Forbidden Fabrics: The Strange Story of Calico Prohibition

Virginia Postrel, the author of The Fabric of Civilization, tells the extraordinary story of how for 73 years, from 1686 to 1759, France treated cotton fabrics the way the U.S. treats cocaine.

[vbrown]

Imagine a world where the buying and selling of a printed cotton cloth can get you fined/jailed/executed, but the buying and selling of human beings is perfectly fine. We humans are very strange.

[feryalaligauhar]

And let's not forget how the East India Company destroyed the textile industry of Bengal, India, in order to protect textile Mills in Manchester. These draconian policies led to widespread famine, killing hundreds of thousands, and compelling Governor Bentinck to say that the plains of Bengal are bleached white with the bones of the Bengali weaver....Shame on all oppressors

[sharonkaczorowski]

Given human nature, prohibitions generally makes the prohibited more desirable.

[KAZVorpal]

Okay, this may be the coolest, most accessible explanation of the inherent evils of prohibition, ever.

[annepoitrineau]

gives the term "fashion police" a hell of a ring. Thank, I loved it!

[callycatus]

I never knew any of this .. Thankyou and thanks to the Indian Calico makers for the beautiful cloth ..

[tothelighthouse]

You should read the comments on your videos!
Many folks trying to let you know that lowering the music volume in these videos would make them much more watchable & garner many more views. All your hard work & excellent content is being drowned out by the over-loud--uncomfortably loud--music.

[knitty]

Fabulous history. I have been working with textiles since I was a child. Now, as a senior adult, I love hearing and reading about the tools of our trade, so to speak. These peaks into history make me proud to be a textile artist.

[FairyFrequency]

Wow. This is my first time learning about this fabric conspiracy. Closet is stuffed with beautiful cotton florals. Sending love and peaceful vibrations from the creeks and woodland of Missouri.

[GhislaineBeauce]

The "tissus de Provence" designs of printed cottons in France were inspired by the printed calico from India. The most notable company still operating today is Souleiado. I went to their museum in Provence a few years back, where they explain some of this.

[humanbng]

Yeah we read about this in Indian history.
Indian calico was hit by tariffs and cost at one point became 300X
Btw the name calico derived from the port of "Calicut" which is still on the western coast of India

[helenstewart]

I love your books! Calico is a fabric made from plane weave cotton. Printed calico is just what is sounds like. Chintz is glazed, printed calico. I think it would have been helpful here to note the difference, because most of the examples shown on screen are chintz, and chintz and calico were not interchangeable terms.

[marianneoleary]

This information is so important not for drowning in music. Your voice is fine on its own.
Your subject is fascinating.

[christianfrommuslim]

Love it! I had wondered why classic books depicted rich people liking calico, which we now consider to be cheap cotton. Although I love cultural trade history, like the stories of porcelain and tulips, yet I had never heard the controversy this simple fabric began.
Thanks so much!

[mcrs]

Watching the video from Calicut/ Kozhikode, town in India which was produced this fabric and hence the name of the town was given to the fabric. This was a new information for me as well!

[Elibel]

I have an anecdote... I'm from Montréal. During the french era, I know there was such prohibition from French authorities against calico fabrics, called here "indienne" (indian print, litterally). We know there was some of those in circulation (big black market from the English colonies) because we have judicial documents that show us fines were given to some people in the city for having such shawls.

[bierjip]

Very nice, but the music is a bit too loud. But still very nice!

[douglaslarue]

The Video is 3 years old. I agree about the audio. Once people start talking the Music should go away so you can hear clearly. I have been doing Commercial Radio professionally for 47 years, for the most part we avoid talking over music because of this issue.

[stephss]

Fascist hate art and self-expression. They also fear knowledge sharing and skill empowerment. We have to protect eachother, and support creative folks. This was absolutely fantastic, thank you.

[eenzaakvanliefde]

I love fabrics, and I am a dedicated fabrics-hoarder. To my surprise I found out recently that my old home-town, where I grew up, had a cotton-calico factory in the 1700-1800's. That's nice to know.