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Book Ideas:  Endagered Arts & Professions  |
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JenniferJuniper
True Blue Farmgirl
359 Posts
Jennifer
New Hampshire
USA
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 Posted - Jul 06 2010 : 09:06:31 AM
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I'd like to see something on lost arts or jobs that are still essential but people do not go into anymore, and which skills may die off. Career counselors are all about cranking out IT professionals, business majors, lawyers etc. But I have never heard of one suggesting a 20-something become a farrier, midwife, watch repairer, barrel maker, and other low-tech fields.
I have read the Foxfire series with great interest for this reason.
Farmgirl Sister #204 |
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melody
True Blue Farmgirl
2788 Posts
Melody
The Great North Woods in the Land of Hiawatha
USA
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2quilter
True Blue Farmgirl
124 Posts
Patricia
Greenwood
IN
USA
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Posted - Jul 06 2010 : 5:05:21 PM
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blacksmithing. Nobody does blacksmithing anymore...lost art....
When life hands you scraps, make quilts! |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
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Posted - Jul 06 2010 : 6:29:54 PM
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Funny - I was just reading a book that touched on this. It was talking about the number of skid row residents that were now-unemployed ranch and farm hands, older fellows with skills that were no longer needed. Back when we had mostly family ranches and farms they had a place, but no more. They would have had skills to do all kind of things.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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Bonnie Ellis
True Blue Farmgirl
845 Posts
Bonnie
Minneapolis
Minnesota
USA
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Posted - Jul 06 2010 : 6:40:08 PM
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More lost arts: mending, pie baking by hand, repairing anything (self destruction built in most new stuff) being a mom (not available to couples needing both incomes). There are many more. Bonnie
grandmother and orphan farmgirl |
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Turtlemoon
Farmgirl Legend Schoolmarm
378 Posts
Tanya
Port Orchard
Washington
USA
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Posted - Jul 06 2010 : 7:21:01 PM
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That would be an interesting article. I have worked numerous jobs, some in role playing museum's where the act of survival caused proficiency in many fields, some that were actual careers, now lost.
...life is what you make it! |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
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Posted - Jul 07 2010 : 06:34:01 AM
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I have noticed midwifery on the rise, for which I am grateful. More midwife's I think are delivering in the hospital but I have visited with with lay midwives also. It is so fustrating that not only do companies make things that can't be repaired, people don't want to take the time to fix them. Our local clock repairman can't find some one to teach his trade to.
Forget buns of steel, I'd rather have buns of cinnamon!
Don't out smart your common sense!!
Farmgirl #680! |
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marjean
True Blue Farmgirl
2827 Posts
Marsha
Deltona
FL
USA
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Posted - Jul 07 2010 : 08:46:39 AM
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My DH is a handyman, remodeler and can fix anything. His father collected watches and he can take them apart and repair and old clocks. I should make him a blog so people could send him their clocks and stuff that needs fixing. He has made things for companies that would have cost them thousands of dollars for just a few hundred. He also knows how to save people money on car repairs and so many other things.
I've been trying to figure out how to market his expertise but havn't had any success on craigslist and other free classified places.
Any ideas on how I could get the word out about him??
Mostly our friends do word of mouth and that keeps us afloat financially.
For instance our neighbors truck a/c went out and a belt so he called my DH and they are bartering some parts we needed on our Jeep for the work he will do for him. Then he has a house his mother just bought for investment for him to fix-up. So that is how it usually goes with him.
Then a girl that knows him through her father called and her friends car needs fixing and they wanted an honest mechanic. And the list goes on.lol
Farmgirl sister #308
handmade cards, vintage organizer bags and more at www.jeanpatchbymk.etsy.com
http://jeanpatch.blogspot.com
www.fullerdirect.com
id#0920150
www.watkinsonline.com/rjaramillo |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
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Posted - Jul 07 2010 : 08:59:43 AM
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More...upholsterers, seamstresses, hoof trimmers (cattle), cabinet makers, weavers/textile manufacturers (small scale).
