Museum curators have started adding select pieces of tramp art to their folk art collections, such as a pin cushion, comb box and crucifix acquired in 1986 by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.

FORBES: Artists in overalls

Many local communities already object to the proliferation of mobile-telephone masts turning their landscape into a giant pin-cushion.

ECONOMIST: Only fakirs need apply