Choosing favorites hasn't ever been my strong suit (just ask anyone who's ever had to go clothes shopping, or, heaven forbid, to the grocery story with slow, methodical me). But choosing favorites out of our massive, 70-year craft timeline presents a special challenge - there are so many great entries! I'm soothing myself with the thought that, as this week unfolds, other American Craft staff members will be sharing their favorite entires too. And some of the great moments in craft that I passed by, well, they could still get their due.

1941: Aileen Osborn Webb's Handcraft Cooperative League of America prints the first issue of a yet-to-be-named publication. The mimeographed sheet is circulated to stockholders of the League's America House retail outlet. The HCLA invites suggestions for a name, and Craft Horizons is born.

I can't read this entry without thinking, immediately, of the spirited creed HCLA put forth in that first issue - words that, 70 years later, still resonate:

"The Handcraft Cooperative League of America believes wholeheartedly in the value of handcraft programs in every community. We believe in them not only for the economic help they bring to the individual but for those intangible values of spirit and culture, which through them permeate deep into the life of the people.

"We believe that the time has come when the American people must face the fact that they have allowed the materialism of the machine age to rob them of a great creative heritage...."

1953: Ceramics Monthly begins publication.

As a fellow magazine-maker, I have to give a shout out to the beginning of Ceramics Monthly's long run. Fifty-eight years and this go-to publication is still evolving; the March 2011 issue brought a really beautiful redesign.

1966: Galleries reject J. Fred Woell's cast-silver jewelry: It's not gold. Woell rebels, creates a series of Badges from random junk - and opens the doors for jewelers using found objects with no intrinsic value in their work.

The found object is so common today; it's great to be reminded of its transgressive history. Looking ahead, this entry is a reminder that craft is method and process, and not just a canonical group of materials.

1970: L. Brent Kington, metalsmith and teacher, organizes a workshop on the little-practiced art of blacksmithing, drawing about 50 people, many complete novices. Teachers add forges at their schools; blacksmithing begins a resurgence.

I love this entry not only for L. Brent Kington's moxie, but also because - on the printed page of our August-September 2011 issue - this resurgence is so visually present. The row for "Metal" on the 1970s spread is chock full: '73, the Artist-Blacksmith's Association of America forms; '74, Albert Paley installs his Portal Gates at the Renwick; '76, The National Ornamental Metal Museum (now the Metal Museum) is founded in Memphis. What an exciting decade for blacksmithing!

1983: A Steuben crystal egg (or, as one characted dubs it, "some artsy-fartsy thing") co-stars with Tom Cruise in the megahit Risky Business.

I'd somehow never seen Risky Business - that is, until working on the timeline. Once I found out there was a craft connection, I set aside an evening to watch the 80s flick. Research, you know. As an editor, it's my job to be fully informed.

1999: The nine-year-old Northern Clay Center hosts its inaugural American Pottery Festival, an annual exhibition and sale that brings together work from the country's top functional-ceramic artists.

I live just a few blocks from the Northern Clay Center, in a tight-knit Minneapolis neighborhood. I think of NCC as one of its crown jewels; it brings so much to the local community, even as it advances ceramics on the national and international level. And this year's Pottery Festival line-up looks superb.

2006: The first issue of the short-lived but influential magazine Craft: Transforming Traditional Crafts is published by O'Reilly Media. It lives on as a web-only enterprise, Craftzine.com.

Oh, Craft. I remember its print debut so vividly - this groovy, almost pocket-sized publication, packed with fascinating hands-on projects. (It was the sister publication of Make magazine, also an O'Reilly venture, which has a more tech-geek focus.) And then, just a couple of (too fast) years later, O'Reilly moved it strictly online. I was sad at the time, but what I couldn't have foreseen was what a lively, rich web-only venture Craftzine.com would turn out to be.

Have you seen the craft timeline in our August/September issue? Or its interactive cousin? What are your favorite moments? Let us know.