Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
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factorygothic.bsky.social
Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
@factorygothic.bsky.social
310 followers 440 following 170 posts
Sharing 19th-century Gothic industrial research
Dr. Bridget Marshall (she/her), Professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Book: http://tinyurl.com/h79c3epk
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factorygothic.bsky.social
Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall @factorygothic.bsky.social · Apr 28
Very exciting mail today: actual physical copy of my new edition of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's The Factory Girl (1863), via Wales University Press: www.uwp.co.uk/book/mary-el.... Available in the US in June: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... It includes all the original illustrations!
photo of the cover of the book "Mary Elizabeth Braddon: The Factory Girl (1863) edited by Bridget M. Marshall" book open to Chapter 1 featuring an illustration
factorygothic.bsky.social
Can't believe it's already my last day in Belfast! Spent it in one of my favorite research spots -- Linen Hall Museum -- and then also (finally) went to Belfast City Hall to see their excellent exhibit on the history of the building and the city, and took a tour of the building. Recommend both!
Photograph: view of Linen Hall Library -- nice wooden tables with green-glass lamps, shelves of old books, and a window that looks out onto City Hall view of the rotunda inside Belfast City Hall. A well-worn book cover for a book called "Industries (of) Ireland: Descriptive & Biographical Facts, Figures, and Illustrations". There are various scenes of Belfast on it. Black and white photograph from inside Belfast City hall museum. It portrays a love of children, barefoot on a cobblestone street, and generally looking not so fancy. A quote is superimposed in white in front of them: "Many Belfast Mills are slaughterhouses for women and penitentiaries for the children." attributed to James Connolly an Winifred Carney, "To the Linen Slaves of Belfast" (1913)
February 5, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
amantiquarian.bsky.social
Apply today for the Historic Children’s Voices K-12 Teacher Institute

Monday, August 10 - Friday, August 14, 2026

americanantiquarian.org/k-12-teacher-institute-2026
January 26, 2026 at 7:09 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
I like to think that this establishment billing itself as "practical hatters" is distinguishing itself from all the "mad hatters." (from Adair's 1860-1 Belfast Directory)
printed ad that reads John G. McGee & Co., Merchant Clothiers and Practicall Hatters Army & Navy Tailors & Outfitters to all parts of the Globe, 46, 48, & 50 High Street, Belfast
February 4, 2026 at 11:33 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Gave a little talk today for a colleague's class on historic images of mills & factories and was surprised again by the fact that this image is from 1881. It's a watercolor by Joseph Pennell depicting Bethlehem Steel Works in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a place I called home for a few years.
Image source here: https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3g05734/ This is a grey-and-sepia-toned watercolor depicting a building made up of many odd towers and elements, along with several tall smokestacks belching a lot of dark grey smoke into the grey sky. The building is reflected in the water surrounding it.
February 3, 2026 at 1:08 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
"The Factory Girl" as she appeared in The Sunday School Hive & Juvenile Companion 1 June 1878: "factory girls, although labouring under many disadvantages, compare favourably with any other of the working classes of young women for thrift, for intelligence, and for religion."
black and white image of a pretty young woman who is holding a shawl around her that covers the top of her head. She is carrying a basket.
February 2, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
igagoths.bsky.social
On request, the deadline for abstract submissions has been extended to 13 February, so you have two more weeks to get yours in!

hullgothic.wordpress.com/cfp/
January 30, 2026 at 5:11 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Just found a new factory girl serial: "Salome Price, the Gipsy Factory Girl" by R. T. Casson in Illustrated Chips from 6 Oct 1894. Salome opens by triumphing in a knife fight with a man who has "bought" her as his wife, and runs off to Preston to earn her living as a weaver.
Black and white illustration titled "She seized a knife from the table, and made furious lunges at him, striking him first on the cheek, and then in the neck". The image features a woman plunging a knife into a man's chest; they are both inside a caravan. masthead for "Illustrated Chips" notes "Begins Below -- the New Story!" and the price as a half penny
January 30, 2026 at 10:02 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Staying inside today due to threatening weather. Currently prepping my talk for tomorrow about two nineteenth-century industrial Gothic places: Cottonopolis (Lowell) and Linenopolis (Belfast). Wed 28 Jan at 4.15, Wolfson Room, Seamus Heaney Centre. If you're at Queens, you're very welcome to join!
image of a woman carrying a folded copy of the "Lowell offering" in one hand and a bag of money in the other. This is from a 19th-century Valentine, "The Pride of the Mills" Painting of a smiling woman at a spinning wheel, from a 1783 image titled "Linen Manufacturing of Ireland"
January 27, 2026 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
heatherfro.bsky.social
Did everyone else know about researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/ already? Searches 7 million records at 1,400 archival institutions all in ONE PLACE
ArchiveGrid
ArchiveGrid connects you with archives around the world to find historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more.
researchworks.oclc.org
January 26, 2026 at 5:22 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
A beautiful story from a church graveyard well worth a read. Thank you @jayhulmepoet.bsky.social for sharing and for your great care with these remains.
jayhulmepoet.bsky.social Jay Hulme @jayhulmepoet.bsky.social · 15d
A few days ago, I stood in the graveyard of an 1100 year old church, getting damper and damper in the drizzling rain.

