Good article - very insightful. Of course women were the centre of most manufacture and service production up until the mid point of 19th century, when factories and big industry became dominant. Before that point, the booze you drank, the shirt you wore, the candles you read by, meals you ate, and the medicine you lived and died by were of home manufacture. If a woman worked outside of the home the pay was minimal, possibilities of abuse were great and that industry she was unable to do in the home was a significant loss to the family.
Good article - very insightful. Of course women were the centre of most manufacture and service production up until the mid point of 19th century, when factories and big industry became dominant. Before that point, the booze you drank, the shirt you wore, the candles you read by, meals you ate, and the medicine you lived and died by were of home manufacture. If a woman worked outside of the home the pay was minimal, possibilities of abuse were great and that industry she was unable to do in the home was a significant loss to the family.