Cherry picking. How many of those stoves were made 100 years ago? How many are around now?
Some of our 2021 stoves will be around in 100 years, too. Not many. Will someone point at one and say “back in 2021 they built to last”?
(Same reason old European cities are prettier than new American ones—the ugly buildings got torn down and replaced, the pretty ones didn’t. After a while you have a lot of pretty buildings.)
True, but it’s not that hard to imagine that a cast-iron stove could still be working a century later. It’s pretty simple as far as I understand it… pretty much just a metal box with doors and a stovepipe.
I’m not convinced there was/is a preference for tearing down ugly buildings rather than pretty ones in Europe. A lot of buildings were torn down during the 2 World Wars and many other wars before, and combatants don’t choose their targets based on aesthetic preferences.
Also, keeping old buildings pretty requires special effort and expense. Old buildings age, due to erosion, vegetal invasion (you wouldn’t believe what damage plants are capable of doing), temperature change (especially when water infiltrated in the joints freezes), pollution, vandalism, terrain instability, etc. Europe has pretty old buildings because it cares about and is willing to invest in pretty old buildings, it’s not something that falls into your lap after a dozen centuries.
Cherry picking. How many of those stoves were made 100 years ago? How many are around now?
Some of our 2021 stoves will be around in 100 years, too. Not many. Will someone point at one and say “back in 2021 they built to last”?
(Same reason old European cities are prettier than new American ones—the ugly buildings got torn down and replaced, the pretty ones didn’t. After a while you have a lot of pretty buildings.)
True, but it’s not that hard to imagine that a cast-iron stove could still be working a century later. It’s pretty simple as far as I understand it… pretty much just a metal box with doors and a stovepipe.
I’m not convinced there was/is a preference for tearing down ugly buildings rather than pretty ones in Europe. A lot of buildings were torn down during the 2 World Wars and many other wars before, and combatants don’t choose their targets based on aesthetic preferences.
Also, keeping old buildings pretty requires special effort and expense. Old buildings age, due to erosion, vegetal invasion (you wouldn’t believe what damage plants are capable of doing), temperature change (especially when water infiltrated in the joints freezes), pollution, vandalism, terrain instability, etc. Europe has pretty old buildings because it cares about and is willing to invest in pretty old buildings, it’s not something that falls into your lap after a dozen centuries.