A woman walked into the graveyard, waved, said hello, and, as we had previously arranged, handed me a paper bag full of human bones.

The life of a churchwarden is a strange one...
January 23, 2026 at 1:34 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Found a new (to me) "factory girl" poem in the Irish newspaper archives -- printed in the Derry Journal 11 Dec. 1895 but attributed to the Illinois Trades Unionist which I guess I'll now have to track down.
first stanza of a poem "The Factory Girl." I see her now, with her tender smile, Reflecting her soul within. I still hear the notes of her gentle voice Amid the factory's din. Yet the smile is but a vision, For she has passed away, And the sweet, sad notes of her musical voice Are ringing no more to-day. final stanza of the poem Pray that chains that gall may some day fall From the limbs of the oppressed; That the dawn of freedom come anon, When mankind shall be blessed With the hope of human happiness. The banner of liberty unfurl, And sever the thongs and right the wrongs Of even the factory girl. --Illinois Trades Unionist
January 23, 2026 at 12:06 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
This bar insisting that it is indeed open during construction with multiple signs saying "business as usual" and "open as normal" really should consider re-creating Dante's "I assure you; we're open!" sign.
plywood covers piles in the patio of a bar and multiple signs are posted with arrows to the back reading "Inside bar business as usual" and "restaurant open as normal." There is also a large statue in the middle, partially obscured by the construction. The statue is of a larger-than life Lego-sort-of man in red, carrying a large brown barrel on his back. It says "Jameson Whiskey" on the pedestal. Black and white still from the movie "Clerks" of the Quick Stop Grocery store with the hand-written sign that reads "I assure you; we're open" over the barrier gate.
January 23, 2026 at 10:38 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Thackeray in #Belfast in 1842: He sketched a girl working in a mill: "They work in huge long chambers, lighted by numbers of windows, hot with steam, buzzing and humming with hundreds of thousands of whirling wheels." "There is something frightful in the vastness as in the minuteness of this power"
Black and white image of a barefoot girl wearing drapey fabric and long hair. She is standing and working at something, though the drawing is a bit vague on what. Original found in the google books version here: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/_/qwfCKaNPeXAC?hl=en&gbpv=1
January 22, 2026 at 5:46 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Home from a day at Special Collections & now turning to fun reading: "The Queen of Clithorly Mill: A Tale of Lancashire" from Bow Bells of Wednesday July 17th 1867. It's a serial featuring factory girl Alice Gowerland who has gotten herself into trouble with a fellow thanks to her friend Judith.
Masthead for "Bow Bells: A Weekly Magazine of General Literature" for Wednesday July 17th 1867, with the story "The Queen of Clithorly Mill: A Tale of Lancashire" starting the left-hand (of three) columns. The masthead image features four seated women wearing flowy (Grecian?) robes and laurels in their hair. Black and white illustration titled "the meeting by the river." A man in a black top hat sits beside a woman in a dress, while another woman in a dress appears to be leaving them.
January 20, 2026 at 3:53 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
I love that the "Big Fish" statue in Belfast has a sign that reads: "In the interests of safety climbing onto the big fish is prohibited." The gentle tone (it's not "keep off big fish!") suggests that the sign writer understands our deep yearning to climb on big fish.
photo of "the big fish" statue, which is, as the title suggests, a very large (10 metres long) fish made up of tiles in various shades of blue. sign that reads "In the interests of safety climbing onto the big fish is prohibited" Photograph of the front of the "big fish" statue in Belfast with a posted sign that says "In the interests of safety climbing onto the big fish is prohibited."
January 19, 2026 at 11:08 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Enjoyed a terrific 2-hour walking tour of #Belfast street art. HIGHLY recommend! Sharing just two of my favorites: "Deep Love" by ADW and "Pretty Little Thieves" by Friz, but there are so many more! Book the tour here:
www.seedheadarts.com/street-art/w...
See map: www.seedheadarts.com/street-art/map
A brick wall with a colorful painting featuring a yellow sun (or moon) rising behind a mermaid being carried by a man in an old-timey deep-sea diving outfit. Painting on a brick wall with windows. Three magpies have collected shiny gold objects and bring them to a beautiful woman wearing a crown.
January 18, 2026 at 6:03 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Carrickfergus Castle showing up rather nicely today. Take need of the many warnings.
Carrickfergus Castle, northern ireland. It's a huge grey stone tower with a grey sky. A welcome pamphlet that has 9 different warning symbols of things to avoid such as slippery walks and high winds
