Unsung Hero of the Industrial Revolution

 

By Suzanne Norquist

The world as we know it today wouldn’t exist without conveyor belts. We see them at grocery stores and airports. People even ride on some of them, like moving walkways and escalators. More importantly, they facilitate the movement of goods behind the scenes—in factories, farms, mines, and ships—in the supply chain for everything we buy.

How did this humble servant of humanity come to be?

Before conveyor belts, there were elevators. As far back as the Roman Empire, people used elevators to move themselves, animals, and materials. The Roman Colosseum had twenty-five elevators. Six hundred pounds could be lifted in one powered by eight men.

The Romans also had bucket elevators used to collect water. Containers mounted on a wheel or chain would lift water or other materials.

In the 17^th century, elevators were installed in the palace buildings in England and France. Louis XV of France called one a “flying chair.”

Elevators are used for batch processing, as opposed to conveyor belts, which are used for continuous processing. For example, if our luggage arrives at the airport in big carts, one cart at a time, that is a batch process. Instead, we watch for our bag to come down the belt in the continuous stream of luggage.

It is unclear when the first conveyor belts appeared, as they weren’t really a technological breakthrough. In the 1700s, hand-operated wood-and-leather belts were used predominantly by farmers to move grain or at the docks to load ships.

In 1790, Oliver Evans built the first completely automated grain mill. It incorporated conveyor belts, bucket elevators, and several other handy inventions.

Unfortunately, he struggled to sell his process to other mills. It didn’t help that he wasn’t well-liked. A Philadelphia merchant even called him a “pompous blockhead.” He went on to build steam engines and even invented an amphibious vehicle. But I digress.

Even though Oliver Evans worked with conveyor belts and steam engines, I couldn’t find evidence that he had combined the two.

The British Navy is credited with the first recorded use of a steam-powered conveyor belt in 1804. It streamlined the baking of biscuits for hungry sailors. Many bakeries adopted this technology early on.

Vulcanized rubber, invented by Charles Goodyear in 1844, allowed for sturdier, more heat-resistant belts.

In 1892, Tom Robins invented the first heavy-duty belts. As a conveyor belt salesman, he tried to sell a regular belt to Thomas Edison’s ore-milling company, which needed a sturdier product. When Robins’s employer refused to create a special belt, Robins designed one with a competitor’s company. Robins was fired.

However, his belt won the grand prize at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and first prizes at the Pan-American Exposition and Saint Louis Exposition. He started the Robins Conveying Belt Company, which still exists today under the name ThyssenKrupp Robins.

In 1901, Sandvik AB, a Swedish engineering company, invented steel conveyor belts. These became the standard in the food industry.

Conveyor belts reached full acceptance when Henry Ford used them for his assembly line in 1913. By 1919, they were the industry standard in auto manufacturing.

Without conveyor belts, I doubt the Industrial Revolution could have happened. Our world would look a lot different. Something to remember the next time your suitcase crashes down the luggage carousel at the airport.

***

”Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection

Four historical romances celebrating the arts of sewing and quilting.

Mending Sarah’s Heart by Suzanne Norquist

Rockledge, Colorado, 1884

Sarah seeks a quiet life as a seamstress. She doesn’t need anyone, especially her dead husband’s partner. If only the Emporium of Fashion would stop stealing her customers, and the local hoodlums would leave her sons alone. When she rejects her husband’s share of the mine, his partner Jack seeks to serve her through other means. But will his efforts only push her further away? 

Suzanne Norquist is the author of two novellas, “A Song for Rose” in A Bouquet of Brides Collection and “Mending Sarah’s Heart” in the Thimbles and Threads Collection. Everything fascinates her. She has worked as a chemist, professor, financial analyst, and even earned a doctorate in economics. Research feeds her curiosity, and she shares the adventure with her readers. She lives in New Mexico with her mining engineer husband and has two grown children. When not writing, she explores the mountains, hikes, and attends kickboxing class.

 

The Surprising Origins of the Sunday-Dinner Tradition

Whether pot roast, baked chicken, or a simple stew bubbles in the pot, Sunday dinner is not so much about food as family and friends. This well-loved tradition is as American as apple pie, right?

