Frankly, how a handle is handled depends on what it is attached to. Handles of a bag could either be clutched in hand or hung on a shoulder. Handles on a bike could be held with two hands, some times even one. But what if a handle was left on its own? What job can a handle handle alone? In the Appalachian Heritage, a literary magazine founded in 1973 published by Berea College, features a poem by Bill Brown about handles, entitled “Handles”. The poem goes:
In my grandfather’s shed
an oak handle
without a rake
a hoe a spade
lives in shadow
learning what
it means
to be useless.”1
A handle contemplates its purpose, or perhaps lack there of, in life when attached to nothing. Technically, handles are there for the convenience of the user to be able to serve the purpose of the part it is attached to, such examples mentioned in the poem like a rake, a hoe, or a spade.2 Generally, it is thought that handles serve a purpose, but perhaps they actually do not. Without its counterpart, handles alone do not have the power to do anything.
However, there is probably a reason why handles are not left alone. Regardless of what it is attached to, a handle serves as a vehicle for a certain action or performance. Barre handles are used for ballerinas to warm-up and stretch before they dance. Handles on a crockpot allow for easy transportation to the table without burning oneself, so the meal can be served to and enjoyed by family and friends. Opposite to Brown’s depiction is architect and scholar George Ranalli’s idea of handles. He says, “…[they] were also meant to be icons: as symbolic form, they celebrate entry and exit.”3 In contrast, handles actually do serve a purpose. In this context, they present a portal, permitting travel and exploration in the world. Whether it is a handle on a car door, or a handle on a fire exit door, an individual is immediately transported into a different setting with a simple turn of the wrist.
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1 Bill Brown, “Handle,” Appalachian Heritage 28, no. 3 (Summer 2000): 68, ProQuest.
2 Ibid.
3 George Ranalli, “Getting a Handle,” Design Quarterly, no. 155 (1992): 20-23, doi:10.2307/4091272.
Bibliography
Brown, Bill. “Handle” Appalachian Heritage 28, no. 3 (Summer 2000): 68. ProQuest.
Ranalli, George. “Getting a Handle,” Design Quarterly, no. 155 (1992): 20-23, doi:10.2307/4091272.