January 17, 2026 at 10:13 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Belfast City Hall looking gorgeous in the early morning dark and damp. Heading out on the tour bus to Giants Causeway.
Belfast City Hall, a large building with colorful lighting.
January 17, 2026 at 8:26 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Friday afternoon seems a good time for this important reminder about "Leaving work before Stopping Time," as outlined in this handwritten book of notes for the No 2 Room of an unknown linen mill in 1883. "Workers are not to be seen, grouped in the long pass of the room, before the engine stops."
handwritten in a lovely cursive script "Notices as to leaving work before stopping time are to be observed, without any exception being made for Sweepers and Others, as hitherto -- and workers are not to be seen grouped in the long pass of the room before the Engine stops." from item UB.67/LINE at Linen Hall Library, Belfast NI
January 16, 2026 at 2:36 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Are you also spending a chilly day in the archive? Why not grab a "Smart Shoulder Cape" as demonstrated in the London Journal Ladies Supplement of July 1, 1890? Practical and fashionable!
a black and white illustration of the upper half of a woman's body. She is wearing a large hat with bows and flowers, and her shoulders and torso are covered by a cape that has a high, tight collar and then seems to perhaps have pleats (?) that reach all the way to her waist/elbows. It does not really look very comfortable.
January 16, 2026 at 10:10 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Starting my morning working behind this door at Queen's library. Sadly it doesn't seem to have granted passage to Narnia, but it's a nice room nonetheless with a view of the Botanical Gardens. Figuring out what to request from Special Collections and I'll head there later. Fingers crossed.
My photo of an ornate wooden carved door with "C.S. Lewis Room" on the sign above it. more info about the room here: https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/TheLibrary/UsingtheLibrary/StudyingintheLibrary/CSLewisReadingRoom/
January 16, 2026 at 9:00 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Reading pamphlets at Linen Hall library today. First up: "An Address to Millworkers" from 1873 by a doctor with criticisms of the workers' diet ("tea and bread three times a day") as well as a warning that they avoid "pernicious literature -- another cause of ill-health and premature decay."
a page from the 1873 pamphlet titled "Address to millworkers on the prevalence of consumption among them, and on certain causes of it, which are preventable by Robert H. Newett, Medical Officer at Ligoniel" The top header is "Badly selected and badly prepared food" followed by Newett's distress at the workers' current diet and his description of how to make a cheap, hearty soup. subheader section of the same pamphlet reads "Pernicious literature -- another cause of ill-health and premature decay. As opportunity offers, read good and profitable books: banish from your houses the villainous trash issued in cheap numbers which sets forth as heroes, the highwaymen, and other vile characters of a past age." next page continuation of same section of the pamphlet: "[Be] sure such reading will deprave the moral perceptions of your young people. Instances, as recorded in the newspapers, are not wanting in which it has directly led to crime. The false lustre with which such publications adorn vice, leads to habits which destroy worldly prospects and impair health."
January 15, 2026 at 1:49 PM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Today in QUB Special Collections: Mary, the Factory Girl, published in Belfast, 1838. Poor Mary is Catholic. Her mother sells her to an acting troupe, but she is saved from assured hellfire via school and religion, and of course God's grace. She works in a factory, gets consumption, and dies.
Photo of title page for "Mary, the factory girl; or A brief memorial of the conversion and happy death of one of the Lord's dear children" "by a minister of the church of England." This copy has a handwritten note that the anonymous "Minister" is Rev. Wm MacIlwain, and that the author has written notes in the book!
January 14, 2026 at 11:42 AM
factorygothic.bsky.social
Had a marvelous first day at Queens University in Belfast. I'll be dropping into Special Collections at the library tomorrow. Will share any exciting finds. This city and this campus are beautiful. I'm here for a month, so hit me up if you're local or have local recs!
A photograph of the Lanyon Building (opened 1849) on the campus of Queens University, Belfast. It's a huge Gothic facade, and there's a statue in front of it. The sky is blue and the grass is green. A photograph looking out of an old window in the Lanyon Building on Queens U Belfast's campus. The old glass in the window distorts the image, but there is a sunny day outside and bright green grass
January 13, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Factory Gothic / Bridget Marshall
ishmaelcallme.bsky.social
"Julianna" a Lowell mill girl knew what was up, in 1845 @kassiejo.bsky.social - mill girl alert
January 7, 2026 at 4:17 PM