The Surprising Origins of the Sunday-Dinner Tradition

Yes—and no. The practice actually originated centuries before the United States declared its independence, during the reign of King Henry VII. The Brits consumed a lot of meat back then. Now, Americans love a good steak, but the English appetite for beef was (please pardon the pun) a cut above. It earned them the national nickname of “Roast Beefs” from the French. The royal bodyguards became known as “Beefeaters,” a title they retain today, in the 15th Century.

Two theories exist on the British Sunday roast tradition. It either originated in the late 1400s or the late 1700s, depending on who you believe.

The first theory states that in medieval England, village serfs who served their squire six days each week could take Sundays off for church. Afterwards, they engaged in war games and feasted on an oxen roasted on a spit. A variation of this holds that after attending Sunday services, medieval English villagers would congregate around large communal ovens to roast meat (usually oxen) they’d hunted during the week. The villagers lacked large enough fireplaces to do this at home. Once the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century introduced enclosed ovens into homes, Sunday roast dinner took a more intimate form.

The second theory places the origin sometime after 1760, during the British industrial revolution. Before church, families could start a roast in the oven early, and then add in vegetables on their way out the door. This worked much like our modern slow cookers. They returned home to find dinner waiting and time to enjoy one another.

Whichever opinion is correct, it’s fun to continue this centuries-old tradition.

Gathering for Sunday dinner has become somewhat challenging in today’s far-flung world. No matter how few chairs are around the table, taking the time and trouble to reconnect with loved ones is always worthwhile. Cherishing our families and ourselves on Sunday creates peaceful interludes, which is all the more important in the hostile world in which we live.

I’ve recently begun following this tradition myself. Sometimes there are only two chairs at the table, but my husband and I still enjoying spending special time together. If you’d like to start or revive the Sunday-dinner tradition in your own household, let me know in the comments. Taste of Home features a collection of vintage recipes for Sunday dinners that look pretty amazing.

What’s New with Janalyn Voigt

Getting back to work after so much time off during the holidays is difficult, but I’m gaining momentum. If you also have trouble with transition, I’d love to know how you counter the inertia after a vacation. Or do you come back, recharged and raring to go? In December, we went to Leavenworth with family. If you don’t know, the town was remodeled by its residents to look like an alpine village in Bavaria. This was a tourist move, and it worked out. Leavenworth now draws upwards of a million international tourists per year. Not too shabby for a town that began as a frigid mountain community named “Icicicle.” This week, I’m moving back into regular office hours and am working on an editing project for a publisher. I’ll also plan future writing projects. It’s a time of prayer for direction. 

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt.

Fall in love with the Wild West. Discover Montana Gold.

The Knocker-Uppers

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Yesterday, I had to do something that I don’t do very often anymore. I had to set my alarm clock. This used to be a usual part of my day. Set the clock so I could wake at the proper time to get to work…or later, to make sure my young son got off to school on time. Or my husband’s alarm would wake me when he had to get up for work. But since my husband retired and I work from home…and my son is an adult, weeks from getting married, and just moved into his own apartment, I am in that delightful stage of life where I don’t have to turn on an alarm clock except on very rare occasions. I’m loving the stage of being able to gently awaken at whatever time my body says its ready.

 

Have you ever thought about how people awakened in the times before alarm clocks were so readily available. I recall reading in Louis L’Amour novels how the cowboys would drink copious amounts of water before heading to their bedrolls so that their full bladders would awaken them. While that method would work to make sure you awakened at some point, it doesn’t seem a very reliable way to make sure you awakened at the right time.

 

So what was the answer to awakening for work on time? In places like Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and some other countries, the answer was to hire a Knocker-Upper. Yes, there were people who could be hired to be your professional alarm clock.

Granny Cousins worked as a knocker-upper
from 1901-1918

This occupation became necessary as the Industrial Revolution began in the 1800s. As advancements in industrialization took place, Britain and other countries moved from working the family farm to people working in big cities for employers. No longer could they rise with the sun to work their fields. They had actual shifts they must work, and they needed to be sure to be awake and at their posts in timely manners. Since alarm clocks were not easily available—and often not accurate if one could purchase one—the workforce of the Industrial Revolution relied on the Knocker-Uppers.

