I’ve wondered for a long time about the economics of doing skilled hand-work.  Adam Davidson of Planet Money does a nice job addressing this question in one contemporary context in his recent story on NPR.  I suspect that the story generalizes; it certainly resonates with our experience.  Has it always been this way?  I’m curious about the social and economic standing of cabinetmakers and joiners working 200 years ago in Massachusetts, for example.  Were they roughly in the same social class as their customers?  And could they afford their own work?