EN
Traditional handmade manufacturing is perceived generally today as one of the characteristics of the local and regional tradition. It is used to present not only a differently defined society compared to the outer world, but it also shows potential in the creation and transformations of identities of these societies. In additional to the purely descriptive approach identifying the existing or previous conditions of individual kinds and forms of manufacturing activities, reflections on the future of crafts and home manufacturing were more often applied in the time related social discussion. At the turn of the 20th century, steps oriented towards the search for efficient support and specific tools contributing to the development of some handicraft industries became the applied side of these trends. Therefore, from the last third of the 19th century, tradesmen circles in the Austrian empire were developing efforts to explore homemade craft industry or subject it to control. One of the tools acquiring information about these little known manufacturing activities was the preparation of an exhibition in 1909. A stepping stone for organizing the exhibition was a questionnaire project that was supposed to collect relevant information about the article range, territorial representation, production organizations, sales and social and economic conditions of so called homemade craft industry from the entire Moravia. These responses are not only an insight into the current situation in handicraft manufacturing in Moravia, but also a proof of a view of local communities of the importance of individual manufacturing kinds for the local or regional economy and identity.