On the job: Female journeyman wig makers in colonial times 1750 – 1800's

Angelique G.

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On the job: Female journeyman wig makers in colonial times 1750 – 1800's

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Abstract

“In the colonial era, men wore wigs made from human and goat hairs and even wool or straw.”¹ The practice of men wearing elaborate wigs in the colonies originated in Europe and became fashionable here creating an industry that accepted women as journey women or apprentices for this trade. A journey woman can be defined as a “Craftsman: a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft. ”² or “A wage-worker, generally assumed to be one who has served out an apprenticeship.”³ or “A worker who has learned a trade and works for another person usually by the day .”4

Introduction
Wig maker's general duties
Women's colonial life duties
The wig trade
Definition of industrialization
Women's involvement in the wig making trade
Conclusion
Resources

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[...] This is the more realistic effect of industrialization on colonial wig making as the wig makers were only employees or day laborers who did not own the wig making materials themselves or even have the capital to start their own businesses so the colonial wig making trade began to die out However, “Bruce Laurie states that about prior to about 1790, artisans were aloof from “market nexuses in which . social relations were shaped by economic exigencies.”; Artisans into Workers: Labor in Nineteenth Century America (New York, 1989) What really happened was that the wig makers adapted in the following way: “Sean Wilentz believes that, as late as the 1820's artisans were tied to an ancient craft world of production and marketing.” 12 Survival of the fittest! [...]

[...] On The Job:Female Journeyman Wig Makers in Colonial Times 1750 1800's the colonial era, men wore wigs made from human and goat hairs and even wool or straw.”¹ The practice of men wearing elaborate wigs in the colonies originated in Europe and became fashionable here creating an industry that accepted women as journey women or apprentices for this trade. A journey woman can be defined as a “Craftsman: a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft. or wage-worker, generally assumed to be one who has served out an apprenticeship.”³ or worker who has learned a trade and works for another person usually by the day Some of the general duties that a wig maker would perform would be “shaving the customer's heads, measuring the customer's heads for skullcaps, preparing the hair, stitching the hair to the caps and powdering the finished wigs.” 5 Colonial wig making was an intricate trade that involved learning lots of different twists and turns to make the hair on the wig curl or stay in a certain fashionable way. [...]

[...] Women of the “middling sort” and lower classes often worked in shops, businesses or craft workshops and developed skills as weavers, milliners and even printers. Others assisted in their husband's shops or taverns and often managed these businesses after their husband's deaths.” 10 Resources 1. Schierholz P. John & Abigail Adams. American Experience Web site Available at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/adams/behindscenes/bts_pop_05_gal_01.html. Accessed December JOURNEYMAN. WordNet Search 3.0 : Princeton.edu's Web site Available at: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn? s=journeyman&sub=Search+WordNet&o2=&o0=1&o7=&o5=&o1=1&o6=&o4=&o3=&h=. Accessed December Reynolds S. JOURNEYMAN. NetSERF: Hypertext Medieval Glossary Web site Available at: http://www.netserf.org/Glossary/j.cfm. [...]

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