These people were typically night owls who were awake in those dusk to dawn hours anyway and who would sleep during daylight hours until about 4 pm. Sometimes, they were elderly gentlemen. Other times, young women in the family way would fulfill the role. Still other were police officers who patrolled in those overnight hours and wanted to supplement their income with a bit extra. Whoever they were, these human alarm clocks had the sole task of being sure their clients received a gentle nudge when their wake-up time rolled around—all for about six pence a week.

Mrs. Bowers and her dog Jack
Note the rubber mallet she used to knock on
doors or windows.

 

However, it wasn’t as simple as going to the door and knocking or ringing the bell. To do so would awaken the household—but usually only one in the household had paid for the service. So as a knocker-upper, you didn’t want to inadvertently wake people for free. To combat that problem, these service providers developed ingenious ways of waking only the ones who had asked for a wake-up call. 

 

Many Knocker-Uppers carried long sticks, often made of bamboo, which could reach from the street level to a second-story window. They would use the stick to tap gently on a certain window three or four times before they moved on. Others used a wood or metal baton—short in length—to tap on a door. Some chose a rubber mallet as their knocker of choice. And a few ingenious sorts used reeds or rubber tubes to shoot pebbles or peas at the window of their customer.

Mary Smith used a pea shooter to awaken
her customers

Some knocker-uppers would take their jobs so seriously, they would stand and continue to knock at their customer’s door or window until the person waved to them to say they were awake. However, many were busy enough with customers that they gave three quick taps at a window or door and moved on, trusting their customer to have heard. 

 

To make the job easier for the knocker-uppers, some customers began putting slates outside their doors with the details of when they wished to be awakened. These “knocky-boards” would often have their shifts for the week written on them, or just a general time to awaken them each morning. 

A customer waves to her knocker-upper
to say she was awake.

 

This little-known profession was well-known enough in the late 1800s that it was written about in both fiction and historical accounts. For instance, Charles Dickens included a mention of a character being in a sour mood after being “knocked up” in chapter six of Great Expectations. And in the writing on Jack the Ripper, the man who found the Ripper’s first victim, Mary Nichols, said he told a police officer in the area, but said officer was busy enough awakening people that he was non-committal about coming to investigate the body of the dead woman.

 

All told, this interesting profession was started during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, and it was largely phased out in the 1940s and 1950s in most places. But in some small communities, it continued well into the 1970s.

 

It’s Your Turn: Have you ever heard of a knocker-upper? If you lived during the Industrial Revolution, would you have considered going into such a profession? Why or why not?

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

 

Crafts of Olden Days – with Giveaway By Donna Schlachter

Neolithic Gold Bead by Mark Cartwright

Crafting is a creative process that has occupied humans for many years. Depending on the social and financial situation of the crafter, they might produce an item solely for use, such as knitted socks, a clay jar to carry water, or a wooden tool or implement such as a wheelbarrow or a chisel. When societies had solved most of their day-to-day problems such as gathering or producing enough food and water, or providing sufficient clothing and shelter, they might turn their attention to producing items used more for decoration or demonstration of status, such as embroidery, decorative wood carving, and jewelry.

The earliest stage of crafting began with early man as every object needed had to be made by hand. Without automation, this could often be tedious and labor-intensive. Consider that to knit socks, they first had to raise sheep or have access to the wool. Then somebody had to spin it, perhaps dye the wool, before the knitter actually sat with needles and a pattern in hand.

Oh, wait. No patterns. At least, nothing officially published, at least not until the early 19th century. Before that, patterns were passed along and passed down by word of mouth or perhaps on scraps of papyrus or eventually paper. 

AdobeStock_337225572

 

Decorative and household items have been found as early as 6500 BC, and each culture had its own unique style and process, using raw materials readily available, such as types of clay, gemstones, wood types, and metals. By far, gold is the most widely used metal, and as metallurgy advanced, bronze (the mixing of copper and tin) became widespread.

As sea travel advanced, sailors often returned home with samples from other people groups, spreading the styles and processes all over the world. Around 1000 BC, the Phonecians brought crafts from the English isles back to the Mediterranean, while sharing their own processes with the Brits and Celts.

