Allanstand Cottage Industries (Asheville, North Carolina) c.1910.
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(click on photograph for larger image)
Allanstand Cottage Industries took its name from its original location along a remote crossroads near the North Carolina-Tennessee state line, forty miles north of Asheville. “Allan’s Old Stand” was a resting point for drovers taking livestock to market on the hoof. Originally a Presbyterian mission, the unexpected gift of a hand-woven, pre-Civil War coverlet inspired the transformation of the mission into a cottage industry. Allanstand Cottage Industries commissioned a wide variety of traditional handwork, including woven coverlets and rugs, brooms, baskets, chairs, and dolls. While some handcrafted products were sold locally, many were sold as mail order products through the Presbyterian church. Fortunately, the market remained “ahead of the possible supply,” encouraging craft production. In 1908, Allanstand founder Frances Louisa Goodrich (1856-1944) opened a shop in downtown Asheville where she could take advantage of residential and tourist traffic. In 1917 the business was incorporated and continued its operation for another 14 years. In 1931 Goodrich deeded the property to the newly formed Southern Mountain Handicraft Guild (today’s Southern Highland Craft Guild). The Allanstand sales shop continues to operate out of the guild’s Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville.
Source: Craft Revival: Shaping Western North Carolina Past and Present.
See also: Allanstand Cottage Industries
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