ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of place and local history in building the brand identities of craft organizations. It investigates how high prestige associated with ties draws from the past and the sense of place, which become salient components of the product brand itself. The chapter explores how material and cultural practices performed by the firm provide common cues for interpretation of the past. It discusses the theoretical implications of the study in terms of understanding the ambivalence of the sense of place between creative context and chaotic or shabby site, and the ability of the firm to capitalize on a repository of social memories, commonly associated with local context specificities. The chapter examines how craft organizations enable the formation of collective memory that draws from local history and tradition, and how remembering is used to evoke specific social imaginaries.
