Wooden’t Ya Know?: Woodshops on TV and Hollywood Screens

Potters can claim Patrick Swayze in Ghost … but we’ve got Ryan Gosling in the Note­book and Jane Fonda in The Doll­maker! Unfor­tu­nately … Beavis and Butthead also spent time in the woodshop.

Repre­sen­ta­tions of wood­work­ing in pop culture illu­mi­nate our social expec­ta­tions of wood­work­ers and furni­ture makers. This will be an enter­tain­ing journey across the decades as we explore famous wood­work­ing scenes from Holly­wood and tele­vi­sion. We’ll unpack things as we groan at the safety and tech­ni­cal mistakes, wonder if a rocking chair can be a pivotal plot element, and laugh at what Holly­wood gets wrong – and maybe right – about the craft of furniture making.