Large Wiring Hall, Lewiston, Maine, 1868-1878. Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
Large Wiring Hall, Lewiston, Maine, 1868-1878. Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
Women had limited working opportunities in the mid-1800s. Hat factories represented one acceptable trade. The workers in this photograph work in a large shop's "wiring room." They are bending and shaping thin wire to create the bonnets’ form. Sometimes, women in rural New England would “plait” or braid straw into “webs” at home. They would then trade the braided straw webs to merchants for products they could use to run their household. The merchants sold the straw webs to milliner shops, such as this one, to finish the bonnets.