During the Renaissance period, crafting moved from necessity to decoration. Folks specialized in particular crafts, including metal work, jewelry-making, clay work, needlework, and the like. The wealthy often employed craftsmen and craftswomen whose sole job was to do what they were best at. Unions and groups formed that regulated what the craftspeople could do, often testing them to determine their level of skill. It is here we see apprenticeships and journeymen and master designations important in controlling the craftspeople and setting appropriate prices.

 AdobeStock_304644039

In the Industrial Revolution, machines were designed to replicate the manual skills in areas such as weaving, carving, woodworking, beadwork, in response to the increased population’s demand for products.

As mentioned before, in the early 1800s, patterns were published for common products such as knitted items, dresses, and needlework. Near the 1900s, manuals and instruction books became popular as most families no longer employed craftspeople, and producing craft items became indicative of leisure and free time.

Regardless of the reason—to produce something useful or beautiful or both—creativity is a trait we share with our ancestors, which shouldn’t surprise us, since we are made in the image of a creative God.

Giveaway: leave a comment, and I will randomly draw one winner of a tin-punch kit. Include your email in this format: email AT server DOT extension. For example, donna AT historythrutheages DOT com

About Donna:

Donna writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas, full-length novels, and non-fiction books. She is a member of ACFW, Writers on the Rock, SinC, Pikes Peak Writers, Capitol Christian Writers Fellowship, Christian Women Writers, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; blogs regularly for Heroes, Heroines, and History; and judges in writing contests. www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com





Resources:

https://www.ancient.eu/crafts/

https://www.marthastewart.com/7839594/historical-origin-of-craft-techniques

https://www.pinterest.com/dmtamari/pioneer-crafts/

The American Gilded Age

By Susan G Mathis

The Gilded Age is from about 1870-1910. Mark Twain coined the term in his 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today that satirized the era of social problems that were masked by a layer of thin, gold gilding. 

It was a time of rapid technical advances, industrialization, and thousands of new inventions. This era of economic growth, with wages higher than Europe, led to massive immigration drawing about 20 million to the U.S. shores. Unions fought to stop child labor and establish an eight-hour work day. Social reforms included women’s suffrage, prohibition, and other civil changes. In the cities, labor unions became important in regulating industry, while trusts grew stronger in several industries. Education, prohibition, and racial inequalities dominated politics as did economic affairs of money supply and tariffs.

But it was also a time of unequal distribution of wealth where the rich got richer and the poor working class suffered. Many young women worked as servants until they married, and that’s what my stories are about—those nameless, faithful women who cooked and cleaned and served tables for the rich and famous. These “downstairs” women had fascinating stories to tell. 

The Gilded Age titans of industry changed our world—people like John D Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, George Pullman, and others who were sometimes called “robber barons.” But there were others who quietly made a difference—people like Frederick Bourne who took the Singer sewing machine around the globe. 

During this time city growth ballooned and so did the economic problems of housing, the poor, and many social problems. Factories, railroads, finance, and mining were just a few of the growing industries during this time, while immigrants and others moved West and filled jobs in mining, farming, ranching, and building railroads. The number of public schools multiplied and so did membership in churches, especially in Catholicism due to so many Irish, Italian, and other immigrants. But the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893 depressed growth for a season and brought political and social strife.

Technology and industrialization grew the economy during this era. Mechanization created less expensive products.  The steel industry exploded, and the first transcontinental railroad opened in 1869. For the first time one could travel from New York to San Francisco in just six days. By 1880, railroad mileage tripled and brought the nation closer together. Markets became national and the world smaller. 

During the Gilded Age, America led the world in innovation. A half-million patents were issued for new inventions including hundreds by Thomas Edision, Westinghouse, and others. Thanks to inventions such as delivery of electric power, the world became lighter, safer, more convenient and comfortable, and all around better.  

What strikes you most about the Gilded Age?

Leave your answer or comments on the post below and join me on February 19^th for my next post. 

