Sam Fitton: Mirth in the Mill
The content for this post was created by Ceri James, Exhibition and Public Engagement with Research Assistant at the John Rylands Library. She researched Sam Fitton to support a series of public printing press demonstrations developed to support an exhibition by Professor Mike Sanders called Workers Playtime: culture and community in industrial Lancashire. An extract from the poem Shuttle-kissin was printed.
Sam Fitton (1868–1923)
Sam Fitton was a celebrated Lancashire dialect poet, cartoonist, mimic and performer in late Victorian/ Edwardian Lancashire. He grew up and spent most of his life in Crompton, a mill town in Pennine Lancashire; Lancashire dialect culture was especially lively in the Pennine communities, where traditions did not face the pressures to change that were experienced in the more established, urban cotton towns. From a young age Sam demonstrated a deep interest in Lancashire dialect culture, which he expressed through mimicry, reciting poetry, and by drawing.
Like a lot of young people in Lancashire, Sam began his working life at a young age. At the age of 11 he worked in a cotton spinning factory as a half-timer, first as a doffer and progressing to a little piecer. At work he could often be found sketching, inspired by the factory atmosphere and dynamics, composing playful caricatures of his fellow operatives. However, this did not go unnoticed by the factory manager. Many managers could be very strict and fine operatives who were not productive, but Sam was lucky, his manager was more enlightened and sponsored him to receive art lessons after work.
Sam did not initially pursue an artistic career because of concerns that an unreliable income would place his family in a financially perilous situation. He continued to work in both spinning factories and weaving sheds until the age of 35 (1903) after several episodes of ill health, likely related to the working conditions, forced him to retire from factory occupations. It was vital for his health that he found another career. Sam advertised his services as a dialect performer and mimic, an act that was suitable for the whole family, and contained ‘no vulgarity’.
In 1907 Sam became a regular contributor of satirical cartoons and dialect verse for The Cotton Factory Times. The paper’s readership comprised textile operatives, and their families. Sam’s cartoons offered a relatable light-relief for those engaged in the textile industry. Between 1907 and 1918 he composed over 450 cartoons with dialect verse for the paper that were inspired by his and co-workers’ experiences in the factories. He was praised for a comprehensive and humorous treatment of the day-to-day struggles textile operatives encountered: poor quality cotton, bad tempered managers, industrial disputes, accidents, the treatment of female operatives, and occupational health issues. His cartoons were imbued with acute observations about regional and social identity in Lancashire’s working-class communities, but they also featured light-hearted images of workers in domestic settings, enjoying leisure time or relaxing on beach holidays.
‘Shuttle-kissin’
One of Sam Fitton’s poem best-known poems, Shuttle Kissin’, appeared in The Cotton Factory Times in 1911. It was written in the Lancashire dialect, which involved phonetic imitation of the sounds of local dialects and it had no standard spelling. The poem was written to be recited aloud, Sam Fitton encouraged his readers to set his poems to popular tunes to recite them. The joke of the poem centres around the practice of Kissing the shuttle, or shuttle kissing. It was one of the most well-known phrases associated with weaving. The expression describes the process of threading a new pirn of weft yarn into a shuttle, by drawing the thread through the eye of the shuttle — using the mouth as it was too fine to accomplish by hand. Shuttle kissing as a practice was the source of public controversy in the US and UK; dangers to health were well documented and internationally recognised. There are many testimonies from operatives in The Cotton Factory Times that document weavers’ complaints:
Not only was the practice unhygienic, as shuttles were often shared, but it could also cause discoloration and damage to the mouth and teeth from ‘coloured wefts’, which dyed the mouth ‘all rainbow hues’
Inhaling cotton fibres (and bacteria present on them) could cause severe respiratory issues, such as coughing, wheezing and breathing difficulties. While the use of carcinogenic mineral oils could cause oral cancers. Kissing the shuttle was believed to increase the transmission of infectious disease, especially tuberculosis.
The poem itself tells the story of Matilda, a weaver who vocalises her strong preference to kiss a shuttle rather than her the factory overseer, who admired her. The play on the word ‘shuttle-kissing’ would have been well-worn for an Edwardian audience, however, Sam satirises the of Matilda’s overseer, which would have resonated with the many female factory workers who experienced unwanted attention from their male colleagues.
The Cotton Factory Times (1885–1937)
Printed weekly in Manchester and sold for 1 penny every Friday, The Cotton Factory Times gave a voice to the interests of textile operatives, one of the largest groups of workers in the country. The paper was financially supported by prominent trade unionists and factory inspectors, whose reports dominated the front pages. Coverage from local correspondents reported on industrial action matters including which factories and workers were participating, and even highlighting those who were not participating vociferously enough.
The paper situated the operative in the regional, national, and global context of the textile manufacturing industry and wider economic topics. First and foremost it offered a space to debate topics and advocate for improvements to working conditions. The paper also sought to appeal to the whole family, with a ‘Mirth In the Mill’ humour section, where readers could submit their own humorous dialect poems and jokes. In 1907 a women’s feature was added, with lots of household tips.
Discussion
What does the Cotton Factory Times tell us about the social life and culture of those living in cotton towns and working in mills?
How did those working in mills feel about their working lives? Does the humour surprise you?
Additional Resources
Bound copies of the Cotton Factory Times are held at the John Rylands Library and can be consulted by researchers. Two issues have been digitised and are available here
The Lancashire Cotton Cartoons website features cartoons about the cotton industry in Lancashire in the early twentieth century. They were drawn by Sam Fitton between 1907–1918 and featured in the pages of the Cotton Factory Times.
Examples of Sam’s dialect poetry and prose can be found here.
Cass, E., Fowler, A. and Wyke, T. (1998). ‘The Remarkable Rise and Long decline of The Cotton Factory Times’, Media History, 4(2), pp. 141–159. [Online]. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13688809809357941
