Table Of Content

The Real Log Cabin The Real Log Cabin Original Text by Chilson D. Aldrich Expanded with Commentary by Harry Drabik NODIN PRESS Copyright© 1994 by Harry Drabik All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the permission of Nodin Press except for review purposes. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 90-92230 ISBN 0-931714-51-6 Nodin Press, a division ofMicawber's, Inc. 525 North Third Street Minneapolis, MN 55401 Printed in the U.S.A. at Printing Enterprises, Minneapolis, MN Snail cabin drawings on page 156 reprinted courtesy the Ministry of Culture and Communications, Province of Ontario. Additional drawings by Alexander Rymarowicz, Krakow, Poland This edition is dedicated with love and deep respect to Tymie Randall without whose support, faith, and trust this project would never have seen completion. THE RED GODS' CALL 'Tm tired of the rustle and hustle, I'm sick of the racket and din, I want to cut loose from the bustle, Go out where the rivers begin. I long to get up in the open, 'Mongst the cedar and tall tamarack; I want to make camp on a lake shore; In an old tumble-down lumber shack. I'm tired of the pomp and grandeur, I'm sick of the falseness and bluff; I want to get up where the country Is virgin and wooded and rough. I long to awake in the morning, And pull on an old flannel shirt, And corduroy pants that are mended And moccasins covered with dirt. I care not a cuss where the place is, Nor how far away it may be, So long as it's up in the open Where I can unleash and be free. Where the odor of cedar and hemlock Will greet me whene'er I awake, And the moon casts its shadows at nightfall Of the pine on the wind-rippled lake. Just give me my pipe and tobacco, Some coffee and bacon, and then Turn me foot-loose away in the forest, Far off from the pathways of men." INTRODUCTION We have decided to reissue The Real Log Cabin in a version close to its original form, even where it was tempting to eliminate or streamline parts of the text, in order to preserve the flavor of its time. Whether Chilson Darragh Aldrich has much to say for our day will be settled by his new readers, but after it was first published by Macmillan in 1928, The Real Log Cabin became popular enough to stay in print for more than two decades. Earlier generations began to admire and emulate rural life as America became more urban, and Aldrich addressed that aspect of the American imagination. Reprinting an old book presents special problems. Some consider this book "too male dominated." Others characterize the type of log work that Aldrich describes as "too simple." I agree, but I have mostly retained the warts and blemishes of this historic book. The Real Log Cabin, like most things, is far from perfect. This new edition of The Real Log Cabin includes most of Aldrich's text, plus my commentary in italic, to update every chapter. Because many of the old photos were inade quate, we've added drawings. With this expanded edition, I hope read ers will find inspiration and a connection with the past, with an improved understanding of what summer homes once meant and how they have been transformed over the years. I-Iarry F Drabik October, 1993 FOREWORD It is being increasingly borne in upon the members of the present generation that they have lost much by not being pioneers. Much in the stuff that goes to make character. Much of the downright exhilarating fun. With increasing frequency, therefore, one finds that the genuine American is going back to the good old ancestral custom-bootlegging his pioneer kick as it were-and building himself a log cabin away from the honks of man. This "cabin" varies all the way from a modest little one room (without kitchenette and bath) to a log house as many-cham bered, as bespattered with baths, as piped and wired and garaged as a townhouse of the most fastidious. Until it becomes the problem how to camouflage these concessions to the softer life. How, in spite of them, to present the appearance of the rugged pioneer home. This requires not only the technique of the architect with his knowledge of residence needs, nor alone the skill of the woodsman with his cunning craft in selecting, cutting and fitting logs-but somehow a blending of the two. Ruggedness must mean lines of strength, not mere uncouthness, and beauty of structure must harmonize with the sturdy material in which it is wrought. Except for the knowledge of a few of our newly arrived citizens-to be, fresh from the forests of the old country, log work is almost a lost art. And then there are the architectural problems. For a novice to secure even passable results in meeting the manifold problems that arise when one starts to work in logs requires a lot of experimenting and a good many baffling failures. For those who have not time to experiment and possibly fail, this book is written. It is not to be denied that the "I's," "We's," "My's," and "Our's" are scattered with a lavish hand throughout the chapters. But be keen enough and kind enough, You Who Read, to realize that these are not egotistical signs. Quite the contrary. Herein are revealed ways of plan- ning and building log cabins-ways learned by the perspiration of one's forehead. There may be other ways. Therefore to make the grandiose statement, "This must be done thus and thus," would smack of egotism indeed. It would assume that the last word is writ herein. It isn't. We meaning this time the human race-are only beginning to comprehend the .beauty that can be wrought oflogs. The majority of people assume, without overtaxing their gray matter by reasoning, that any brawny woodsman let loose with an ax where there are plenty of trees can build a log cabin. Although I had not precisely that notion when I decided to build a cabin for myself, I did hold to the opinion that an architect with twenty years' experience of fine residence work back of him ought to know enough to put up a one-room log cabin. So-I began to build our first permanent home in the woods. Well-to paraphrase Kipling, "I learned about cabins from her." In fact, the paraphrase might be pushed into further stanzas with equal pre cision, for in ten years of study and work devoted entirely to homes which can be wrought of logs, each building has taught me something about cabins which I did not know before. If these experiences and suggestions of mine solve a few of your prob lems for you, and thereby help you to build nearer your heart's desire, this book has served its sole purpose. CHILSON D. ALDRICH. April, 1928 CONTENTS BOOK ONE PREPARATION CHAPTER PAGE LET Us Go A-GYPSYING ...................................................... 15 II THE SITE .............................................................................. 21 III WHAT Is A "PIONEER" CABIN? ............................................. 27 IV CHOOSING YOUR TYPE OF CABIN ......................................... 33 v GENERAL DISCUSSION OF Locs ............................................. 43 VI MATERIAL OTHER THAN LOGS ............................................. 51 BOOK TWO CONSTRUCTION VII UNDERPINNINGS-FOUNDATION WALL-OR BASEMENT? ..... 61 VIII How TO LAY UP YOUR LOGS ............................................... 69 IX GABLE ENDS, EAVES, RIDGE Loe, PURLINS AND RAFTERS ..... 75 x FIREPLACES ........................................................................... 85 XI WINDOWS AND DOORS, CUPBOARDS AND FLOORS ................ 97 XII PORCHES, TERRACES AND BALCONIES ................................. 109 XIII IN WHICH ARE DISCUSSED VARIOUS ITEMS OF HARDWARE ... 115 XIV FINISHING THE LOGS AND THE WOODWORK ........................ 121 XV THE SOPHISTICATED CABIN ................................................. 127 XVI Loe CABIN FURNITURE ...................................................... 135 XVII THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER ........................ 143 XVIII SQUANTUM ......................................................................... 145 XIX POST AND SILL .................................................................... 149 XX 0RAWSKI ............................................................................ 151 XXI THE SNAIL .......................................................................... 153