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OK, so maybe at the turn of the last millennium the most popular window coverings were animal hides. We just couldn't resist the opportunity to begin this last issue before Y2K with a (somewhat irreverent) look at how we got to where we are today.
Soon after the millennium began, the first alternate window treatment was created in China. A Mandarin empress commanded the creation of a latticework screen to cover the palace windows. About a year latter, a courtesan created a bamboo treatment of suspiciously similar design. Their descendents are still tied up in the courts with this case.
A couple hundred years later the Japanese created the open floor plan with broad expanses of windows. They also designed tie-dye linen and silk fabrics so American college students could decorate their dorm rooms centuries later.
By the time Columbus had set sail for the Far East and discovered the New World, the Spanish had introduced wrought iron to interior fashions and discovered decorative hardware.
Renaissance was the keyword in the 1500s and 1600s when shutters became popular window treatments. Decorative ropes, fringes and tassels were extensively used as trimmings—some even on window treatments.
French Baroque was all the rage by 1700. The style was so-named because its high degree of ornamentation and flamboyant accessories surrounding windows emptied the royal coffers leaving Louis XIV quite busted.
The American Federal period was launched shortly after the Colonies achieved independence. Window fashions featured conservative upholstered cornices and straight and narrow draperies—after all, we were founded as a republic.
The 1900s began with the Victorians and ended with the Moderns. In between the Industrial Revolution launched the age of fabrication and the industry hasn't been the same since.
What will come to pass during the next thousand years? That's anybody's guess. Thirty years ago or so we were led to believe flying cars would scoot us off to work and nuclear plants would provide all the power we would ever need for just pennies. Perhaps future generations of window coverings and interior fashion professionals will have Draperies & Window Coverings beamed directly into their oxygen bubbles on Mars.
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