Working-class households frequently ran small-scale businesses at home, such as tailoring, sewing, or baking. These cottage industries supplemented wages from factory or labor work. Entire families participated, including children, contributing labor and skill. The line between domestic space and workplace was blurred. Earnings were modest, but crucial for survival. Community networks often facilitated trade, with neighbors exchanging goods or services. These businesses demonstrated resilience, ingenuity, and adaptation to limited opportunities.
Home-based work supplemented income and reinforced family cohesion.
It illustrates how working-class innovation shaped survival strategies in Victorian urban and rural contexts.
Did you know some Victorian families had entire kitchens or rooms dedicated to small home businesses?
[British Library, britishlibrary.uk]