I think our modern way of life, with anything to do with 'handicrafts'
being seen as a female preserve, has a lot to answer for!
Both boys and girls went to lace schools as children. When older, the
lads tended to take on agricultural labouring jobs that possibly paid
more, whilst the women needed something that could be done in the home.
In the winter, when there was less to do on the land, there would have
been no income for the men (there was no such thing as paid holidays
then!) so they quite often made lace which helped bring money (or tokens
- both ag.labs and lacemakers were paid by the 'truck system' where
their employer paid them in tokens that could be exchanged only for
goods that he sold in his shop - at a well marked up rate).
Until fairly recently men were the breadwinners, working for employers
to keep a roof over their family whilst the women looked after the
house, children, and any animals they kept (for food) - a woman was
expected to give up her employment on marriage.
The middlemen, dealers and most of the designers were male - mainly
because these jobs required some education and families were more likely
to pay to put a son through school than a girl - only a few women (like
Mrs Treadwin) made it to this level.
In message
<CAC33vDu2jrEBtifDCrNdn6e6aQh=ity90hpymn8+9+kp-f3...@mail.gmail.com>,
Regina Haring <rmhar...@gmail.com> writes
This raises a question that has always puzzled me - does this truly mean
that the men themselves were lacemakers, or that they were employed in the
business of lace in the sense that they were middlemen who bought lace from
the women who were making it and then re-sold it?
--
Jane Partridge
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