I was also wondering if the poverty of lacemakers varied according to the period. For instance, I think that I have read that during the Napoleanic Wars, English lacemaking had a very profitable period because of the embargo on items from the continent. However, afterward, when there was European competition again, things got worse. Was there perhaps an over supply of English lacemakers who took it up during the fist two decades of the 19th century and who were then competing for a more limited market during the rest of the century? Are the reports that we read more of a dying industry, than of a vital industry? If lacemaking was such a miserable way of life, why did healthy people engage in it? Some things that I have read indicate that women preferred lacemaking to going into service. Was lacemaking a more respected and better paid life in France, for instance. I am told that making Alencon lace requires a ten year training period or apprenticeship. Why would people commit to this if it yielded a life no better than destitution? Most people can manage destitution without a ten year apprenticeship. Were English lacemakers making out of style patterns in the mid- 19th century, and thus not terribly salable, while the French ones, under a more unified industry presided over by the likes of the Lefebures were producing items that were at the height of fashion? Devon [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) writes:
I would think that the worst of the poverty happened at the period when machine made lace was taking over from most of the hand made lace, so that the lace workers were paid very little for a skill no longer of value to most people. The lace dealers must have gone out of business too. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003/albums/most-recent
