Straw was plaited into narrow braids, which were then used to make hats. Luton in Bedfordshire was a centre for hat-making, and Hitchin in Hertfordshire (where I live, about 8 miles from Luton) was a straw-plaiting town. We used to have a building called "Plait Hall" but it fell into disuse and has been replaced by houses.
When youngsters were making lace, they sat still where they could be supervised; but plaiting was a craft which could be done while standing up or walking about. Plaiters could therefore go roaming around the countryside, getting up to goodness knew what, while plaiting ... They got a reputation for being no better than they should be <G>. Margery. ======================================== margerybu...@o2.co.uk in North Herts, UK ======================================== > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-l...@arachne.com [mailto:owner-l...@arachne.com] > On Behalf Of David C COLLYER > Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 1:48 PM > To: lace@arachne.com > Subject: [lace] Straw Plaiters > > Dear Friends, > I'm currently doing some family history research for one of us, and > find that IF her female relatives were not Lace Makers, then they > were Straw Plaiters. > > Can someone please tell me exactly what they produced? Some of these > were as young as 5 and 7 years of age on the censuses!! > I'm sure it wasn't all macrame hanging baskets!! > > David in Ballarat, AUS - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
