The Basic Challenges of Doormaking: the Origin of Traditions
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n caveman times, men sat around playing with the fire while women did all the work. This was noticed, and so the first honey-do project was devised. Some might suggest that project was a table or a stool, or even a bowl. But I think the front door was man’s first honey-do project. “The cave is drafty, dear. And bears wander in too often. Why don’t you put down that flaming stick and make us a movable barrier that will serve to either open or close the way into our cave.” “Durrrrrr,” our common ancestor stalled for time to think his way out of this task. “Whatever you want to call it, dear. Just get busy.” “Yes dear.” At this moment, the concept of the door was born—at one stroke solving the problems of keeping cold/animals/ insects/nosy neighbors out of our homes, and heat/possessions/wandering toddlers/family secrets in our homes. Now our common ancestor racked his brain to bring this great concept to life. What to use? Straw and animal skins might work, but were too flimsy—bears could easily paw or gnaw through them. Stone would stop a bear cold, but was too heavy and hard to work. That left wood: a durable material that wasn’t too heavy and was relatively easy to work, and yet would keep out the bears. Carving a door out of a single slab of green wood to fit the cave entrance seemed like the easiest approach. And so our common ancestor tried it. But that door warped like a potato chip (though those hadn’t been invented yet—that would occur much later, in Greece), refusing to shut after the first week.
Nice property, but how to keep out the bears?
For his second door, he seasoned the plank beforehand, letting it dry for several years. It was more stable, but it still grew and shrunk depending on the season, tended to cup, stuck shut in the summer and left a gap in the winter. Then splits developed at the ends and it eventually broke itself apart. For his third through 50th door, our common ancestor tried a variety of designs to solve an ever growing list of design challenges—and through this process understood the basics of
doormaking
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