardback, 2nd ed. 1955. It has diagrams, depressingly wonderful photographs of the finest work, fold-out plans, and excellent descriptions. It's half way between a text book and a brochure of the best British craftsmanship of the immediate pre- and post-war years.

You might imagine the British Council sponsoring it, but there's no mention of anything like that. The preface talks about post-war reconstruction demanding new furniture and fitting-out of public buildings. Sadly, the authors underestimated the effects of post-war public debt, too, so the grand reconstructions never happened in the main, and I suspect the skilled craftsmen who were around at the time rarely had the chance again to do the finest work that's illustrated.

Also mentioned is Percy A. Wells, who earlier co-authored "Modern Cabinet Work" with Hooper Sr.

I am very ignorant of the craftsmen of this period, so I wondered if anyone more learned could shed a little light on who these folks were...

E.

PS: it was a whole £2.50! I picked up an excellent autobiography last autumn from a different NT bookshop, so they're now an obligatory part of any NT visit. That's definitely two-for-two: smug is a quite inadequate description in context!
 
You did well to get a copy of Wells and Hooper for only £2.50 - I paid more than twice that, but mine is the 1928 edition without so much about plywood.

The short answer is that they both taught at the renowned Shoreditch Technical College, as part of a line of influential teachers.

The most comprehensive answer I know of is here, in the late Raymond McInnis' attempt to research, document and discuss the history of woodworking instructional books:

http://www.woodworkinghistory.com/manual_author2.htm

(It's a tremendously interesting website in my opinion. It branches out and explores digressions, wherever the author could find them, revelling in the new freedom that a website gave - a never ending supply of room and the ability to cross-reference so that the whole work can be read in any order. It uses frames (remember them?) so it's probably best to start here to see the whole scope http://www.woodworkinghistory.com .)

You can read the 1909 edition here https://archive.org/details/moderncabinetwor01well

or the 1922 third edition here https://archive.org/details/moderncabinetwor00well

You'll also want John Hooper's "Handcraft in Wood and Metal" which also went through several editions including publication as two separate books, but I'll let you find that for yourself.
 
Andy, is your avatar from Wells & Hooper?

It's from "The Home Workshop" from Odhams Press. There's no author credited or printed publication date but the chapter on fitting up your home to get ready for air raids suggests it's about 1940.
 
Sorry Eric, I must read posts more carefully.

But you need a copy of Wells and Hooper as well! :D

(I'm now on the lookout for a copy of Hooper and Hooper for myself. Willing to pay up to £2.50! :wink: )
 
It's from "The Home Workshop" from Odhams Press. There's no author credited or printed publication date but the chapter on fitting up your home to get ready for air raids suggests it's about 1940.

I did wonder, my copy dosn't have a date either.
Some of the car maintenance photos show interesting tyre wear!

Bod
 
Getting back to the question, the link I gave earlier has a tiny bit about John Hooper but there's some more on the jacket of my copy of Hand Craft in Wood (1952 edition). Summarising a bit, it says:

- He was a trained craftsman, lecturer instructor and tool historian.
- He got an MBE in 1920 and an OBE in 1933 for 'outstanding contributions to the Government furnishing services.'
- In 1941 he led the Board of Trade's Utility Furniture scheme.
- He arranged the furniture for George V's silver jubilee and the coronation of George VI and got medals for doing so.

He was born in 1882, according to the British Library catalogue. This link should lead you to a full listing of his books.

This link should lead you to the ones that Rodney wrote or contributed to - but the catalogue doesn't give any dates or any further information.
 
I mean John Hooper OBE, and his son Rodney (who in 1954 was MSIA)?

So... we had a lovely two days in Dartmouth this week. Whilst there, I scored two excellent hits for the woodworking library:

#1: Sam Maloof's autobiography from 1983 ("Woodworker", lavish, full-colour coffee table size, with drawings and beautiful and detailed photography). Ghost-written (I think) by Jonathan Fairbanks, then of the Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston, and an early champion of Maloof's work. It wasn't an absolute bargain, but in very good condition and well worth the £20 I paid for it (still has the dust jacket!). In fact there are several excellent bookshops in Dartmouth still, which is extraordinary and brilliant.

In the National Trust s/h bookshop at Greenways, Agatha Christie's holiday estate, I really scored though:

#2: "Modern Furniture And Fittings" by Messrs. Hooper, hardback, 2nd ed. 1955. It has diagrams, depressingly wonderful photographs of the finest work, fold-out plans, and excellent descriptions. It's half way between a text book and a brochure of the best British craftsmanship of the immediate pre- and post-war years.

You might imagine the British Council sponsoring it, but there's no mention of anything like that. The preface talks about post-war reconstruction demanding new furniture and fitting-out of public buildings. Sadly, the authors underestimated the effects of post-war public debt, too, so the grand reconstructions never happened in the main, and I suspect the skilled craftsmen who were around at the time rarely had the chance again to do the finest work that's illustrated.

Also mentioned is Percy A. Wells, who earlier co-authored "Modern Cabinet Work" with Hooper Sr.

I am very ignorant of the craftsmen of this period, so I wondered if anyone more learned could shed a little light on who these folks were...

E.

PS: it was a whole £2.50! I picked up an excellent autobiography last autumn from a different NT bookshop, so they're now an obligatory part of any NT visit. That's definitely two-for-two: smug is a quite inadequate description in context!
I am the third of Rodney and Ruth Hooper's four daughters. Would you like to talk?
Kind regards
Rosamund Dunlevey, née Hooper
[email protected]
 
The plates in Wells and Hooper made me realize how little I know. Might as well shuffle off and sharpen something, because there's no way in hell I'm going to build anything even close.
 

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