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Demonstrating
Jun. 29th, 2008 08:53 pmSo, as mentioned yesterday, I spent a full 8 hour day demonstrating handspinning at a historical site over in McHenry. The place is a pioneer farm that dates to the late 1830s, and still has the original house and barn intact. This was the first year for their big event, and I give credit to the organizers (who were apparently most of them in their 70s) for getting out excellent publicity and getting in a good crew of demonstrators. It was of course a "family" event with lots of parents towing kids around to see the demonstrations of everything from milking cows to sewing quilts. There were turkeys, chickens, alpacas, sheep, and cows to look at. I don't think there were any horses (pity.) There were tractors, both old and new. There were food concessions (of course) and presentations on 19th century life, with lots of people in historic costumes. They had an excellent turnout, with a gate count of 800 by noon and 1500 by the time they closed down at 4 pm.
I spun continuously, first wool on a drop spindle, and then cotton on a wheel, with only a half hour break for lunch (which was provided by the organizers as prepared box lunches distributed to the volunteer demonstrators.) I explained what I was doing again and again (not my strong point) until I was losing my voice.
I'm very impressed with the organizers and volunteers, and pleased to say that the weather behaved except for one quick shower and a burst of wind. However, once again I came away utterly unimpressed with Americans' attitudes and awareness. As I've been saying for years, people are so isolated now from the sources of their food and clothing that they are absolutely clueless about how this stuff comes to exist, or that people have to do things to make it happen. The actual process befuddles them. The sequence of steps from raw cotton or wool to finished clothing are a total mystery to them. They simply have no idea, and in most cases seem never to have thought of it at all. Most children have the attention spans of monkeys, and can stare at you without even seeing you while their mental wheels seem to be only processing on when the ice cream is coming or how soon they get to ride the tractor. Adults, though, are just scary.
They will ask what you're doing. You explain that you are making yarn that can be knitted into clothing or woven into cloth (and there are weavers working under the next canopy over, so they can see that happening. You see this look of disbelief cross their faces. Then they either humor you, or ask the obvious (to them) question: "Why would you do that when you can just buy yarn, or better yet, clothing?" The notion that throughout 99% of humankind's existence, there was no Wal-Mart store seems to be beyond their grasp. They gape at the spinning wheel (a modern manufactured one) and then ask how old it is and where you got it. You explain that it's only eight years old and was made in New Zealand (or Canada) and they shake their heads. "I had no idea anyone made such things any more." They ask where the wool or cotton came from, and don't seem to be able to understand the answer. "But didn't you have to kill the sheep?" The wool is gray and they can't believe there are gray sheep. "I thought they were all white or else black."
Cotton is the most puzzling to them, despite the fact that it is such a significant element in U.S. history. They have no idea how it grows, or that it had to be picked by hand and "seeded" before it could be prepared for spinning. Or else you tell them it's cotton you're spinning and they persist in thinking you bought it from the bandage department at the pharmacy.
Older people (generally those over about 50 years of age) are better. They have some idea of the process by which finished goods arrive in their hands, even if they have never performed the steps personally. The under 30 set, though, are absolutely ignorant. They have no idea about anything, though I'm sure most of them could tell me all the shows they will watch on television this evening. The idea that spinning is one step in a longer process from raw fiber to finished clothing seems incomprehensible to them. The fact that the spinning wheel doesn't do it automatically, and the spinner must exercise acquired skills, is hard for them to grasp too. They say "It looks so easy" or "It looks so tedious" (it is neither, but there's no point in arguing) and I point out that I've been doing it for 20 years now, so I have a fairly practiced hand. This, of course, produces more astonishment. How could anyone make the effort to learn something that takes that long?
I'm truly afraid that our educational system has completely failed, and that our society is within a tiny pinprick of collapse. If the oil dries up, or becomes too expensive, huge numbers of people are going to be totally helpless and will die because they don't know how to get raw food and prepare it, or how to make or even repair clothing for themselves.
I spun continuously, first wool on a drop spindle, and then cotton on a wheel, with only a half hour break for lunch (which was provided by the organizers as prepared box lunches distributed to the volunteer demonstrators.) I explained what I was doing again and again (not my strong point) until I was losing my voice.
I'm very impressed with the organizers and volunteers, and pleased to say that the weather behaved except for one quick shower and a burst of wind. However, once again I came away utterly unimpressed with Americans' attitudes and awareness. As I've been saying for years, people are so isolated now from the sources of their food and clothing that they are absolutely clueless about how this stuff comes to exist, or that people have to do things to make it happen. The actual process befuddles them. The sequence of steps from raw cotton or wool to finished clothing are a total mystery to them. They simply have no idea, and in most cases seem never to have thought of it at all. Most children have the attention spans of monkeys, and can stare at you without even seeing you while their mental wheels seem to be only processing on when the ice cream is coming or how soon they get to ride the tractor. Adults, though, are just scary.
They will ask what you're doing. You explain that you are making yarn that can be knitted into clothing or woven into cloth (and there are weavers working under the next canopy over, so they can see that happening. You see this look of disbelief cross their faces. Then they either humor you, or ask the obvious (to them) question: "Why would you do that when you can just buy yarn, or better yet, clothing?" The notion that throughout 99% of humankind's existence, there was no Wal-Mart store seems to be beyond their grasp. They gape at the spinning wheel (a modern manufactured one) and then ask how old it is and where you got it. You explain that it's only eight years old and was made in New Zealand (or Canada) and they shake their heads. "I had no idea anyone made such things any more." They ask where the wool or cotton came from, and don't seem to be able to understand the answer. "But didn't you have to kill the sheep?" The wool is gray and they can't believe there are gray sheep. "I thought they were all white or else black."
Cotton is the most puzzling to them, despite the fact that it is such a significant element in U.S. history. They have no idea how it grows, or that it had to be picked by hand and "seeded" before it could be prepared for spinning. Or else you tell them it's cotton you're spinning and they persist in thinking you bought it from the bandage department at the pharmacy.
Older people (generally those over about 50 years of age) are better. They have some idea of the process by which finished goods arrive in their hands, even if they have never performed the steps personally. The under 30 set, though, are absolutely ignorant. They have no idea about anything, though I'm sure most of them could tell me all the shows they will watch on television this evening. The idea that spinning is one step in a longer process from raw fiber to finished clothing seems incomprehensible to them. The fact that the spinning wheel doesn't do it automatically, and the spinner must exercise acquired skills, is hard for them to grasp too. They say "It looks so easy" or "It looks so tedious" (it is neither, but there's no point in arguing) and I point out that I've been doing it for 20 years now, so I have a fairly practiced hand. This, of course, produces more astonishment. How could anyone make the effort to learn something that takes that long?
I'm truly afraid that our educational system has completely failed, and that our society is within a tiny pinprick of collapse. If the oil dries up, or becomes too expensive, huge numbers of people are going to be totally helpless and will die because they don't know how to get raw food and prepare it, or how to make or even repair clothing for themselves.
