[TheForge] Then v. now... sorta

[Andy Vida]

Interesting passage from "Colonial Craftsmen And The Beginnings Of
American Industry" by Edwin Tunis:

"On any job he took, the journeyman had to put in twelve hours of hard
work six days a week; in some trades it ran fourteen, even sixteen 
hours.  This was more tiring physically than eight hours of work at a 
machine, but it was also more interesting.  It didn't make a robot of 
a man.  He knew what he was doing and why he was doing it; he performed 
the whole process of what he was making, from start to finish.  He 
could take pride in his work."

A simple, yet eloquent expression of what makes a thing worth doing, at
least by my standard of measure, and pointing through implication to
what is lacking in much of the work that is done today.  The blacksmith
gets top billing in this volume... as it should be. :)

I'm reading through this volume for the second time, a page here and
there while I boil in the tub.  A pleasing way to pass the time and I
can well recommend this work to anyone who has not read it.  Well
illustrated with good descriptions of the tooling of the various trades
and crafts during the colonial period of the USA.  For my money, an
enjoyable expenditure of time and effort, if effort it can even be
called.

	-Andy