Social History for Every Classroom

Search

Social History for Every Classroom

menuAmerican Social History Project  ·    Center for Media and Learning

"Straw Hat Maker"

This illustration was one of several published in the American edition of The Book of Trades, or Library of the Useful Arts, a British survey of crafts that were practiced in the colonies. Each illustration was accompanied by a description of the craft, the kinds of materials used to perform the craft as well as their typical cost.  The book also included an analysis of the role and history of each craft in society. Straw hat makers were typically women, as were feather workers, lacemakers, and spinners, but women were also employed in assembly work for other trades like bookbinding and shoebinding.

Straw Hat Maker.
Source | Charles Squire (printer.), Richard Taylor and Company, The Book of Trades, or Library of the Useful Arts, 1807; from Who Built America? Working People and the Nation's Economy, Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. I (New York: Worth Publishers, 2000), 120.
Creator | Charles Squire
Item Type | Poster/Print
Cite This document | Charles Squire, “"Straw Hat Maker",” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 29, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1679.

Print and Share