Lessons from the history of textiles

Several takeaways from this small extract of Virgina Postrel's new book on textiles in the WSJ. 

This about the productivity boost from the invention of spinning machines in late 18th century,

Before the Industrial Revolution, spinning wool into yarn was by far Britain’s largest industrial occupation, employing as many as 1.5 million people in a total workforce of about 4 million. Keeping a single weaver supplied with yarn required about 20 spinners... Spinners were paid miserably, yet their labor constituted a greater proportion of the cost of cloth than anything except the raw material. That’s because cloth consumes staggering amounts of yarn, and hand spinning takes a long time. The denim in a single pair of jeans, for instance, consumes about 6 miles of cotton yarn. The best spinners would have taken about 100 hours to produce that much. That’s nearly 13 eight-hour days.

This is something to pause and reflect as we view the productivity and other impacts of modern technologies. 

Its labour displacement effects were offset by newer products and needs,

After commissioning a report, lawmakers decided against action. Despite the upheaval... spinning mills were creating new kinds of jobs and benefiting the nation in other ways. From clothing to sails, bed linens to flour sacks, essential items were suddenly much cheaper, more varied and more easily obtained. It was the beginning of what economic historian Deirdre McCloskey calls “the Great Enrichment,” the economic takeoff that over the next two centuries lifted global living standards by 3,000 percent.

The history of textiles also informs us about the role of protectionism in the rise of the industry,

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Europeans went crazy for printed cottons from India. The colorfast dyes, beautiful patterns and soft, lightweight fabrics surpassed anything Europeans could achieve—threatening silk, linen and wool producers. In response, some countries, including Britain, banned the imports. In France, where the silk industry was running the show, the government went even further, banning all cotton imports, even plain cloth, and all printed textiles, even if they were made in France. From 1686 to 1759, France treated calico essentially the way the U.S. treats cocaine: Traffickers could be sentenced to years rowing in the navy’s galleys. Major offenders were executed. People caught wearing calico could be arrested and imprisoned without trial.