Slavery in the Factory - The Lowell Experiment

Slavery in the Factory- Part 2

According to Arthur L. Eno, Jr. (Cotton Was King) ”In man’s four million year career he has revolutionized his economy only twice.  The first time was about seven thousand years ago when man learned to domesticate wild cereal grasses.  He went from being a hunter to a farmer…..In the mid-eighteenth century the second economic revolution introduced factory production of textile goods on a large scale using machines powered by energy derived from water-wheels.”

Cotton Was King - A History of Lowell, Massachusetts, 

Ed., ArthurL. Eno, Jr.,

New Hampshire Publishing Co.,1976

It was the production of textiles that began the industrial revolution.  In the past, textiles for family use were made in the home.  With the exception of royal workshops which produced a very small quantity of textiles for the royal entourages, or government controlled guilds producing a very narrow range of specific textiles, clothing and household linens were made by family members, often after their work in the fields was completed for the day.  Gradually, small mills began processing textile fibers, but each mill was specialized, that is, providing only one step in the process.  At this time there were other mills, of course: grist mills, saw mills, even gunpowder mills.    For power, the mills used water, which fell onto a waterwheel. 

Europe was already into their industrial revolution and sending their exports around the globe when American industrialists began following their lead by firstly manufacturing the machinery necessary to produce large quantity of goods.

The story of the Lowell Offering is the tale of astute, resourceful business entrepreneurs seeking high return for their investments.  Francis Cabot Lowell was an international trader who was much impressed with the European textile industry.  Gathering other investors he established textile industry in New England and set a precedence for industrialization throughout the country.  He established  a factory system that produced the entire finished product within one mill.  This required large capitalization, expert  management of both resources and labor, producing cheap goods in quantity.

The Lowell Offering- Writings by New England Mill women (1840-1845), Ed. Benita Eisler, Harper and Row Pub., 1977 

Other manufacturers relied on male laborers, some skilled, some not.  The Lowell Experiment hired young, farm girls from New England.  To assure the families of the safety of their daughters, boarding houses were built and run by older women, while some girls lived in the city with relatives.  The wages for these “mill girls” were paid in cash, monthly, and they were encouraged to open savings accounts in banks.  In other systems, wages were credits at the “company store” and often the laborers became indebted to the company to the extent that were not able to leave their employment.

Although the “mill girls” were undoubtedly better off financially than if they had remained on the farm, there were also disadvantages.  They were required to remain for at least one year and their lives were strictly regulated, working long hours.  Often the boardinghouses were overcrowded.  The working conditions in the factory led to health issues: lung disease and typhus.

     

                         Cotton Was King, Page 124

  Lowell - The Story of an Industrial City

Produced by the Division of Publications, National Park Service, 

U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 1992

The early years of the 20th century saw  production in the Lowell mills falling.  Aging machinery was not upgraded.  The Yankee “mill girls” were replaced by immigrant labor.  The years following WW1 saw a decline and hours of production and salaries were reduced.  To make the situation worse, there came the depression..  There was a short reprieve during the Second World War, but textile manufacturing would go the way of much manufacturing in the US, elsewhere.

Salvery in the Factory

Slavery

August 23rd is International Slavery Remembrance Day.  Too often we think of the institution of slavery as something in the past.  Indeed, the history of slavery is as old as the history of mankind.  There always existed the more powerful, the more influential, the richer…and the poorest, the more ignorant, the more vulnerable.

The ancient Romans had slaves, the Egyptian slaves built the pyramids and the Great Wall of China was constructed by more than 3 million slaves.

We are familiar with the African-American Slave trade that involved not only the Americas and Africa but relied upon European countries to provide the slave transports.

Sadly, slavery is not the past.  According to an article in the Washington Post, Oct. 17, 2013, it was estimated by the Walk-Free Foundation that more than 29 million people throughout the world were living as slaves (nearly 60,000 in the US). In 1981 Mauritania was the last country to officially abolish slavery.  Still, that country has one of the highest percentages of the population (nearly 4%) enslaved.

The word “slave” was first applied to captives of Slavic origin in southeastern Europe and is defined as a human being who is owned by and absolutely subject to another human being, as by capture, purchase or birth.  There are many types of slavery, from children and young women sold in the sex trade to workers harvesting coffee beans and cacoa, miners in gold mines and factory workers working under appalling conditions.

Over the next few months I will introduce thoughts (and facts) about slavery in the field of textiles and textile production. 

   

Costume Magic

Costumes for Opera

I have been looking through a small box of fabric scraps, intending to use some for a project I am designing.  These are no ordinary scraps.  I had been collecting these tiny treasures for years when I visited San Francisco and a fabulous fabric emporium on a small side street near Union Square.  Of course they carried a very wide range of fabrics for every sewing need, but I was interested in their collection of extravagant, luxury fabrics, many of which were imported.  I did not need, nor could I afford, to buy yardage, but I would spend much time sorting through containers of very small scraps.  For a few dollars, I could purchase bits and pieces of heavily embroidered, jewel encrusted silks and velvets, whispery tulles and beautiful laces.

On one visit as I was entranced by rolls of these fabrics, afraid to even touch them, an assistant  approached , possibly thinking I had a credit card limit in the astronomical range.  She told me of her last customer who had purchased rolls of these fabrics for use by the costume department of the San Francisco Opera.  Of course, this was the perfect use for these magical textiles.

Opera Themes and Plots, Rudolph Fellner, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1958 

As I thought about that visit and the sales attendant’s story about the opera, I remembered an article I have saved from Threads Magazine, Oct/Nov 2011 entitled “Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Opera.  Written by Kenneth D. King, it was the behind-the scenes world of the costume and design department with a staff of 100. When one thinks of the operatic experience it is the combination of magnificent music, superb vocalists and theater.  It is a performance which tells a story. The magic is enhanced by the spectacular scenery and costumes.  Whether the performance is traditional or a modern adaptation, the performers must evoke their characters and this is achieved visually (through costumes and scenery) as well as vocally.

The design staff of any costume department has many highly skilled artisans.  The workshops are filled with tailors and seamstresses, drafts-men and. pattern-makers with years of experience.  While the drapers and cutters calculate the fabrics required, it is the shoppers that tour the world searching for not only the required fabrics for a specific performance, but also for inspirations, which might appear in later creations.  This would be my dream job, traveling and sourcing trims and fabrics.   

This is not to be, I fear.  I must remain content to dress myself for a night at the opera.

Lotus Slippers

If You Want to be Beautiful, You Must Suffer –French saying

For centuries every culture supported customs that were considered indicative of social status, power and/or physical beauty.  Many of these customs were achieved with a certain amount of discomfort , many with considerable pain. Scarification (small, superficial incisions creating patterns of scars on the skin), tattoos, piercings and the use of toxic cosmetics are commonly noted.

  One of the most excessive of these practices was the breaking and binding of the feet of young girls in China.  Foot- binding began as early as 900, remaining the custom of royalty and rich nobility until the end of the 17thC.  From that time until the practice was officially banned by the 1911 revolutionary government, millions of young girls from every socioeconomic background were subjected to excruciating pain and permanent deformity.  Not all Chinese practiced this custom (the Manchu did not practice this, the Han did).   The daughters of poor farmers were important laborers and were spared (if you cannot walk, you cannot toil).

The actual binding began when a girl reached the age of 4-7 years, when her bones were still flexible.  The feet were soaked in solutions containing various herbs and other ingredients according to secret family recipes. The four small toes were bound against the sole of the foot after breaking of the arch of the foot, while the big toe was left exposed.  Strips of cotton cloth were used to tightly bind the feet.  The child would then have to don a tiny pair of shoes (usually made by her mother).  The bindings were changed at regular intervals, more tightly wound each time, the shoes becoming smaller and smaller.  The practitioners of foot-binding might have been the female relatives of the child, or a professional might be employed.  It would take two years for the feet to be shaped into an unopened lotus flower bud.  In realty the foot did not so much resemble a flower but a misshapen mass of crushed bones.

Foot-binding left the women  virtual captives in their house, frequently they could only walk with very short, mincing steps, and needed to be carried or transported by carriage or cart when outside.  Obviously, male dominance was one factor, but not the only one.  Small, bound feet ( as small as 3 inches) were considered symbols of beauty, family status, mariageablilty and duty.  

Splendid Slippers- A Thousand Years of an Exotic Tradition, Beverly Jackson, 
Ten speed Press, Berkeley, California, 1997











To cover their deformity, girls and women made exquisite miniature shoes of the richest material they could afford.  Tradition patterns and symbols were embroidered with silken threads.  Even the soles were often patterned as they would show very little wear. These slippers have great aesthetic qualities and showcase great talents of the girls for embellishment.  However, they also represent the great pain and life-long deformity associated with this practice.

Stumpwork - Seventeenth Century Raised Embroidery

Raised Embroidery

Often I am asked if I have a favorite textile.  This is like asking a mom which is her favorite child.  Each is unique, each has positive (and negative attributes), each brings a different aesthetic.  Asked if I have a favorite textile technique, the answer is immediate.  I have always favored embroidery.  I admit to having tried (with varying degrees of success) sewing clothes and home goods, rug braiding and hooking, quilting, crochet and knitting.  I have even dabbled in paper-making and basket weaving, which I consider to be cousins of textiles on the textile family tree.  But after many, many years of working with all forms of textiles and their production I am still drawn to the art of embroidery.

It is not that I am particularly adept at embroidery techniques.  I love the portability, being able to take with me small pieces of work when I travel.  But I especially love the  richness  of the finished product, the variety of the stitches, the assortment of fibers, and the ability of the textile artists to create their own unique works of  art.

My textile library is filled with editions of embroidery history, technique,  ethnic and contemporary.  Also, of course, are the many volumes of examples and instructions waiting for me to stitch.

The Embroiderer's Flowers,

 Thomasina Beck, David and Charles, 1992

The Embroiderer's Garden, 

 Thomasina Beck, David and Charles

Like all trends and pastimes, embroidery has seen a roller coaster history.  While never being completely absent, there are periods in which embroidery was considered an important textile art form, only to give way to other techniques.  One case in point is the needlework commonly called “Stump Work”.  I consider this to be a rather unfortunate title.  Originally, this type of embroidery was called “Raised Work” or “Embosted Work”  It was in Victorian times that the term stumpwork was used. Perhaps it pertained to the use of wooden stumps or moulds which, when padded offered an element in relief, or it could have come from the printed designs, stamped on the ground fabric.  The French word “estompe” means embossed, and is a likely contender.

When speaking of the history of raised work, it is a short one.  It reached the height of its popularity between 1640 through 1680.  There are earlier samples worked by professional embroiderers (Brioders) with three dimensional design elements.

 The themes for these works were often stories from the Old Testament or depictions of court life.  The main pattern was often the work of a professional designer.  There were even kits available.  One of the most delightful features of these embroideries was the inclusion of various forms of flora and fauna, realistic, as well as fanciful.  These lesser elements were usually not to scale.  Therefore a pea pod might be as large as a rabbit.  Patterns were available in collections printed for embroiderers.  Relief elements, in addition to the wooden forms for bodies and facial features, were made from wrapped wire, beads and other embellishments. Some motifs were directed embroidered onto the ground fabric in a variety of stitches while other were created separately as “slips” and later added to the scene.

A Book of Flowers, Fruits, Beasts, Birds and Flies -

 Seventeenth-Century Patterns for Embroiderers, Curious Works Press, 1995

The Complete Book of Stumpwork Embroidery, Jane Nicholas,

Sally Milner Pub., 

Boward NSW, Australia, 2005

Raised Embroidery- a Practical Guide of Decorative Stumpwork,

 Barbara and Roy Hirst, Merchurst LTD, 1993

Hand Embroidered Country Scenes, Sue Newhouse,

Search Press, 1997

My next project might well be a small stumpwork, perhaps the view of my patio and the grape vines  growing across the portal.  Maybe not.

Paisley - The Teardrop of India - Part 2- Paisley Shawls

Paisley- The Teardrop of India     Part 2

The Paisley Shawl

In my blog of 6/28/15 I discussed the Paisley motif.  The most common association with this Indian motif is the Paisley Shawl, a much sought-after fashion accessory of the 18^th and 19^th Centuries. Although the term “shawl” today refers to a rectangular or square of cloth worn as a wrap around the shoulders or head, the word is derived from “shal”, Persian for any finely woven cloth.

For centuries the finest woven shawls came from Kasmiri, north of India in the Himalayas.  The wool fibers, which we refer to as “cashmere” are more correctly called “pashmina” and come from the underbelly of mountain goats. Indian  shawls were always handwoven in 2/2 twill tapestry weave on a horizontal loom, the technique known as “kanikar ". Colored wefts were inserted with small bobbins and, as in true tapestry weave, they did not extend from selvage to selvage but were confined to the actual pattern.   European woven shawls used a continuous supplementary weft which floated over the reverse. Produced as early as the 15^th C Kasmiri shawls were introduced into the European market near the end of the 1700’s, however, they were extremely scarce and extremely expensive.

Because of their popularity despite the cost, European textile manufacturers began to produce what were called “imitation Indians”.  As it was not possible to import the fine pashmina wool  ( their experiments with raising the actual mountain goats in Europe, a failure) they firstly wove the shawls in silk at  Spitalfields using copies of the original Indian patterns.  Other cities such as Edinburugh and Norwich soon followed.  But it was  Paisley, Scotland that lent its name to this textile.  Because Paisley was a center for dyeing, printing and fringing, as well as weaving it soon became the major producer of the imitation Indian shawl.

However, it was the French textile industry that had the most impact on the shawl production as well as other fabrics of intricate woven designs.  In 1801, Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed a weaving loom, replacing the draw-loom.  In short order the British began weaving copies of the French imitations. 

Another Kasmiri technique, amlikar, used embroidered motifs after weaving the plain ground fabric.  Because several artisans could embroider simultainously, the time to produce the textile was significantly shortened and the resultant cost to produce was much less. These embroidered shawls were so finely made that they are often confused with the woven ones

Woven shawls were replaced with printed ones.  By the 19^th C shawls were block printed on cotton or silk precisely imitating the original designs.  By the end of the 19^th C roller printing replaced block printing and lengths of paisley motif fabrics were produced.

The actual paisley design and shape of the shawls, as well as the palette, varied with the lady’s fashion of the day.  Identification and dating of these textiles depends upon the following criteria:  

                               1. distribution of the design

                               2. density of the pattern

                               3. repeat of the pattern

                               4. symmetry

                               5. contrast between the ground and design

                               6. shape and finished size of the textile

Section of a woven wool shawl.  Note the black background which formed a very large square in the center of the textile.

Reverse

Main Boteh motif.  Colors include red, black, blue, green and ochre

Green selvage edge

Fringe edge of shawl.  The fine black fringe is entirely missing in this section.

Woven paisley shawls may still be found, however, if they are in good condition they are pricey.  You may find these textiles in varying conditions and, depending upon the intended use, they may be repaired for table covers or sections may be salvaged for use as applique elements.  Printed paisley is more affordable.

July 4

Happy Birthday to us

This holiday evokes fond memories for most Americans.  I grew up in a small town and on July 4 the town sponsored a parade featuring (usually in this order) the high school band in uniform, Boy and Girl Scouts in uniform, veterans in various uniforms of their branch of service, old men driving old vintage cars, and children of all ages on bicycles decorated with crepe paper and flags.  This procession would wind around the streets before finally stopping at the town cemetery.  At this point a senior from the high school would read the Declaration of Independence, then came the Pledge of Allegiance.  After all this celebration everyone would head home to prepare their  4^th picnics

Here, in Santa Fe the day begins with Pancakes on the Plaza with patriotic songs rendered by the Community Concert Band.  Thousands of Santa Feans (and tourists) walk through downtown with small flags visiting craft vendors and inspecting the vintage cars display.  Then everyone heads for home to light up their BBQs.  I might suggest someone reads aloud from such papers as the Preamble of the Constitution or the Emancipation Proclamation.  Very powerful words we might reflect upon.

The textile du jour for this day is, of course, our flag.  It is seen everywhere in sizes from miniature to the huge one flying over used car lots and fast food restaurants.  They are seen on tee shirts and ball caps, on napkins and paper picnic ware.  There are other textiles created to honor our history.  Some are sentimental, some are political, some bring a smile and some not so much.

This textile is a panel measuring 43x23 inches depicting George Washington crossing the Delaware.  The colors are startling with vivid reds, blues and gold. The fabric is textured reminiscent of “bark cloth” (the fabric your grandma used to cover her patio furniture or perhaps used a draperies). This was produced by the Reliable Textile Company of NY under the trademark Wesco-Relex . Other subjects for similar textiles were patriotic motifs such as the bald eagle and, in a quite different vein, depictions of puppies and other cute animals. Supposedly, these panels were meant to be hung as panels or framed. What in the world could they have been thinking? Which brings me to a dilemma.  What in the world am I going to do with it?  Would you believe I have two Geo.W, and  friends panels.  Well, back to the bottom of my collection, I guess. Maybe someone might want to add them to their collection of patriotic memorabilia, hmmm?

 

Happy Birthday America

Happy Birthday to us