Art Nouveu was hugely popular in the 1920's & 30's.  The people who bought these items and saved them in drawers all these years are dying and their collectibles are being sold at estate sales, garage sales, and auctions.  Since interest in Art Nouveau collectibles is high, the Art Nouveau category of Ebay is huge.  It's a great time to be a buyer/collector of Art Nouveau!

There are more than 6,000 art nouveau auctions active at any one time.  The category obviously needs to be expanded to a larger site that looks at subcategories in more detail.  In the meantime, I think someone with experience with soldering delicate electronics could start a small business buying and repairing art nouveau items.  With so many items to choose from it woud be easy to buy damaged items in bulk for very little.  A point source soldering iron and binocular microscope to work under would not cost a lot.  

This kind of small business opportunity should be attractive to an unemployed electronics worker who needs to generate some income.