VENEER

Waipa Post, Volume 52, Issue 3705, 10 January 1936, Page 3

VENEER

ARTIFICIAL ATTRACTIVENESS. Forms of veneer are infinite in their variety. But, however varied the form, the purpose is uniform. Primarily the term "veneer” denotes an overlaying of something plain with something superior, an investing of uncouthness with artificial attractive'ness. These purposes might frequently seem laudable, even charitable. There is, indeed, a sense in which civilisation is simply one long process of veneering. It is, of course, desirable to have things as they really are, but some of them, by reason of their inherent nature, cannot be perfected beyond a certain stage. When that stage has been reached veneer may mean added charm, enhanced worth. Nature herself is an artist in veneer. How beautiful appear the old moss covered stones, the ivy mantled towers. Yet everyone is aware that there is underneath a roughness which is being graciously draped. During the past three months Nature has been investing with beauty trees whose branches are gaunt and bare. She bathes in sunlight and swathes in moonlight objects that are ugly and scenes that are drab. With her coating of myriad colours she transforms them into themes for the poet, subjects for the painter. Long before man emerges from savagery he practices veneer. He crudely decorates or cruelly distorts his body to intensify his appearance of ferocity. The modern maiden is acting in response to a corresponding impulse when she employs her lipstick and powder puff; she is trying to heighten the impression she supremely wishes to create with respect to her beauty. When man has passed the flg leaf stage he proceeds to put on the veneer of clothes. These may originally have been only intended to mark his sense of decency, but they also invest his presence with a certain dignity. Auonises may be plentiful, but it is doubtful if the mass of men would be impressive in the partial nudity of the aborigine. At practically every turn in life veneer is to be encountered. The housewife may be an excellent cook, but she also strives to serve up the little social dinner with appetising embellishments, with culinary veneer. The man who aspires to any place of influence in the community seeks to commend himself, not merely by what he says, but by the way in which he says it. His eloquence is mere veneer, sometimes very thickly laid on veneer, upon his ordinary style of utterance. It is, however, undeniable that the idea of veneer is repugnant to some people, because of its many sinister associations. For the process is not always employed to adorn what is worthy; it of ten - conceals what is shabby, and shabbiness can extend to one’s behaviour quite as much as to one’s furniture. In practically all forms of human activity veneer is freely used tc veil the cheap and nasty. Frequently it is so thin and so badly put on that it is palpably your, own fault if you are taken in. But even when the worst has been said of it, there is no reason why it should not be admitted that there is a place for veneer in human fellowship. In assessing its worth due allowance must be made for the purpose in each specific instance. The salting of a dead gold mine in order to impose upon the innocent is entirely reprehensible; the sparkling icing on the luscious wedding cake does not add to its inherent excellence, but it is extremely^appropriate to the festival. Each is a veneer of a sort. It is, however, irrational to treat them as comparable, and to condemn both. There is a stereotype and sneering remark that “beauty is only skin deep.” But, in normal circumstances, that "is depth enough. When the beauty is embodied in some simple young girl most people are thankful for the sight, and are content to leave it at that. There are circumstances in which certain forms of social veneer may be unrecognised forms of heroism. “Keeping up appearances,” personal and domestic, is sheer veneer. Yet throughout these years of depression thousands of men and women have, to their credit, tried hard to do it. They have struggled to keep the best side up without friends being aware how dark and bare the other sides were. Some individuals affect to be intolerant of al Isoclal frills. Woman, however, shows something of her traditional wisdom by the fact that she frequently attaches more importance to the frills than to the fabric of her dress. Similarly social frills impart grace to human intercourse. Even as there is no essential merit in Nature s roughness, neither is there is personal rudeness. Yet there are to be found persons who practise the latter; it is their special brand of veneer. They are deliberately brusque in manner and speech, and are quite conscious of it. Their secret hope is that their behaviour is being accepted as evidence of a strong forthright character, and that people are saying, “Ah, within the rough rind there is a kernel of gold.” Fortunately people are rarely saying anything of the kind. With increasing intelligence and higher social standards the community is contemptuous of this particularly objectionable type of human veneer. There is, of course, a type that is infinitely worse. Religious veneer is a thing no man or woman should keep in stock. The greatest of