Yes, your figures are compelling... but consider also that some of those "lacemakers" were making shoelaces!
Remember that lots and lots of wonderful old things are chucked into the trash each year when people die and their heirs are overwhelmed with disposing of the detritus of a someone else's life. And we have to take into account that the bone bobbins were the prized items... mostly, people worked with wooden bobbins, which are also plentiful. So I'm still skeptical when I see so many "antique" bone bobbins on the market. And certainly lots of them are genuine... but some may not be. Clay -- Clay Blackwell Lynchburg, VA USA -------------- Original message -------------- From: David in Ballarat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Dear Clay, > > > > But considering how many people are collecting old bobbins, and > > how many old lacemakers existed 150 years ago... it doesn't take a > > giant leap to question whether all of these "antiques" are really so.... > > I fully agree with all you've written, expect perhaps for the above > quote. I would have, that is until last week when I finished reading > a wonderful book called "Thomas Lester, his Lace and the East > Midlands Industry 1820 - 1905" by Anne Buck, 1981 & 1982 ISBN 0 > 903585 09 X. Perhaps you have it too. > > In that book the author has gone to the trouble to check the numbers > of people who offered "lacemaker" as their occupation in the various > censuses & petitions of the UK in the 19th century. Here are the > statistics as she quoted them:- > > Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire & Northamptonshire - 1881 - 12,480 > - 1871 - 20,587 > - 1861 - 23,450 > - 1851 - > 26,670 (5,725 under 15 yrs of age) > - 1830 - > petition of lace-manufacturers - 150,000 > - 1815 - over 150,000 > > Now, you will recall that it was about 1820 that the machine lace > industry became firmly entrenched and began to have a significant > effect on the numbers of lace-makers, as evidenced by the above > figures. However, IF there were around 150,000 lace-makers in 1815 > working point ground, it would not seem unreasonable to me that each > would own at least 100 bobbins, giving us 15,000,000 antique bobbins > for which to keep out an eye on Ebay :) Even if only half have > survived, that's still ample for the numbers collecting them today, > without forgers ever having to go to all that trouble. > > Just thoughts > David in Ballarat > > - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
