When I hear people bemoaning the loss of
a bygone era of labor intensive
exquisitely made artifacts-
I’m reminded of my mother’s observation
that the whole “Victorian Leisurely
Ladies Life-style” was supported by
teenaged German & Irish girls housed in
the eaves where they broiled in the
summer & froze in the winter.

Remember as we approach the millenium
the number of different jobs and
opportunities are so many more than the
number offered in the nineteenth
century.
People with an creative and/or artistic
bent who might be drawn to “crafts” now
have available many other outlets-
including those offered on this WWW
venue- that don’t include much heavy
lifting.

A person faced with limited other
outlets, for diversion, would of
necessity become very adept at his
craft-
Remember that these 19th century
artisans evidently worked 5 ½ or 6 day
weeks w/ shifts of as long as lighting
was available starting in their
adolescence and ending with their deaths
at an age we would find appallingly
early-  for wages we would view as
subsistence. And when the alternative
might be a brutal agricultural existence
they might be happy to work in the
crafts.

I suspect that now the people who will
be drawn into the “crafts” will continue
to be the sharply divided force we see
those of limited ability & options- for
whom it is just a J.O.B. and those with
a true avocation who will seek out
knowledge, techniques and innovation. I
have heard of numerous proposals to
provide advanced “ artisan “ training-
but the brutal fact is we don’t need
more Jointers we need more Drywallers.

“ They don’t build them like they used
to-
Because there’s laws against it”

Drew Diaz