"wff_ng_7" > wrote in message >
> Funny you should mention Murano glass. I saw a TV news segment on it in
> the past couple of months. True Murano glass probably won't be around for
> a lot longer. The sons of the craftsmen are not taking up the trade, and
> then there's the competition from Chinese fakes. The average consumer
> probably can't tell the difference between a fake and the real thing, and
> many just don't care anyway. Perhaps the sons of the craftsmen know that
> their skills won't be valued in the face of this.

Venice used to be the financial capitol of the world centuries ago and now
is a tourist town. Take out the tourist and it will probably collapse as
the population has been dwindling. There is real effort to get the tourist
to Murano to buy the more expensive items. If you ask at any hotel, they
will get you set up with a water taxi to get you out to Murano. Some of
the places give quite a hard sell if they thing you are going to buy; they
have to pay for the taxi somehow.

It certainly would be a shame to see it come to an end, but the younger
generation is more into computers than learning a trade with a long
apprenticeship.