Comments on: And now for the big news

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 15:07:00 +0000

And note too that this weaver doesn’t just make baskets. He also makes cane seats. If you need your antique colonial furniture refurbished, his is the only shop that can do it in Malta. If he goes, you’ll have to ship the furniture abroad and get it shipped back.

By: rosie

rosie — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 14:37:00 +0000

In Valletta and Floriana they were very practical as they used to be tied to rope and hung from “il-gallarija” if “tal-hobz or tal-halib” showed up or if one of the children was sent to buy something, saving them climbing two storeys of stairs and getting to playtime quicker

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:27:00 +0000

Impractical for most people, but for the few who want them, impossible to find elsewhere. The value of craftsmanship, and its market value, is not in large numbers, but in quality.

The European market for this kind of thing is not just flourishing. It is exploding. If I had to start all over again I’d choose a trade in any one of these high-value activities. Basket-weaving, tailoring, shoe-making, leatherwork, ropework, blacksmithing, pottery, glass-blowing, you name it.

Just ask Daphne. She knows this market sector better than most of us.

Our uncultured governments call it “traditional crafts”. Tradibollocks. THIS is high-value added economic activity.

By: H.P. Baxxter

H.P. Baxxter — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 12:34:00 +0000

In reply to Bertrand Russell. Agreed. Craftsmanship is the one thing we're painfully short of. There's nothing more beautiful than a job well done. And craftsmen know the VALUE of things, as opposed to their price. Farmers do, too. Salt of the earth, all of them.

By: Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 12:19:00 +0000

I’d be happy to see the mentality go, but there’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater.