"Mr. Dodge was making a note to remind himself that lace was owed to him as payment for the debt. What is even more interesting about this entry is that the gentleman purchasing the chintz needed five weeks to return with the lace in hand. In all likelihood he needed the five weeks for the women in his household to produce the lace to pay the debt. The cost of the chintz was one pound, three shillings, four pence. This would have been a comfortable debt to pay with lace valued at approximately eighteen shillings per yard." . . The period was 1768, in Ipswich, Massachusetts Colony. This is in a newly published book about the Ipswich Lace Industry which was from 1750 - 1840.
I don't know about the purchasing power of the shilling in the American Colonies, but according to Colin R Chapman's "How Heavy, How Much and How Long?" a shilling in England in 1750 equated to a skilled worker's daily wage or four miles' travel in winter in a stage coach, and in 1760 one shilling was the daily wage of a husbandman. Since most lace makers were women and women nearly always earned considerably less than men (and had to look after the home and children as well) it's reasonable to assume that it would have taken rather more than 18 woman days to make that lace, so 5 weeks does sound about right.
Incidentally the book also states that in 1757 a quartern loaf (4lbs weight)
cost 7.5 old pennies. That's 0.625 shillings; more than half a day's wage. Things have changed a lot since then and comparative values are difficult to assess. Food used to account for a huge part of an ordinary worker's income, but housing was relatively cheap. Nowadays we expect cheap basic foods but accept that housing costs a great deal, especially for the younger generation who have huge mortgages just to get on to the housing ladder. We also expect to travel a lot further than four miles for a day's wages.
Lace was always a luxury item though, and if you could afford such frivolities you weren't too bothered about how much the next meal would cost.
Brenda
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