Los Angeles’ third ever high school is Manual Arts, founded in 1910, though they are just a typical comprehensive HS now. I think their website says the school was surrounded by beanfields when first opened–everything in L.A. seems to have been surrounded by beanfields once upon a time. The early Angelenos must have been the most flatulent people on Earth…
And at those prices, if you show your crack, you deserve it! 
In 1972, I left college to sign on as an apprentice carpenter. I got my journeyman’s card just in time for the recession brought to us by the Carter administration. With very little work available, I did the best I could for the next few years alternating carpentry with meat cutting at the local slaughterhouses. In 1979, on the street due to the closing of the place where I was operating the tongue saw, I took the first job I could find: recharging fire extinguishers.
In a few weeks, I moved from extinguishers to suppression systems. A couple of months later, the suppression mechanic I had been helping quit suddenly, and I took his place. I am now the lead alarm technician. I am responsible for installing, programming and maintaining state of the art life safety systems. My job is a blend of electrician, electronics techician and system programming. The money is decent, there is plenty of work and the job is very interesting.
Lots of different points brought up in this thread. I’ll address a couple.
Building houses, craftmanship.
Most people move within 5 years. This is much different than in the past, when generations would live in the same house. To try to get the average homeowner to invest in better windows, let alone fancy trimwork is not easy. They don’t necessarily get the rate of return for their money, and they’re not going to have to deal with the long term repercussions.
Time. Most homeowners are unwilling to wait that long to move into their house. You have 60 day houses that are being built, pretty hard to have master craftsmanship in that time frame.
It’s about balance. When we were building our house, the architect mentions the rule of three. You have 1. the amount of money you want to spend. 2. the size of the house. 3. the level of craftsmanship and materials. Most people opt for size and money.
This means there is less demand for masters, this in turn means less people go into specialized trades, this in turn means the ones that are left are in high demand, and can charge more, continuing the cycle.
The construction industry is becoming even more commodized, and turning into another “product” more than a house or a work of art. Modern houses reflect that thinking.