The secret to fashionable clothing for former slaves and the poor was shoddy, an affordable new textile made from recycled material. In the Second World War it proved its worth once again, and this mill in 1942 is ‘facing’ (brushing a light pile onto) new cloth made from 75-year-old rags.
Introduction
One might imagine that slave labour keeps prices down, but the break-up of the slave trade by the British Empire following the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833 demonstrated just how mistaken that supposition is. Low prices come when free people do business together: more freedom, more business, lower prices.
THE African slaves in the West Indies were usually dressed in a shirt and trousers of striped mattress sacking. As soon as they were emancipated, they wished to dress like their late masters, and Jewish entrepreneurs in London heard of it from their colleagues in the Caribbean. So they hastily washed, mended and exported second-hand clothes to the States, allowing ex-slaves to rival their former owner’s wardrobe for an eighth of the price.
Demand soon far exceeded supply. To meet it, Yorkshire mill-owners manufactured a new cloth made from cotton warp and woollen weft, the wool being shoddy, a mix of new and recycled wool.* Indeed, the new business stimulated them to higher flights of invention, learning to comb scraps of wool previously thought too small. This not only reduced waste but enabled the poorer classes all over the world to dress much better for much less.
Based on ‘Household Words’, Volume XII (November 3rd, 1855), by Charles Dickens.
Chief among those Yorkshire mill owners in Dickens’s time was Sir Titus Salt, who paid generous wages, kept workers on in slack times, and provided excellent working conditions.
Précis
Early in the 19th century, the abolition of the slave trade in British-ruled colonies led to a surge in demand among former slaves for high-quality clothing. At first, the demand was met with send-hand clothing, but soon manufacturers developed cheaper cloth for stylish but affordable new garments, benefiting not just former slaves but ordinary people worldwide. (56 / 60 words)
Early in the 19th century, the abolition of the slave trade in British-ruled colonies led to a surge in demand among former slaves for high-quality clothing. At first, the demand was met with send-hand clothing, but soon manufacturers developed cheaper cloth for stylish but affordable new garments, benefiting not just former slaves but ordinary people worldwide.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, besides, despite, if, or, otherwise, until.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Being. Demand. Indeed.
2 Far. Less. Woolen.
3 Former. Higher. Not.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
bst (7+2)
baste. beast. beset. best. boast. boost. bust.
bast. oboist.
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