There is an article about straw plaiting in Luton, and Bedfordshire here. It is really very interesting and illuminating about a trade that was similar to lace making. There are many parallels. For instance, you could do it in cottages. Italians did it better. The disruption of trade with Italy during the Napoleonic Wars resulted in a boom in the English plaiting industry. French prisoners of war during the Napoleonic Wars did it in distasteful competition with English workers. There were plaiting schools for children which were of questionable educational quality but resulted in a lot of daily plaiting. These schools bit the dust because of the dastardly, business unfriendly Education Act of 1870. Finally the industry is destroyed because of cheap imports from Asia. _http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/luton/0.local/hat_plaiting. htm_ (http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/luton/0.local/hat_plaiting.htm) Devon
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