In class recently, we did a live Google Hangout with a textile museum in England, the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). We made lots of preparations for the video chat in the days beforehand. First, we explored MOSI's website. Our guide was Jamie, an Explainer at the museum. We watched a video tour of the museum with him explaining the functions of the machines. This video had some new terms for different machines and wool that we looked up the definitions to using our internet searching skills gained in previous activities. We also drafted a few questions to have ready to ask during the Google Hangout.
We learned a lot about the textile making process. We learned about all of the different machines and their functions, like the hopper feeder scutcher, which cleans raw cotton and combines the fibers into a fleece. We also learned about the working conditions in the mills. Jamie told us about some of the accidents that mill workers could get into. Some of the machines had very tight leather straps which, if they snapped, could whip a person or even catch them and carry them up into the machinery. Workers could get cancer or other diseases from the cotton fibers getting stuck in their lungs. We learned that Richard Arkwright, who patented the water frame, did not actually invent the water frame, merely took others' ideas because he was already rich enough to patent his 'invention.' We also learned that many common words and phrases come from the textile industry, like the word heirloom. Back then, a loom was the most valuable thing a family owned, and so they passed down the loom to their heirs - hence the word heirloom.
Overall, this was a really cool experience. It was very interesting to make contact with people in a completely different part of the world from us. It was also very educational and fascinating. I would definitely want to do something like this again in the future.
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