Poll: What Classifies Something as Handmade?

[Pig Mazurka]

A few years ago my mother started to run a jewelery store online. She sold little glass pendents she made in a little kiln in our shop, and spent a majority of her free time doing so.

The only problem with this was that she wasn't selling much, and she told me that she didn't do it because she wanted to, but because our family needed a second income because my father had been laid off.

Soon after that, she realized that she should do more than fused glass, and started to buy bits and bobs off the internet to put together to make necklaces, watches, and other pieces of jewelery.

She buys everything in bulk from companies in China that mass produce everything in the hundreds, and lies saying that they're handmade while selling them.

The only thing I have a problem with is that she says something is handmade, even though all she did was put a chain, and a bit that keeps the chain there onto a pocket watch and then calls it homemade.

Her defense for this is that just because she put the parts together, she should be allowed to say that she made it by hand.

Every time I argue with her that it isn't really handmade, she just cuts me off while I'm half way through a sentence, and says that if I don't have anything good to say then I should just shut the fuck up.

So I ask of you, what do you think? Should be allowed to say it's handmade, or shouldn't she?

 

[gostlyfantom]

I would say no, thats like me putting a kinder surprise together and saying its hand made.

 

[Raven's Nest]

I think your mum has a point in telling you to stfu... While she is trying to support her family and you, having you stand around accusing her of false advertising isn't particularly helpful or beneficial. It helps to have something in your favour before you take a moral high ground...

Handmade means something which is constructed by a person. Doesn't matter if your mum hasn't fabricated the parts herself, if she is assembling it without machinery, it is handmade.

Technically this also means the chest of drawers you bought flat packed from Ikea and put up yourself also means you have a handmade chest of drawers.

Unless you're mum is explicitly stating everything including materials are handmade and charging a premium for it then she isn't breaking any laws or doing any real wrong.

Handmade is an ambiguous term after all. It shouldn't have any inherent worth attatched to it, if anything handmade objects are more likely to have faults with them, it all depends on the skill of the crafter. I could take a large branch off a tree, carve it out and call it a handmade, precision baseball bat. Doesn't mean it'll be any better than a mass produced, tried and tested mechanically carved version.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

There's a difference between hand-made and hand-crafted.

 

[DefunctTheory]

There's a difference between hand-made and hand-crafted.

Pretty much thin. Hand made means the final product has been, in some way, constructed by an individual, as opposed to being machine manufactored.

Hand crafted means something has, from raw material to final product, been made by a person (Possibly with tools).

 

[fenderstrat]

A few years ago my mother started to run a jewelery store online. She sold little glass pendents she made in a little kiln in our shop, and spent a majority of her free time doing so.

The only problem with this was that she wasn't selling much, and she told me that she didn't do it because she wanted to, but because our family needed a second income because my father had been laid off.

Soon after that, she realized that she should do more than fused glass, and started to buy bits and bobs off the internet to put together to make necklaces, watches, and other pieces of jewelery.

She buys everything in bulk from companies in China that mass produce everything in the hundreds, and lies saying that they're handmade while selling them.

The only thing I have a problem with is that she says something is handmade, even though all she did was put a chain, and a bit that keeps the chain there onto a pocket watch and then calls it homemade.

Her defense for this is that just because she put the parts together, she should be allowed to say that she made it by hand.

Every time I argue with her that it isn't really handmade, she just cuts me off while I'm half way through a sentence, and says that if I don't have anything good to say then I should just shut the fuck up.

So I ask of you, what do you think? Should be allowed to say it's handmade, or shouldn't she?

dude, who cares? she has to make ends meet. i'd say anything lies, half-truths, whatever, just to sell, specially in this hard times.

 

[Dags90]

Your mom is likely breaking FTC guidelines for "handmade" jewelry.[footnote]http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm#§%2023.3%20Misuse%20of%20the%20terms%20hand-made,%20hand-polished,%20etc.[/footnote] Assuming she's selling from the U.S. anyway.

(a) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-made or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product.

Note to paragraph (a): As used herein, "raw materials" include bulk sheet, strip, wire, and similar items that have not been cut, shaped, or formed into jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks.

(b) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-forged, hand-engraved, hand-finished, or hand-polished, or has been otherwise hand-processed, unless the operation described was accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the type, amount, and effect of such operation on each part of each individual product.

So "hand made" is protected legally. She could say they were "assembled by hand".

Took about two minutes to google.

 

[white_salad]

Your mom is likely breaking FTC guidelines for "handmade" jewelry.[footnote]http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm#§%2023.3%20Misuse%20of%20the%20terms%20hand-made,%20hand-polished,%20etc.[/footnote] Assuming she's selling from the U.S. anyway.

(a) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-made or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product.

Note to paragraph (a): As used herein, "raw materials" include bulk sheet, strip, wire, and similar items that have not been cut, shaped, or formed into jewelry parts, semi-finished parts, or blanks.

(b) It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-forged, hand-engraved, hand-finished, or hand-polished, or has been otherwise hand-processed, unless the operation described was accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the type, amount, and effect of such operation on each part of each individual product.

So "hand made" is protected legally. She could say they were "assembled by hand".

With your avatar, I got the image of tyra banks explaining that whole thing while doing that motion. Much lols were had.