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The Factory Girl’s Garland. Volume I, Number 8.

Exeter, NH: A. R. Brown, Saturday, April 13, 1844. 4to (13.75” x 10.5”). 4 pp. CONDITION: Good, 3 cm holes on each page, with 1 cm loss of text at top right edge, bumped and creased corners, 3 cm x 1 cm insect loss at foot of center fold, no loss.

A single issue of this bi-weekly newspaper published for New England’s female mill workers, with articles, editorials, homilies, advice, quotes and poems (many with female bylines), and directed towards those who faced stigma and low wages of nine to fifteen shillings per week for twelve to fifteen hours of work daily. The leading article advocates for capitalists to pay female labor a greater percentage of their profit as “hers is the toil that brings the wealth.” Other articles include How to Choose a Husband, Virtue, The Female Heart, and Loveliness. Among other pieces found here are: a letter by Laura from Waltham: “I like to see a man entrust his ‘better half’ to his friend, while he flirts with a young lady. It shows he has confidence in his wife”; Advice such as, “Those females who are in the habit of trusting too much to the high colorings of fancy, expose themselves to perpetual disappointments”; and humor “‘Take care of the paint,’ as the city girls say when a fellow attempts to kiss them.” Receipts and agent names are listed.

The 1840’s were a boom time for New England newspaper schemes in general. In 1841, the Factory Girl and Ladies’ Garland was commenced by J. L. Beckett, continued under the designation of the Factory Girl by C. C. Dearborn, then in 1843 as Factory Girl’s Garland under A.R. Brown, enlarged as Literary Wreath and Factory Girl’s Garland in 1845, and finally moved in 1846 to Lawrence, Mass, where it was again edited by J. L. Beckett.

Item #6416

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