We have been picture framing for a long time, since the late 1970's.  Then, Malcom Fraser was our Prime Minister and 200,000 or more Asian migrants and boat people were settling here, helping to make Australia multiracial and multicultural.  This  was a long time ago. In those days, the picture framing industry was adolescent, fit, strong, healthy and growing all the time. Now, around half a century later, the once youthful industry is sadly decrepit.

It is moribund, impotent and almost infirm but the infirmity is not due to ageing or industrial decrepitude. Rather, it slowly became so because of global, technological, economic and political events and circumstances beyond its ken and control. By and large, the competitiveness engendered by the internet, the dismantling of import duties and tariffs, and our high domestic wages, disproportionate to those of our leaner, meaner and hungrier competitors, have all contributed to the slow strangulation and destruction of our local industry.

Sure, there are still isolated, scattered, tenacious survivors, like ourselves, but your local street, or shopping centre picture framer has pretty much disappeared. This is because, and in the main, our Customers find our locally-made products and services too expensive. Alas, we have outsmarted ourselves. We kept awarding ourselves such high wages for so long that now, most Customers cannot afford our picture frames and our framing factories have all closed down. Vale, Australia Picture Framers!

Nevertheless, and during all these years, experiences were gathered and lessons learnt, about picture frames, picture framing and our industry, such as it once was. Rather than forsake these rich legacies of small business and suburban manufacturing histories to become unremembered and be forgotten,  we have retrieved and curated these here, under the mantle of this News Blog of posts, or blogs. Enjoy!