handcrafted

James Smith jsmithjamessmith at YAHOO.COM
Tue Dec 28 01:02:37 UTC 2010 

Unless you mean "handcrafted" denotes made without tools, I have no trouble accepting that the 4 items listed could have, in fact, been handcrafted in 1952.  It may not have actually been so, but it is not beyond credible belief.  Even today, a cheap man's suit is still largely handcrafted.  Sure Ghia would have used stamps and presses to shape the carrozzeria, but producing a finish worthy of the Ghia name would have involved a lot of hand work, a lot of crafting by hand.  Same with the crystal and watch.

James D. SMITH               |If history teaches anything
South SLC, UT                |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com   |whether we act quickly and
                                    decisively
                             |or slowly and cautiously.


--- On Mon, 12/27/10, Ronald Butters <ronbutters at AOL.COM> wrote:

> From: Ronald Butters <ronbutters at AOL.COM>
> Subject: handcrafted
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date: Monday, December 27, 2010, 5:01 PM
> I don’t see how “handcrafted”
> can literally mean anything other than ‘crafted by
> hand’. Of course, language changes and words take on
> expanded meanings, e.g., by way of figurative extension, but
> dictionaries have no obligation to list every figurative
> extension--and in any case, “handcrafted” is not
> particularly figurative, given the vagueness of the VERB
> “crafted” (NOAD: ‘ v. [trans.] exercise skill in
> making (something'). Thus “handcrafted tea/perfume/etc."
> aren't really even extensions.
>
> Nor is this really just a recent phenomenon in ads. Has
> anybody actually bothered to look at old ads, or is this
> just more Chicken Little lexicography? See, for example, the
> following from 1952 (a year selected at random); surely not
> all of these meant 'made by hand' to Eisenhower-era
> Americans:
>
>
> 1.
>
> KUPPENHEIMER Handcrafted Worsted SuitIt takes the best of
> skilled tailoring plus the finest of custom woolem to make a
> suit that will maintain its smart appearance, and yours,
> too. through senson after season of satisfactory wear. And
> that's just what you get when you choose a Kuppenheimer. The
> fabrics are tempered and tested to hold their press . . .
> the fit is flawless from the natural set of the shoulders to
> the free-stride taper of the trbusen . . . the pleasure of
> wearing a Kuppenheimer starts from the moment you slip it on
> for the first time. (Charleston Daily Mail, 12-7-1952, p11)
>
> 2.
>
> THE K-310, designed and engineered by Chrysler and
> handcrafted by Ghia of Turin Italy. Only 59" high, with a
> wheelbase of 125%", it is designed to use the Chrysler
> FirePower V8 Engine and full-time Power Steering. This "idea
> car" represents an entirely new American theme in motor car
> functional styling.
>
> Sunday, October 26, 1952
> City: San Antonio Light
> State: Texas
>
>
>
> 3.
>
> Imperial Candlewick . . . graceful, lovely table crystal
> ... hand-crafted to accept the good in good living . . .
> styled with a simplicity that spells "Welcome!" on any
> occasion. Offered in open-stock so that you can buy the
> pieces you need and add to your service as your budget
> permits. Date: Monday, November 24, 1952
> City: Hagerstown
> State: MarylandÂ
>
>
>
> 4.
>
> AN ELGIN AMERICAN COM PACT will make a superb gift for
> Christmas. Handcrafted patterns in silver or jeweler's
> bronze. We Gift Wrap Free of Charge. LUNDBORG JEWELRY Date:
> Tuesday, December 09, 1952
> City: Brainerd
> State: Minnesota Daily Dispatch
>
> On Dec 27, 2010, at 1:34 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> > A word's meaning is what one is fully justified in
> believing when the word
> > is encountered.  In many cases all that is "fully
> justified" may  not be
> > entirely clear. In the case of adspeak "handcrafted,"
> however, there is no
> > justification for the reader or hearer to assume that
> the product is made by
> > the direct action of the hands of actual craftspeople.
> Like "natural," and
> > some other terms, "handcrafted" in current use is
> routinely used more for
> > its favorable connotations than for its
> informativeness.
> >
> > I'd say that - at most - the recent usage conveys a
> concern that the product
> > be regarded as of high quality and careful
> manufacture.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 10:48 AM, Dan Goncharoff
> <thegonch at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header
> >> -----------------------
> >> Sender:Â  Â  Â Â Â American
> Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:Â  Â  Â Â Â Dan
> Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> >> Subject:Â  Â  Â  Re: handcrafted
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Over the last five years, one sees "handcrafted"
> used to promote items
> >> like fragrances, soaps, and teas. I don't think
> Jonathan exaggerated
> >> the meaning of word in these contexts.
> >>
> >> DanG
> >>
> >> On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 12:27 PM,  <ronbutters at aol.com>
> wrote:
> >>> ---------------------- Information from the
> mail header
> >> -----------------------
> >>> Sender:Â  Â
> Â Â Â American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >>> Poster:Â  Â  Â Â Â ronbutters at AOL.COM
> >>> Subject:Â  Â  Â  Re: handcrafted
> >>>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>
> >>> JL surely exaggerates re: what "handcrafted"
> means nowadays. Can't one
> >> just conclude that the ad he cites is misleading,
> given that "handcrafted"
> >> has to analyze as "crafted by hand" (as
> dictionaries suggest)?
> >>> ------Original Message------
> >>> From: Jonathan Lighter
> >>> Sender: ADS-L
> >>> To: ADS-L
> >>> ReplyTo: ADS-L
> >>> Subject: [ADS-L] handcrafted
> >>> Sent: Dec 27, 2010 11:58 AM
> >>>
> >>> OED ignores "handcrafted" in the mesmeric
> commercial sense of "carefully
> >>> made or prepared according to industrial
> standards."Â  Celestial
> >> Seasonings,
> >>> e.g., claims that its tea blends are
> "handcrafted."
> >>>
> >>> I suppose in the case of CS, it could mean
> that somewhere, at some time,
> >> a
> >>> "blendmaster" (sic) mixed a little of this and
> a little of that by hand
> >> till
> >>> he liked the taste.  Cool.  However,
> the usual connotation of
> >> "handcrafted"
> >>> is that the very product you're holding was
> made by hand or with the
> >>> personal attention of a living human to every
> detail.  Nowadays this is
> >>> rarely the case.
> >>>
> >>> By "nowadays," I mean since the introduction
> of "handcrafted" to describe
> >>> otherwise routinely manufactured items.
> >>>
> >>> JL
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is,
> you can't handle the
> >> truth."
> >>>
> >>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
> >>>
> >>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> >> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you
> can't handle the truth."
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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