I am thinking of folks that I utilize for these services that some of you have mentioned. For watch repair (mostly my husband's 1940 Bulova), I use an estate jeweler in a small river town, nearby. I don't need a farrier because I don't have horses, but I do see them weekly when driving through the county--and, growing up in the racing industry, there's a farrier every 10 or so folks...
Barrel making is still an industry here, in Kentucky (bourbon is aged in barrels) and on the West Coast where vineyards utilize them.
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
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Posted - Jul 07 2010 : 09:02:33 AM
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Oh! Stationers, too. There are small boutique fine stationers popping up, but only people who actually value the handwritten, quality paper correspondence will spend the $$$.
Stonemasons/Rock Wall layers--For our anniversary, I am enrolling my dh in the Stone Conservancy (of Kentucky)'s class on laying rock walls, like the ones you see lining so many of our Kentucky roadways. They were made by the Irish, and is a VERY forgotten trade with the inception of wood and vinyl fencing for both home and agricultural use.
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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Lessie Louise
True Blue Farmgirl
1406 Posts
Carol
PECULIAR
MO
USA
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Posted - Jul 07 2010 : 11:00:38 AM
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My SIL lives in New Jersey, and in her neighborhood, they hire a lot of handymen. She has a guy come in once or twice a year to do minor house repairs and change light bulbs. She feels that they are too busy (and important) to be bothered by these chores. I told my son he needs to find a rich neighborhood and put up some signs.....
Forget buns of steel, I'd rather have buns of cinnamon!
Don't out smart your common sense!!
Farmgirl #680! |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
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Posted - Jul 07 2010 : 6:51:58 PM
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Gosh I just shudder to think what would become of us if all of this knowledge got lost - same with growing your own food. People used to just know things, like how to build a house. We would be a very helpless, albeit materially wealthy, society. I'd rather have the knowledge personally
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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Faransgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
895 Posts
Beth
Houston
Texas
USA
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Posted - Jul 08 2010 : 08:49:47 AM
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How about Librarians. My daughter is studying now to be a Librarian but she goes to the only college in Texas that still does a degree in Library Science. She has students in her classes from almost every state. Four years ago when she started there were 8 colleges in Texas that offered that degree now there is only the one. She had to change colleges because the one she was going to dropped the course study. My Mom makes hairpin lace and she is the only person I have ever met that does. I have learned how, I don't enjoy it but I could pass on the skill if any of my daughters wanted to learn.
Farmgirl Sister 572
When manure happens just say "WOO HOO Fertilizer". |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2084 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
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Posted - Jul 08 2010 : 10:26:17 AM
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| That's funny, Beth. I know at least three people who have left the workforce and gone back to school for library science in the past few years. Might be regional staffing needs playing a part. How about dressmakers? I've been trying to find some nice summer clothes and I sure wish it was possible to have a dress made or altered to fit. |
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Betty J.
True Blue Farmgirl
1081 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
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Posted - Jul 08 2010 : 10:36:18 AM
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Gracie, think of the times when our teenagers (me included) picked fruit (raspberries, strawberries, tree fruit, etc.) for summer work. There was decent money (for the time) in that, even though it was very hard work. I enjoyed getting away from the usual babysitting my brother and sister and working alongside someone my own age, plus the added benefit of having good fruit to eat. Now all the labor is imported and lots of other jobs are exported!
Betty in Pasco |
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Faransgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
895 Posts
Beth
Houston
Texas
USA
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Posted - Jul 08 2010 : 7:20:24 PM
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Now all the fruit, veggies etc are picked by illegal aliens. Those jobs could still go to the teens if they weren't already taken. That is how it is in Texas anyway.
Farmgirl Sister 572
When manure happens just say "WOO HOO Fertilizer". |
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Book Ideas: Endagered Arts & Professions |
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Endagered Arts & Professions
