Marjorie writes: 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>.
But were lacemakers any better than they ought to be? The discovery of a lace pillow in the archeological excavation of a privy associated with a brothel in the Five Points section of New York has made me wonder whether lace making and prostitution were not practiced by some people at the same time. It doesn't seem to me like it was an either/or situation. For one thing, a prostitute spends time waiting for clients. Apparently in New York, prostitutes and everyone else, including invalids and children, were quite likely doing piecework, such as "sewing collars" during any down time. In England and Europe, there was a common practice of teaching women to make lace so they wouldn't fall into prostitution, or so they could escape prostitution, but we know that lacemaking wasn't exactly well compensated. So, it would seem that those inclined to lacemaking and those inclined to prostitution are often the same economic group. Prostitutes are being trained to make lace, and lace makers might need to supplement their income sometimes with prostitution. In fact, prostitutes might even need to supplement their income with lace making. Although personally, I think that the blindness associated with lacemaking is normal vision changes with age, one theory is that they got venereal disease because they tended to live in port towns with a lot of sailors, another tantalizing detail. Sitting outside the cottage making lace would afford better light, but also provide an excuse for being outside the cottage next to the street. Clearly, some lace makers also engaged in straw plaiting, which seems to be associated with "loose" behavior. Does anyone have any evidence to illuminate this subject? Devon PS. Ancestors of present company excluded, of course. Lace making and homemaking are also strongly associated. - 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/