Check out Katelyn's Choice, Book 1 of the Thousand Islands Gilded Age series

Katelyn Kavanagh’s mother dreamed her daughter would one day escape the oppressive environment of their Upstate New York farm for service in the enchanting Thousand Islands, home to Gilded Age millionaires. But when her wish comes true, Katelyn finds herself in the service of none other than the famous George Pullman, and the transition proves anything but easy. 

Thomas O’Neill, brother of her best friend, is all grown up and also working on Pullman Island. Despite Thomas’ efforts to help the irresistible Katelyn adjust to the intricacies of her new world, she just can’t seem to tame her gossiping tongue—even when the information she’s privy to could endanger her job, the 1872 re-election of Pullman guest President Ulysses S. Grant, and the love of the man of her dreams.

About Susan: 

Susan G Mathis is a multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands, her childhood stomping ground in upstate NY. Katelyn’s Choice, the first in The Thousand Islands Gilded Age series, is available now, and book two, Devyn’s Dilemma, releases in April, 2020. The Fabric of Hope: An Irish Family Legacy, Christmas Charity, and Sara’s Surprise are available now. Visit www.SusanGMathis.com for more.

Susan is also a published author of two premarital books with her husband, Dale, two children's picture books, stories in a dozen compilations, and hundreds of published articles. Susan makes her home in Colorado Springs, enjoys traveling globally with her wonderful husband, Dale. 

Lighthouse Publishing: https://shoplpc.com/devyns-dilemma

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Susan-G-Mathis/e/B001JP31DI?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1578601862&sr=1-1  

Website: www.SusanGMathis.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanGMathis

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@SusanGMathis

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susangmathis

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/susangmathisaut

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6044608.Susan_G_Mathis

Pingree's Potato Patches

By Tiffany Amber Stockton

Last month, I shared about the "Old West manners." If you missed that post, you can read it here: http://www.hhhistory.com/2017/08/old-west-manners-book-giveaway.html.

* * * * * * * * * *

Pingree's Potato Patches

This month, I'm going back to highlight one of my older books from a 3-book series set in historical Detroit during the Industrial Revolution. The effects of this boom in industry took a little longer to reach the ranches and undeveloped wide, open land of the West, but they weren't without their needs that the industry offered. The general stores of those western towns relied on the railroad industry as well as the major cities and the production of items the trains brought to them so they could sell the treasures to folks living nearby.

As I researched details for book 2 in this series (entitled Hearts and Harvest released in September 2009), I came across newsworthy events such as the Pullman Strike in Chicago in the summer of 1894 which about shut down all transportation west of that city. You can bet the western towns felt the effects when they couldn't get their standard shipments of goods and materials because the trains weren't running.

Another major component of this recent book is spotlighting the Pingree Potato Patches which were established following the economic recession that occurred in 1893. Overinvestment in railroad development led to widespread bank failures and the eventual closing up shop of several prominent business or industries. Places such as cookstove companies, railcar industries and shoe factories all had to close their doors when they could no longer afford to stay open.

The major cities were hit the hardest, but once the effects trickled outward toward the western territories or states, the folks living in those towns suffered as well. Mayor Pingree of Detroit was the first man to settle on public works as a means of recovering from the financial crisis. Instead of allowing those who suffered to be left to their own devices, the mayor sought out donations of land from investors who had purchased the plots, hoping for a rise in value. The land was then converted into vegetable farms, with potatoes being the prime crop grown. Those who worked the plots would be able to feed their families and provide the surplus to the city to replenish the stores and help rebuild the economy.

The idea held widespread appeal, and soon other cities both in the US and Europe adopted similar plans to help dig themselves out of the financial pits. The recession and potato farming lasted until 1896, but as early as 1894, produce again could be shipped all around the country and folks were ready to face the dawning a new century.

And that's not all. Despite some of the rough-and-tumble sorts who frequented saloons or seemed to populate those typical western towns, there also existed a more genteel lot. And many of them had begun in the major cities before moving west. Many of them even maintained their annual trips back to the big cities like Detroit on their way to places like Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel between the upper and lower Michigan peninsulas. The resort island was a hot spot for the high-society folks who wore bustles instead of spurs as their everyday clothing. :)

Today (with the lack of automobiles and transportation being limited to horses, carriages, bicycles or on foot), the island represents a harkening back to a simpler time....much the same way westerns take us back to the age of westward expansion and the pioneering souls who helped pave the way to the world in which we live today.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* What would YOU do if you all of a sudden found yourself with nothing after having lived an affluent lifestyle?

