MOSI Google Hangout

In order to thoroughly prepare for our chat with Jamie, a historian at the MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) in Manchester, England, our class had to do a bit of research to thoroughly understand and appreciate all of the new information we would receive during the live video chat.  We started off by taking some basic notes on the "textile gallery" website, and learned some basic but important facts about the textile industry, how it changed, and who and what was crucial in making it a success.  For example, my group and I discovered that weavers used different techniques and methods to create textiles such as braiding and weaving, and that there were many different designers in creating the textile designs, like Jacob Dimoldenberg, Harry Rodwell Prince, Randall Paine, and George Ainscow.  We also learned a bit more about the Arkwright water frame, and found out that it produced 100% cotton cloth, opening up new markets for cotton fabrics.  After taking these notes from the website, we watched a video that Jamie created which outlined for us what each machine did in the process of creating cloth, and how the machines are related to each other.  We wrote down all of the important vocabulary terms that he brought up (hopper feeder scutcher, carding engine, etc.) and looked up what they meant on Google after the video was finished.  Finally, we thought of questions to ask Jamie that were relevant to either the museum itself, or different aspects of the textile industry; for example, one of my group's questions was, "How long did it take to produce cloth?"

I learned so much more about the textile industry by being able to personally talk to a professional in the area.  Overall, the textile industry changed quite a lot over the time of the Industrial Revolution.  In the beginning of the revolution, most families each owned a hand loom which they used to create all of their own clothing; looms were so important that they were passed down from generation to generation, they were the most important and expensive item families typically owned.   As factories started to take over and home hand looms were no longer needed, men, women, and children alike began to work in the factories.  Working in the factories was "piece work", meaning that the more cloth the workers produced, the more they were paid.  Jamie elaborated more on the different jobs within the factories, and what he told us was shocking.  The only people in the factories who were paid were the spinners (men), many women worked as piecers, having to walk up to 20 miles per day to complete their duties, and many children were scavengers, who crawled under the machines and cleaned underneath them.  This is just one representation of how badly some children were treated in the factories, because the littlest children were given the jobs that required the least amount of skill, but were extremely dangerous, such as cleaning the belts.  Many children got stuck on the metal studs used to repair the belts, and were carried up, usually resulting in severed limbs or completely mangled bodies.

Drawing of a piecer and a scavenger at work in the factories

I believe that I learned a lot from having an outside expert teach us about the topic.  Being able to personally communicate with him was also very important, because we could ask any question that we wanted to, and he would be able to answer it very descriptively and precisely.  One problem that we faced which became frustrating at times was the problems with internet connection, which made us have to take a longer time to actually look around the factory and be able to communicate with Jamie.  I would love to be able to do a similar live video chat later in the year with another expert!