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Sometime in the dim prehistoric days beyond the memory of man,
an ancestor of the race began to cultivate the land and grow food plants.
He soon found that the animals of the forest also enjoyed this food, so
that protection became necessary; and in order that other humans might
know that these superior food products were the result of private enterprise and not the bounty of nature, some boundary line was needed
to mark the limits of his endeavors. Therefore the Fence came into
being.
Since that long-ago time, of course, the fence has gone through many
developments. It has been an important means of adding to the beauty
of a garden; it has frequently provided its owner with a means of conspicuous display of wealth, as it embellished his property; and, of late
years (as well as earlier), it has been an important way of providing
visual privacy. Sometimes the fence has served merely as a definition
of the property lines; or as a kind of openwork background for a shrub
border or flower bed; again, it has at times been a kind of horizontal
trellis for vines, full of beauty when the flowers and leaves of the vine
clothe it, and continuing through the drab days of winter to offer its
own charm of architectural pattern to brighten those dismal, barren
months of the year.
. . . fences of yesteryear
During the Victorian era fences had developed into amazing structures, serving a function far beyond that of excluding unwanted animals
or marking the boundary between the public street and the private
areas of the home property. They became as elaborate, as loaded with
gingerbread design, as the whatnots inside the houses. Sometimes they
were built of iron, with imposing stone gateposts and with stone posts
supporting the weight of the elaborate fence. More frequently, jigsawed
wood attempted to imitate the whorls and arabesques of the iron
fences. Even the circular flower beds in the lawns were fenced with
low iron or wooden fences, and low iron fences surmounted the ridgepoles of house roofs. Eventually, of course, people tired of this nonsense
and sought something new.
In America the fence began to disappear, and front yards all along
the street were incorporated, visually, into the public area of the street.
The resulting open, park-like look of our streets has often excited comment from visiting Europeans. They do not like the absence of fences,
particularly in back gardens where fences have been omitted or wire
netting used to clothe the fence frame; and it must be admitted that
their remarks on the American lack of privacy are completely valid. That
is why there is a return of the fence today: primarily to give us privacy
from trespassers and from intrusive glances of passersby.
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