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Factory work in Victorian Lancashire |
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On a happier note
Workers had the opportunity to sample entertainments at Blackpool |
To set against these problems, after the 'Hungry Forties' and the unemployment of the 'Cotton Famine' in the early 1860s, the Lancashire 'cotton towns' became relatively prosperous places. Falling food prices, and high family incomes where several people were earning, increased families' spending power, producing the world's first working-class consumer society. From the 1870s and 1880s, growing numbers of people could afford to enjoy Blackpool, pay to watch football matches, go to the music-hall, buy sheet music and even pianos, save through the year by shopping at the Co-op, and eat convenience foods as part of a varied diet.
There was still material poverty, of course, especially when there was only one wage-earner and the children were young; but the big downside was time poverty, especially when women were working the 'double shift' of job and housework, and having to satisfy demanding neighbours about their respectable standards. Some men helped, especially in weaving families, but the burden of cleaning, baking, cooking and washing fell disproportionately on the women, and the sooty skies made it worse. Lancashire factory folk worked very hard, and played hard when they got the opportunity.
Words: John K Walton - University of Central Lancashire
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