Hoping I didn't bore yesterday I will write the rest. All my informations are from my lace-books and what I found in danish Museums, most of them in Tönder Museum and what I learned in Lorenzen's Gard.
The number of lace-dealers grew steadily too, and in the civic lists of townsmen from 1699 you can follow this development closely.
Between 1702 and 1802 you find in the "Borgerbrev", the municipal licence to trade of Tönder, that it was taken by 35 lace merchants. But the number was much greater then that, because many didn't describe themselves as only lace merchants, but as merchants in a general sense. All of them were leading men of the town with money, position and prestige, think on the houses I showed you. And lace was a high esteemed trade. At that time there was money in it. There are some figurs what the lace trade brought, for example Denmark and Norway together (they belonged political together at that time),
in 1772 25.278 rigsdaler and
in 1781 72.845 rigsdaler.
They mentioned "other countries" without any specification
in 1772 33.068 rigsdaler and
in 1781 63.190 rigsdaler This figures tell us today only something in comparision.
What about the lace-makers? The most efficient of lace-girls could earn about 50 rigsdaler a year, but this were few of all.
To get an idea what this was worth here some dates from 1780, when a rigsdaler was 96 skilling:
1lb butter cost 8 skilling
1lb meat 2,5 skilling
1lb coffe 12 skilling and
1lb sugar 2 skilling
During the long winter evenings the lace-makers sit together around this wellknown "shoemaker's globe" with their typical Tönder lace-box with the form of a sloping desk. Its surface was covered with leather and padded with hay. The box itself was often artistically carved or painted so they were individual. In a little drawer all the needed things were kept and often there was a small secret drawer also.
The real lace-making season, which starts about a fortnight before St. Michaels's Day the 29th September was called "Aftensädet". During that time the local young men were invited to this evenings to entertain the girls with songs and stories. In my opinion it was surely a possibility to find out which two could live together for the rest of theier live. In fact most of the young men were sailors who towards the end of february returned to their shipping companies often in Copenhagen or even Hamburg.
And I know that this excist in Erzgebirge in Germany as well There is a big series of paintings about this evenings.
I will not hide some dark sides of this profession. A document from 1788 says that because the girls had to sit continually and in a bent position over their work they became "consuptive and blind". Many of them took to snuff coffe and tea in a big way and they became useless for any other form of work. Their earnings wasn't so much that they could save out a lot so they became, sooner or later, a burden to the community. The conclusion of this ducument is, the girls would have been much luckier if they had been milking girls by the peasants.
As we all know fashion changed often and also the influence of democratic ideas, after the French Revolution werent favourable to the lace industrie. What's more in the 1800's machine-made tulle rapidly gained ground as a new and much cheaper fashion material. And so the Tönder lace-merchants day were past.
In 1870 Hansigne, the daughter from the teacher on Bädsbol School Jens A. Jenssen (and what about the mother?) was born. She maried Hans Lorenzen who was the second teacher at the same school in 1890. Hans must leave the service because of his danish mind. Hansigne too wrote several books in danish. Remember I told you about the problem earlier. Since the 18th cent. more and more people in Denmark wanted their own language back and weren't against the german.
Hansigne worked also for the revival of lace. She visited the old lace-makers and searched the old designs. There was a movement in whole Europe at the end of 19th and the beginning of the 20th cent. to go back to the handmade arts. Everwhere so called Frauenverbände - women's associations were built. The queen Alexandrine held the patronage of "Tönder Spitzendepot". Hansigne worked special for the Tönder-lace. and get for this work a medaillion in gold with crown . She died in 1952.
If you ever come to Ballum, a bit north of Tönder,you remember the report of Sally, visit Lorenzen's Gärd, it isn't easy to find ask in the Hotel in Ballum there it is nearby. It is only open in July on afternoons and during Tönder Festival. If you are only a few you could see the whole house till under the roof. You find the old things our ancesters used, lots of laces often with fotos of someone who wears them. This and that. And from time to time they still held courses there. The family still live in this house it is not really a museum. It is lively house with a lot of history.
At the end I will tell you a bit about the sort of laces Tönder-region once made rich.
When I was there three years ago I found a notice about this in Tönder museum.
From about 1550 - 1700 Christian IV - lace. Big question does this wonderful lace belong to the tape-laces or not. Lots of people discussed this still. In the exhibition of this year Tönder-Festival they told us no other tape-lace was made in Denmark in remarkable amounts.
from 1700 - 1800 Binche, Valenciennes, Point-Ground-laces special Tönder-lace
from 1800 - 1850 Lille-lace and
from 1850 - 1900 Torchon-lace.
There are some lace -important people, like Meta Tönder, but I don't know enough about them to tell others. The is a small booklet I haven't read yeat so perhaps later or our danish-list-members could tell us.
I know that today in some parts on Denmark a lot hobby-lacers like us have the same fun doing this old handy-craft.
Greetings
Ilske
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