Hi Devon et al,
I didn't mean to imply that the question was stupid! I thought we had
'moved on' slightly, and were also discussing the humour of some of the
comments made whilst teaching and demonstrating! I do know that in several
of the mental homes in my area, we go in to teach lace as a sort of therapy,
so I suppose it could have been done in the past as well - but I also think
that what my student was implying was the lacemaking as a form of punishment,
not quite what we would wish it to be thought, I am sure.
Carol - Suffolk UK
----- Original Message -----
From: dmt11h...@aol.com
To: nestalace.ca...@btopenworld.com ; lace@arachne.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 4:17 PM
Subject: Re: [lace] No stupid question? Really? Prisons and lacemaking
In a message dated 3/3/2009 10:34:13 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
nestalace.ca...@btopenworld.com writes:
'When the men were in prison years ago, they were made to sew mailbags.
I
think lace-making is what they made the women do!'
I think this comment may be more insightful than stupid.
Actually, lacemaking was a staple in many "poor houses" in Europe. I know it
was practiced in institutions, because in Rockland County, New York, where I
grew up, and where I demonstrated lace in the 1970's, people would often
remark that this was being done at Letchworth Village, an institution for
mentally challenged individuals in the area. I also ran across a newspaper
article from the 19th century, announcing the death of woman in prison for
murder (in America) who had spent her time in prison making bobbin lace. I
also think that I may have heard that Ingaborg Rasmussen went into prisons and
mental institutions in Denmark teaching lacemaking. Unfortunately, I can't
find a citation for this. I have to think that if there was a prisoner in
America making bobbin lace, there must have been many more in Europe.
Lacemaking, is, after all, very therapeutic. I have made a lot of lace
while watching the financial channel and seeing the implosion of the economy.
It has been weeks of exceptional productivity for me. In fact, my back is
beginning to suffer.
On occasion, I have wondered if the IOLI shouldn't offer to go into prisons
to teach the craft. There is a lot of knitting and crocheting in women's
prison, and the prisoners knit and crochet for themselves, other prisoners,
who trade for the items, and also sell at a flea market, as well as some
prison store. On the other hand, there are a lot of restrictions on what they
can have, ie. only plastic knitting needles, so our gear might not pass
muster. And, in addition, although the providing of such an interesting,
satisfying and time consuming hobby to prisoners might be a good deed, it
might materially change the nature of our organization if large numbers of
felons joined our ranks. So, I have sort of tabled this idea for membership
enhancement.
Devon
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