It may be a matter of regret that traditional crafts are declining but it has been a continual process for a long time. When windmills first replaced querns automation started. With the harnessing of water to drive machinery, followed by the advent of steam power life changed at an accelerating rate.From a rural population with a few craftsmen,we now have factories and mass production. For run of the mill items automation brings economies of scale and the craftsman/woman is priced out.From the spinning shuttle, to interchangeability of parts for firearms, to mass production of the model T, the search has been to maximise production and decrease costs. Contrast with the little mestor
The village I lived in and first went to school had a working blacksmiths shop, now long gone. Today a farrier comes to you with a gas forge and anvil in the back of his van, with a sack of horseshoe blanks.While living in the same place the transition from reaper binder to combine occurred around 1952 and the monks from St Hugh's Charterhouse used to walk through the wheat prior to harvest to maintain the right of way through the field by the house.
By contrast near where I now live the Friday market has a stall selling willow baskets. Today the emphasis is on the art selling the craft. For many today the pursuit of a craft is a hobby that may or may not be remunerative.
I remember reading an article in the 'countryman' decades ago about
bodgers - they now seem totally extinct.
Sadly the crafts that require a long apprenticeship and serves a limited market seem doomed to die.
With the amount of whisky consumed cooperage seems quite safe, if limited.