In preparation for our talk with Jamie, a mill curator in England, we did a few things to get out minds thinking. We drafted questions we would ask him and also watched one of his previous videos to give us a little bit of insight into what it is he does and what it means to be a proper museum curator. We visited a website called http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com, and there we learned about how the mills operated and also what each machine did. We also discovered the evolution of these machines, and how one invention led to the creation of an even better one that served the same purpose but was far more efficient. Through watching the video and formulating our questions, we gained some background information on Jamie and his job, but we unveiled far more when we had the chat with him.
One of the first things we talked about was the textile process overall. The textile business was a very dangerous one, and people were frequently getting hurt by the machines. These machines were run primarily by women, and there were very poor working and living conditions. We also talked about the evolution of technology through the 1700s to the 1900s, such as the eventual evolution of the hand loom into the power loom. As this technology progressed, machines got louder, nearly deafening many mill workers. They also became more unsafe, leading to multiple injuries, but to the mill owners the only important part was the speeding up of production. The power loom was an example of this enhancement of machinery because it was invented to increase the overall production and speed of the textile process, as they could be lined up to create factories. All of these machines in one room created a large amount of noise, and more machines meant more chances that someone could get hurt. However, the biggest impact the textile industry had was on the families of many people. The industry allowed people from poor families to go to the city and work in a factory for a living. They would be able to earn money to send back to their families, and they would be provided with food and shelter in boarding houses. Even though they had some of these benefits, they each had a draw back to them. People who worked in the mills were away from their families, and they were not paid well at all. They also had to deal with poorer living conditions as the industry progressed. Their lives were quite miserable in the mills, with the long hours of work and little break time. Not only did we learn about how the mills affected families, but we also got to talk to Jamie a little bit about his job as a curator. He told us that his job involves the managing of the old machines, and also how he tries to teach people more about the textile industry in the industrial era. I didn't think that Jamie taught people about the machines, and I really didn't know what a curator did until we talked to him.
Overall, I feel like I learned more from an outside expert than I would have by reading excerpts, and I think that it gave us a lot deeper of an understanding of the textile industry than reading about it did. I enjoyed learning about it directly through someone whose life revolves around it, but there were a few things I didn’t like about it. I didn't like how he could only see one or two of us at a time, and it was also hard to hear what he was saying sometimes. Despite this, I would really like to do it again, as it allowed us to become more in depth with the concept by talking about it with an experienced person who knows more about it than many of us. Watching Jamie talk to us about the textile industry was an experience that I would most definitely want to try again with other concepts, and I enjoyed being there.
Here's a Link to MOSI's Website!
http://www.mosi.org.uk/explore-mosi/explore-galleries/textiles-gallery.aspx
Here's one of the videos of our chat!
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