Hi Slim, well the subject has well and truly strayed but I suppose its still related to craftsmanship so. . . FYI although I am in a small town rather than a city (and it’s in the valley, 50 miles from the surf), I actually live a kiwi suburban lifestyle. . . . I am only mile or less from the town centre where we shop, so I food shop every day on foot, and in spite of these sort of city slicking advantages, we have a third of an acre (a standard kiwi section, or used to be, everyone in town has similar) and a modest vintage house plus 600 square foot workshop, all for $US60K. The places are SO undervalued it’s ridiculous, it’s a beautiful park like town with amazing spring water from from the tap. . . and only 50 miles away at the coast (The ‘Mount’) the same house would be US$300K plus, and a smaller section too. tHe whole buzz here hasn’t changed since the 70’s it’s great, but only 40 minutes from the coast and the city life. Any chance of paying us a visit?
Ha Ha Bert, I have lived here all my life and didn’t marry a Kiwi girl, but not because there aren’t pretty ones, because there are. . . . the problems start when they open their mouths, that’s the real downer. Raglan is full of ‘Bush Pigs’ though, I’ll give you that.
Howzit Tom, By any chance do you know a friend of mine named Dennis Conquest who live at Ragland Bay. He spent a month with us a few years back and had some great stories to tell about N.Z. and offered me a place to stay if I ever get to that part of the world.Aloha,Kokua
Yes I know Dennis Conquest, he was a neighbour when we lived in Raglan for a few years. He has a very interesting set up overlooking Indicators, his house is stuffed full of musical instruments and carvings. Isn’t Dennis originally from California?
Howzit Tom, Yes Dennis is originally from Santa Cruz and moved to N.Z. in either th late 60's or early 70's. He brought some of his carvings when he came to stay with us and he's a good wood craftsman. I guess he hangs out with some of the Maoris and showed us his stab wound scars from getting in fights with them,Classic guy to say the least.Aloha,Kokua
Heck yes! Just take a look around at the many posts with beautiful boards. Doc mentioned about a customer with “substance” choosing something handmade and willing to pay for it, not because he’s rich, but because he knows it is worth “it”.
There are men and women of substance in this world, and this makes craft worth it. They know the dedication and sacrifice it takes to craft something of quality, and they themselves are willing to sacrifice what they have ($) to get it.
But take that to another level. As long as there is desire for quality craftsmanship, even if that is only the craftman’s heart, that is worth it.
Howzit hiroprotagonist, So right you are. As we all know you can go to Wal-Mart and buy a table made out of press board with paper laminate on it for about $100 and if you are lucky it will last about 2 years before the paper will start to peel off and the table sags. Or you can hire a person like my Boss who will make you a beautiful koa wood table for aroung $4000 that will last forever and you can even pass it on to your children and their children. There is no substitution for good craftmanship and quality.Aloha,Kokua
Yeah, but at some point, the machine that built that Walmart table, or the machine that built that machine, or the molds for the parts of that machine, all the way back to some seminal event, was crafted well by human hands and eyes, probably by someone who was paid scale. There is craftsmanship in all things, just not always to that end which we desire.
Imagine a neighborhood where every structure, every implement, every artifact was built by hand so that the natural beauty of the materials is exposed, so that it performs its function in the most pleasing manner possible, regardless of the time it took to build. If I’m not describing your life’s work, then it musn’t be worth it.
Howzit test_article, Lately I've been watching a show called antique road show and you wouldn't believe how much old great craftmanship furnature is worth, sometimes over $100,000.00. Sure there is craftmanship in the making of molds and machines but we have to remember that the finished product is what the consumer ends up seeing and buying. These molds and machines only make for mass production of a product which in the end is inferior to a hand made well crafted product. Here in Hawaii the humidity factor plays big since that pressboard sucks up moisture and the paper laminat peeels offf ant the pressboard swells and sags. My ex bought a set of tables made out of press board and within 2 years it looked like crap and I was going to throw them away but at the same time we were on the way to breaking up so I just left them with her. I refuse to buy that kind of junk and will make my own if need be. Aloha,Kokua
Adding to that another lesson is that the really valuable stuff is Made in America. Sure they had tables and stuff far more intricate full of ivory inlay etc and older made in the Middle East but only worth a fraction of say a 19th century hand carved New England foot stool.
Anything Hawai’ian is through the roof!
One of my brothers, a free lance 3D prototyping model maker, was contracting with the Franklin Mint. He was doing a lot of their work, but the owners got greedy. So they started sending the work to Asia. There the Asians gave the art work for free just so they could get the molding deal.
But as collectibles Americans didn’t want Made in Asia. So now the Franklin Mint is no more. Bigger they are the harder they fall. Lenox is making the same mistake. The difference between Made in Asia and Made in Bucks County, PA is the lines are not as crisp and consequently don’t sparkle on the Lenox coming from Asia. Just looks cheap next to the USA made stuff.
Howzit Mark, The thing to also remeber is that alot of the old craftsmen were originally from Europe who migrated to America and brought their skills with them.Aloha,Kokua
Right, and they bought their Guilds and ideas about work ethics and formed Trade Unions and trained the subsequent generations and built a solid middle class out of the working class. That is something the world had not seen before. It’s not the rich who made America great. It was the middle class. That was the true economic engine. The rich were those who sprung out of the Middle Working Class because they had a better idea. But they built their ideas and corporations with the middle working class. All that is what is at risk now.
Cheap imported labor has put localized downward pressure on local trades while imported goods made by even cheaper foreign labor have wiped out on shore production. Someone in Washington must be doctoring the unemployment figures. Either that or people aren’t signing up. Which would fit the profile of the immigrant laborer who was paid under the table. Now with the housing market bubble about to burst a huge unemployed group not eligible for unemployment could hit the streets.
Wouldn’t that be nice.
Why, because someone decided that quality craftsmanship was second to price.
Remember when everything was made of steel? Everything was made of a material that it takes a sun to create. Now we buy products made from dead dinosaurs and dino crap.
Howzit Mark, Read something interesting a while back about the unemployment figures. Most of those figures are based on people who are on unemployment and receiving benefits, but when they run out of their benefits they are not counted any more even if they are still unemployed. So any one who didn’t apply for it or was refused benefits aren’t counted either. I know here on Kauai the jobs offered section is the biggest part of the classifieds. Aloha,Kokua
Howzit aileronito, Usually there are more and remember we only have about 55,000 people on Kauai and there is a lot more jobs that never make the paper. Aloha,Kokua
a recent study said that anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 people drive in to honolulu to go to work during the course of the day which expalins the traffic jams every morning and evening here.
Imagine 1-3 hours lost everyday just driving 10-15 miles to get to work…
lucky you live Kauai?
maybe not from what I hear about all the outside non-resident real estate investment over there…
The price of paradise…
how much longer will it be worth it is the question we all ask ourselves with each passing year
