Highly esteemed craftsmen and craftsmanship of Tržič

Abstract

Tržič has become distinctly ingrained in popular imagination as a craft market which at the turn of the twentieth century transformed into an industrial centre with an array of economic activities. Blacksmithing was among the first crafts to sell its products in distant markets, followed by the booming leather and textile industries (weaving, dyeing, and sock manufacturing). The mid-nineteenth century witnessed the growth of shoemaking craft. Artisan production gave way to manufacturing production, and at the end of the nineteenth century, the first factories emerged in Tržič as successors to the manufacturing plants or by drawing on natural resources and local labour. However, the development of some economic activities was not linear. Crafts-turned-industries were the former ironworks, leather, and shoemaking production; wood-based industry developed, and the Tržič textile industry was only indirectly linked to sock manufacturing and indigo-dyeing.