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Book Ideas:  Endangered Arts & Professions  |
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JenniferJuniper
True Blue Farmgirl
359 Posts
Jennifer
New Hampshire
USA
359 Posts |
 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
3305 Posts
Melody
The Great North Woods in the Land of Hiawatha
USA
3305 Posts |
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2quilter
True Blue Farmgirl
127 Posts
Patricia
Greenwood
IN
USA
127 Posts |
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
3107 Posts |
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
2474 Posts
Bonnie
Minneapolis
Minnesota
USA
2474 Posts |
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
378 Posts |
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
1406 Posts |
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
3851 Posts
Marsha
Deltona
FL
USA
3851 Posts |
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
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
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
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
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
1406 Posts |
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
3107 Posts |
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
895 Posts |
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
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
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
1401 Posts
Betty
Pasco
WA
USA
1401 Posts |
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
895 Posts |
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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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2010 : 7:26:00 PM
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Yeah Heather I think you are right - I have had a heck of a time hiring young people lately ( and the work I hire for is pretty cush). There is a definite lack of work ethic and common sense these days - there are definitely exceptions but there is also a big sense of entitlement amongst alot of people. too much easy money I guess.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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Claude09647
True Blue Farmgirl
761 Posts
Claudia
Our Dairy Farm
Pennsylvania
USA
761 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2010 : 9:59:14 PM
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Something we don't have where i live are seamstresses. To get anything altered we have to drive about an hour or so. For my sisters wedding we had to drive almost two hours just to find someone that made a cake with fondant. A lot of the people that get married around here just wear and off he rack dress and get a sheet cake from Wal-mart because its too hard and too long of a drive just for those few things. I'd love to open up a bakery here. But just don't know if i'd be able to make it. Those are only a few things that i can think of. I will say though that we have a little wee glass shop that is called "Vintage Art Glass" and she makes hand blown glass and anything you can think of about of glass. She even offers classes. So i can at least boast about that! And she's one of the very few stores around here that is cash only. She usually knows your name when you walk in, and tries to make you feel very at home when your in her shop. Thats the way i wish our town still was. Unlike when you go into walmart you have a bunch of people there that don't want to be there and are not afraid to let you know that they don't want to be there too.
http://claude09647.blogspot.com/
Check out my ETSY store too! I'm loving it!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Claudiascraftshop |
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pseaton
Farmgirl at Heart
1 Posts
Patricia
Cottonwood
California
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - Jul 09 2010 : 10:40:45 PM
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| For my husband's birthday, I had his hand-me-down recliner reupholstered by a local upholstering craftsman. The chair has very nice lines, the mechanism works great, the material was just old and badly stained. The craftsman works out of a shop on his property. Not only is the chair now newly beautiful, refurbished, but I can't tell you how good it felt to do things this way. It wasn't cheap but I want to keep folks like this very nice and skilled man in the business of giving older but sturdier pieces of furniture new life. |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Jul 10 2010 : 3:50:45 PM
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That's a cool thing Patricia - welcome and thanks for sharing it!!
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Jul 10 2010 : 4:28:44 PM
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Isn't that the truth Claudia.
One time I got to Walmart 30 minutes before closing (yes they close where I live!). And all I wanted to do was check on the price of a radio. I knew exactly where I was going and what I wanted.
I was stopped no less then 10 times on my way to the electronics, Miss, Miss, MISS! Me: Yes? Clerk: We're closing in 30 minutes. Me: ok, I'm just checking on something.
Clerk#10!: We're closing in 15 minutes.
Me: Yeah the other 9 clerks already told me, I would of already been out of here if you all would stop, stopping me to tell me you are closing!
Meanwhile, a countdown was over the speaker system about closing too!
I about never went back again! But, sadly there's not much alternatives where I live.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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Faransgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
895 Posts
Beth
Houston
Texas
USA
895 Posts |
Posted - Jul 11 2010 : 7:27:39 PM
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I agree there is no work ethic anymore, but having three teenage daughters and the resulting boyfriends I do believe that they would do the work. The ones I know anyway. There is way to much easy money out there for those who want it. But for those of us that have worked all our lives and paid into the system it is impossible to get assistance. It is only there for those who have hardly worked like the single, illegal alien mother in Florida with 6 anchor babies and one more on the way. But, my daughters who have all been working since they were 16 can't get any help even thought they had lost their jobs due to the economy. Now there may be the reason for lack of work ethic. Why work if you can have everything handed to you.
Farmgirl Sister 572
When manure happens just say "WOO HOO Fertilizer". |
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JenniferJuniper
True Blue Farmgirl
359 Posts
Jennifer
New Hampshire
USA
359 Posts |
Posted - Jul 13 2010 : 05:31:18 AM
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Turning back now to the spirit of the original post.....does anyone know or have teenagers or young 20-somethings who have ever said they wanted to go into one of the endangered professions? Any career counsellors on the board who can give us some insight?
The neighbors had a chimney sweep out yesterday, which made me smile & hum the theme from Fiddler on the Roof all afternoon. Another vital service that needs done - not glamorous - but our homes and very lives depend on it. Also am reminded of a Yankee Magazine article a few years back about witch hazel & how there is just a small handful of people who still gather it (it is wild, not cultivated) for commercial production & the implications of if no one steps in to fill their shoes.
Heather/Grace - My mom & her siblings used to pick cotton in the summer in the 50's & 60s for summer jobs back in AR. She said it was the hardest work she has ever done.
Farmgirl Sister #204 |
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Lida
True Blue Farmgirl
157 Posts
Lida
Rochester
NY
USA
157 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2010 : 1:32:26 PM
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Sewing machine repair- there is a business owner here who for years accepted apprentices to teach them the trade of sewing machine repair. Now he has trouble finding young people interested in learning the trade.
Lida |
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JojoNH
True Blue Farmgirl
1984 Posts
Joanna
Dunbarton
New Hampshire
USA
1984 Posts |
Posted - Jul 19 2010 : 05:57:33 AM
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This is a great post, as many have already said, Professional Seamstress. . . and your right about the pay, however that is not why we are doing it. . it's like a calling to keep the "local seamstress" tradition alive and hopefully to pass it on to the next person.
Joanna #566
"Keeping Traditions Alive A Stitch At A Time"
JojoNH
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CountryCents
http://CountryCents.Blogspot.com
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Book Ideas: Endangered Arts & Professions |
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Endangered Arts & Professions
