"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:20:43 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote:

In article , "claude"
wrote:

Well Mr something is defiantly wrong.

Uh huh. Starting with your spelling, and including your ability to
comprehend humor. I hope you can machine dish sponges and dry cell
batteries and the motherboard in your computer by hand, because without
Chinese imports, the store shelves in the United States would be bare.
And I don't just mean the WalMart shelves.


As an aside I was watching The Antiques Road Show where what were once
US and European made knick knacks and other stuff that one would have
thrown away after they had served their purpose are now so lovingly
restored and their history researched. And worth several tousand
times their original retail value. Such everyday items of US or
European origin will no longer be be available in future. In fact
what can you identify as possible collectables outside sports cards
and celebrity posters. This is an exercise in sociology, in
contemporary history and other legit fields. Its not gloating about
"China made." That said what is happening today is evidence and data
for future sociologists and historians. What items will comprise this
evidence and therefore a valuable collectable?

I hope you're not trying to imply that a 50 year old Zenith round-tube TV,
an Osborne Computer, a Chevy Vega, Sunbeam toaster or a Bulova Accutron will
someday become valuable antiques. AFAIK the valuable antiques are those
which were special in some way -- limited production or availability,
extraordinary characteristics, high craftsmanship, have a historical
relationship, etc. As an analogy, an original GTO is valuable, a Pontiac
Ventura of the same year, from the same production line, is just a clapped
out old car. I'd differentiate between antiques and fads. Well made
Victorian furniture is an antique. Collections of Coke bottles, comic
books, baseball cards or Barbie dolls are fads.

Future collectibles will be the same things that are valuable collectables
now and have been for decades --

-- Good furniture
-- Good pottery
-- Good artwork
-- One-of-a-kind items of high craftsmanship

Chinese pottery is valuable the world over, and they continue to produce
expensive and high quality products that will retain their value because of
their craftsmanship. Mae Ping pottery comes to mind. High thread count
silk carpets are another example. There are already highly collectible
artworks by Chinese artists, but most Westerners haven't the experience to
recognize the style or artist names -- but they sell for thousands of
dollars in the Chinese art market.

Another post commented on the low wages paid in China. What they missed is
that the savings rate for Chinese workers is 20% -- they tuck away 20% on
the average of their wages. So maybe their wages are in line with their
environment -- Regards --