* Would you be willing to give up land for those who had lost everything and see those same people farm on that land? Would you be willing to work alongside them?

* What vacations does YOUR family take or what traditions do you have that you do each year?

* What is 1 fascinating fact about today's post which caught your eye today?

---

BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those childhood skills to become an author and speaker who works in the anti-aging, health & wellness, and personal development industry, helping others become their best from the inside out.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, in Colorado. They have one girl and one boy, and a Retriever mix named Roxie. She has sold twenty (21) books so far and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Victorian Literature and the Industrial Revolution: Factories, Ragged Schools, and Serial Novels

It’s August, which means school will be starting up soon for many of us, whether we are parents, teachers, or continuing students. As a high school English teacher myself, my mind is turning towards the classic literature I will be delving into with my students this year, starting off with one of my favorites, Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities.

                            Charlotte Bronte.  Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Many of us love classic Victorian novels like those of the Bronte sisters or     Charles Dickens, but did you know we have the Industrial Revolution to thank for many of these books we still enjoy today? When I had the chance to study in Oxford, England, during my college years, I found the connection between Victorian Literature and the Industrial Revolution fascinating. I thought you might enjoy hearing a bit about it too.

The Industrial Revolution began in England in the late 18^th century with the development of early machines for processing textiles and producing cloth. By the 1830s, the proliferation of factories and mill towns had changed the physical and social landscape of Britain. Family structure changed as people moved from farms to cities and women and children went to work in the factories as well as men. 

Ironworks Factory. Courtesy National Library of Wales.

Poverty and squalor abounded, but the Industrial Revolution had positive impacts too.

For one thing, while many children who suffered long hours working in the factories did not go to school, ultimately education and literacy increased as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The very presence of these children in the factories eventually raised awareness of their need for schooling, and benefactors established schools to give these little ones Christian and academic education. In fact, in 1844 Parliament passed a law requiring child workers to be given six half-days for schooling per week. The so-called “Ragged Schools,” Sunday Schools, schools for girls, and other public or charity schools meant that more and more children could learn to read and write despite the hardship of their lives.

With more working class people knowing how to read, the demand for reading material naturally rose. Coupled with mechanization’s greater ability to mass-produce texts, literature began to flourish like never before, with novels and poetry for both adults and children. Many of these authors, like Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Christina Georgina Rossetti, are still beloved today.

Charles Dickens. Source: Wikimedia Commons
{{PD-1923}} – public domain in the U.S.

The darker side of the industrial revolution also fueled literature in a different way. Novelists like Charles Dickens and poets like Elizabeth Barrett Browning used their writing to shine light on the abuses of the poor, the horrible conditions of the working class, and the plight of children through books like Dickens’s Hard Times and Oliver Twist or poems like Browning’s “TheCry of the Children.” These works still stand as examples of how literature can touch people’s hearts and influence society for good.

Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Many of us don’t realize that most Victorian novels were published in serial form, usually a chapter at a time in newspapers or magazines, before they were released as an entire book. The industrial revolution had also produced an growing middle class, and for the first time many families had the time (and the literacy) to sit around the fire in the evenings at leisure together. And what better way to pass the time than to read a story aloud? So they would pick up a magazine or newspaper and read together the latest installment of Jane Eyre, Vanity Fair, or The Pickwick Papers. 

There’s even a website now that has many of these classic novels organized by the serial order in which they appeared in various English periodicals during the Victorian period. You can view original facsimiles of these early editions of these beloved stories and see how they looked, chapter by chapter, to loyal fans and families for the very first time. While the site can be a bit tricky to navigate, it’s fun to explore—here’s the link if you’d like to take a peek!

So, what are some of your favorite Victorian novels? Did any of this information about the influence of the Industrial Revolution surprise you? Would you have enjoyed reading novels in serial form, or would it frustrate you to have to wait a month to read the next chapter? I’d love to hear your thoughts!