65/290

This is a straw plait for straw hats, made in Suffolk circa 1890. It was rejected by the buyer and so the family kept hold of it.

1 straw plait; straw; good condition

MERL ‘Handwritten catalogue’ form - ‘STRAW PLAIT // Crafts // 65/290 // R. Payne Esq, Ambleside, Park Avenue, Wraysbury, Nr. Staines, Middlesex.’, Letter, R. Payne to MERL, 1965 – ‘Please would you add this plaited straw to your collection. // It was made as a cottage industry from ‘gleaned’ straw in the village of Clare or perhaps the village of Hundon, Suffolk, in 1890 very approximately. My mother, born in 1882, at I believe Clare in Suffolk told me that as a little girl she helped in the plaiting. Apparently while the straw was available the whole family, young and old had to help. // It was taken to a central point where an agent in pony and trap bought it… The agent offering 3d a ‘score’ … ’, MERL Miscellaneous note – ‘[The donor] is sending some straw plait (for hats) made in Suffolk at the villages of Clare & Hundon, c.1890. // His mother and children used to make it from gleanings. About this time, he says, ‘the machines came in’ and this particular plait was rejected by the buyer in the nearby town to which they took it in pony and trap each week’.

Suffolk

1890-01-01 - 1899-12-31

1890s

A. E. Olney Ltd. (Agent)