Applications for the 2008 Holiday Directory of Traditional American Crafts are now available for downloading. If you want to participate in the Directory, please click here. (This is a large file, so it will take some time to download if you have only a dial-up connection.)

We created the Holiday Directory to compliment our annual Directory of Traditional American Crafts. We recognize the great public interest in handcrafted holiday objects, particularly those that kindle warm spirits of the days of our youth and before, even though many images (such as Santa himself) are not entirely appropriate to the period before the Industrial Revolution in which Early American Life specializes. The Holiday Directory is meant to give ourselves a happy holiday break from a strict interpretation of our mandate and just have a little fun in celebrating all the holidays of the season – Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanuka, Kwanza, etc. The emphasis is on artistry and craftsmanship, not a particular denomination or belief.

The deadline for applications will be June 15, 2008. Remember, this is a juried competition of works currently offered for purchase. It is not an art show. Not everyone who enters will be selected by the jurors, nor will everyone selected for the Directory be asked to submit pieces for photography.

The Holiday Directory will appear in the 2008 Christmas issue of Early American Life and will reach our entire circulation (which numbers about 100,000). That means the work of those participants our jury selects will be seen by 250,000 readers, based on our latest readership survey.

Those who qualify for the Directory will also receive a certificate that may be displayed in a booth or shop for two years, hang tags that can be affixed to items to be sold, artwork for a logo indicating selection for the Directory that can be used in advertisements for two years, and a listing on the www.EarlyAmericanLife.com website.

Our Museum jurors have requested that we require all entries in the reproduction category to be hallmarked by the maker to avoid confusion with antiques. Please include a scan, photo, or rendering of your hallmark with your entry or explain why it is an exception to the requirement and not appropriate to your medium. The jurors will receive confirmation of these hallmarks but will not see an actual image. (This additional image is the sixth image and not part of your 5-image entry.)

The application fee this year is $40, which is used to partly defray the costs of administration and the jurors' honoraria. Early American Life magazine graciously makes up the shortfall.