posted 12-01-2011 09:41 AM            

After over a century in business, Steuben Glass is no more. It closed its last factory in Corning, NY Tuesday, firing most of its 60 employees.

At one point, Steuben glass was nearly as popular as that from Tiffany or Lalique. Now, like so many silver makers, it's history.

One of the most discouraging trends today is that too many young people sneer at handmade things, calling them anachronisms. They say "why spend money on a handmade bowl when you can buy a nice imported machine-made one for a lot less, then buy a flat-screen TV or a weekend vacation with the savings?" Maybe they're right. But there's still a lot of value in hand craftsmanship.

posted 12-01-2011 02:35 PM            

I have often thought starting a forum that would help drawn in the young and mass production consumer smart phone zombies. But I soon came to realize unless the moderators were fluent in ”txt” and 'twitter" speak then how would we ever know the Guidelines were being followed ?

When I was young my parents would carefully consider every purchase. Sure there were purchases that would overtime depreciate. But the purchases with declining value would be kept to a minium and my parents made sure we got the maximum from those purchases. Generally when household contents were purchased by my parent, they did their best to buy what was a good long term investment. Our household contents was a way to build family wealth.

Today its not the same. Today its more "do I have the latest and greatest" consumerism. Today, the minute something is purchased it becomes less valued & too easily disposable for what is the next buzz.

posted 12-01-2011 10:23 PM            

I hope that in the future enough young folks can become interested in the finer rather than the newest things. I suspect, though, I am a "voice crying in the wilderness".

posted 12-02-2011 07:51 AM            

The first I feel quite strongly about and that is that the companies that are gone mostly relied on old/bad design that did not keep up with young taste.

Second it is expensive.

Lastly you have to search it out, so if you do not know or have never lived with it, compared to mass produced it is relatively hidden.

I think these three things have conspired to sink the decorative arts. They are not dead but are dwindling, there will always be people who make beautiful things just less and less.

If any of you have a chance go to one of the best craft shows, Smithsonian (at the Renwick), Philadelphia Museum Of Art or Evenston, IL (American Craft Exposition). They have some of the best craft/hand made design in the country.

posted 12-02-2011 08:59 AM            

When I talk to younger people about silver they say it feels dated, and they don't want to polish it. They'd rather spend their money on immediate gratification (fancy dinners, new clothes, vacations, electronics).

Some of this is expected. Youth is wasted on the young. But part is a result of bad examples. Kids just don't see great silver pieces. They don't go to museums, and a lot of museums just throw all their silver into one overwhelming room. Department stores offer schlocky silver without much character. The only exposure kids get is in seeing junky tarnished silverplate at aged Aunt Bessie's house.

posted 12-03-2011 03:46 PM            

1. Re Steuben: I wonder if they suffered from bad retail strategies -- especially as there seems to be a resurgence of interest in new art glass (credit Chihuly, maybe). I was in the market for a wedding gift last spring, and thought that one of the newer Steuben designs would be perfect -- a Steuben piece would satisfy my inner traditionalist, but some of the contemporary designs for bowls would satisfy the Modern tastes of this sophisticated bride. I found them on the Steuben website but wanted to see and purchase in person. There was only one retailer in Boston (which I always thought of as a second tier store), and when I visited, I was appalled to see how little Steuben inventory they carried. And none of the pieces I was interested in. How could Steuben expect to sell stuff that no one sees? How did they expect to find new customers or remind old ones that they exist? As I recall, Shreve's used to carry Steuben, which they displayed in dramatically lit cases. In that store environment last spring, there was zero cachet.

2. I don't know if this is optimistic or just plain ornery, but I don't think it's entirely true that young people eschew craft or finely made artisanal products. There is a lot of evidence to the contrary. But silver has a bad rep cuz of the tarnish/polish bugaboo, and maybe because so many younger people associate it with traditional styles. They do not see it being used in ways that pertain to their lifestyles. Maybe if some young celeb or hot young designer was photographed with a collection of silver in Dwell magazine that would change.

And writing that makes me think of another possible problem -- maybe "tastemakers" are reluctant to speak publicly about their collections for fear of theft.

posted 12-03-2011 10:38 PM            

I also have some Lalique glass and while they are a little better, in my opinion more than three quarters of their glass is not well designed compared to what they used to have back when René Lalique was their designer - he was an artistic genius in my opinion.

Or even modern Tiffany. I think they, too, have lost their way in their silverware in terms of quality and detailing, as well as their other lines. In my opinion they made a mistake by hiring people like Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso to be their lead designers as they have taken them so far from the beauty and grace that Louis Comfort Tiffany originally created.

posted 12-04-2011 11:30 PM            

A few big downside players in this game have not been mentioned.

The first for the younger people are education loans, things that the older crowd never had to deal with on this level. The young adults these days, those that have jobs, are running fast just to keep their head above water.

Ask Scott what he paid for grad school...
I know I put my wife through professional school for $1800 a semester in 1978-81.
The same school today costs $24,000. a semester, not including books.

And we wonder why they don't want silver, or china, or crystal as much.

And us, the older generation, who have seen our portfolios crash and burn. Makes us a little more careful about what we purchase.
Those of us who can, give gifts to the youngsters from our own stash.

But, I am getting more house calls from 'empty nesters', downsizing and selling family heirloom silver and china and crystal,
because their children just do not want it.
I try telling the parents to "guilt" the kids into accepting some family history (silver).
Most say they have tried... so I leave it at that.