In order to know why the art of craft is lost, we must understand its history and the factors that have led up to its weakened status in today's society. Historically, craftsman spread their knowledge of craft techniques to apprentices or simply passed the skills down to their own children. During medieval times, craftsman doing business within the walls of a city banded together and formed groups called craft guilds. These guilds eventually evolved into actual shops and businesses. A sprinkle of crafters, who left the cities before the establishment of guilds, continued forwarding their craft making skills on to future generations. This economic progression sparked the distinction between the traditional business owner and the entrepreneurial crafter who peddles her crafts around to craft shows and fairs in more recent times.
In the 1960s and 1970s, an increasing number of artisans left jobs with established companies to make a livelihood by selling crafts and other forms of artwork. Many people referred to these mid-century craft vendors as "hippies" or more specifically as "people working against the establishment". Some of these hippie-style crafters spread bizarre forms of artwork using materials like candles and glass beads into the craft buying marketplace. As with any market trend, the hippie-inspired crafts became less appealing. Vendors who peddled craft items that meet the changing needs of their customers outlasted their non-traditional competitors.
Today's craft vendors still work hard to provide quality handcrafted artwork for sale at craft buying centers such as craft fairs, craft shops and in online craft communities like http://craftyshops.com. Many hours of labor go into what you see as the finished product at a craft marketplace. For instance, the vendors still handle all business functions required to operate a successful craft business such as ordering craft making supplies, making the craft items, shipping their products directly to customers or to a broader craft buying audience at craft shows, scheduling craft shows, and handling all financial record keeping. The craft vendor must be a well rounded person with a keen sense for business combined with skill in their choice of craft making.
With the expanding global marketplace and the opportunities afforded to more people through the Internet, running a craft business does not require skill in the arts. Unfortunately, this trend forces some artisans out of the world of crafting. For instance, traditional craft vendors are forced to unfairly compete with vendors of manufactured products, sometimes made in foreign countries like China, who pose as a traditional craft vendor. These buy and sell vendors are considered craft vendor impostors by the crafting community because they order their products from catalogs or over the Internet, instead of learning a skill and making the items themselves. Most customers are clueless to this trickery because most craft shows advertise that all craft vendors make their own products, but do not weed out the impostors.
We can only hope that the craft vending marketplace will evolve to push out people posing as traditional craft vendors at craft shows and other newer forms of craft selling communities. With many customers fearing the implications of purchasing manufactured goods made in China and other countries with less than savory attention to product safety, goods made by the traditional craft vendors should be more appealing to a broader customer base. Hopefully, customers will try harder to make the distinction between buy and sell goods and goods made in American by traditional craft artisans. Furthermore, craft seekers should express their concerns to craft show promoters by not attending their shows and announcing their concerns through craft show customer feedback channels. Only then can the traditional craft vendor fairly regain its position a crafting community that has been well respected for centuries. |
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