Situation of the Straw Plaiting Cottage Industry in the Carpathian Basin in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

N. Szabó, Magdolna (2004) Situation of the Straw Plaiting Cottage Industry in the Carpathian Basin in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries. Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 49 (3-4). pp. 299-311. ISSN 1216-9803

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Abstract

Research on cottage industry in the Carpathian Basin has not paid very much attention to work with straw. In peasant self-sufficiency, in addition to wickerwork and rush weaving, plaits made of wheat and rye straw were among the main materials used for agricultural and household storage containers. In some areas the making of straw hats as an income-supplementing activity carried out together with agricultural work also acquired special importance. In the 19th century with the expansion of trade this cottage industry in places rose to the level of a manufacturing industry. At the turn of the century the movements promoting domestic industry and the trade exhibitions gave special impetus to this activity. It flourished right up to the Trianon decision of 1920. As a consequence of the dictated peace Hungary lost around two-thirds of its territory and economic ties were suddenly severed. In some parts of the Great Plain, e.g. in Hajdúnánás (today Hajdú-Bihar County), and especially in the villages of the Székelyföld region, traditional straw hat making has survived right up to the present as a women's activity, providing a livelihood for many women working at home. This article deals with the industrial history background, with questions affecting cottage industry in general, and with the past of once flourishing trade connections, devoting special attention to a few villages in Hungary and in the Székelyföld region in the territory of today's Romania.

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