Blance spent a week in Hong Kong and photographed more than 60 signs; 22 of them appear in the series that capture the signs lighting up lonely streets—an approach that makes it easy to admire their colors and craftsmanship.

But at a time when the American factory seems to be a shrinking presence, and when good manufacturing jobs have vanished, perhaps never to return, there is something deeply troubling about this dilution of American craftsmanship.

The Home Depot approach to craftsmanship - simplify it, dumb it down, hire a contractor - is one signal that mastering tools and working with one's hands is receding in America as a hobby, as a valued skill, as a cultural influence that shaped thinking and behavior in vast sections of the country

The Obama administration does worry publicly about manufacturing, a first cousin of craftsmanship.

But rarely, if ever, do they publicly take the argument a step further, asserting that a growing manufacturing sector encourages craftsmanship and that craftsmanship is, if not a birthright, then a vital ingredient of the American self-image as a can-do, inventive, we-can-make-anything people.

That's one explanation for the decline in traditional craftsmanship

The damage to American craftsmanship seems to parallel the steep slide in manufacturing employment.

As for craftsmanship itself, the issue is how to preserve it as a valued skill in the general population

Milkman, the sociologist, argues that American craftsmanship isn't disappearing as quickly as some would argue - that it has instead shifted to immigrants.

He felt troubled about the weakening of American craftsmanship

What does the author say is a factor contributing to the decline in traditional craftsmanship?