Families as Consumers

Archaeology along Front Street aimed at a better understanding of the living conditions of mill families during the early twentieth century. The unexpected discovery of several privies and related features give us a unique chance to study these millworkers' “material culture” (or objects they used). In examining the thousands of artifacts that made up part of their material culture (many times more did not make their way to the features we excavated), we focused on a few major questions. Given the time period of the archaeological deposits, we were especially interested in finding out how millworkers and their families participated in the expanding consumerism of the early twentieth century. This extended to mill families' consumer choices and whether they were influenced by the constant company presence even after work hours.