119. The Ecomusée of Fourmies.

This textile factory is in Fourmies and was made to a museum of the life during the industrial era (1850-1960). First you can see a room with textile machines, where the guide explains how the spinning and webbing machines go and then rooms with old shops, old things of the daily life, like the story of the wash machines, remake of old shops, and then you have also a room about the Fusillade de Fourmies (the killing (shoting) of Fourmies) of the first May 1891.

It was one of the first times the workers made a feast on the first may with demonstrations to defend their rights. The troup shot on the workers during the défilé and 9 workers were killed. In french this historical event is called La Fusillade de Fourmies. Since this day the first of May is always a great feast in Fourmies. Fourmies has a very high worker's tradition. In the textile factories were made wool, wool pieces and the industry of the glas. There were also two big glas factories : the white glas factory (la verrerie blanche) where was made fine glas for the home, and the black glas factory (la verrerie noire), where they made colored bottles. Now, it was no

apartheid where the Whites worked in the white glas factory, and the Black in the black glas factory, because all people in Fourmies were white, but many of them like in all coal mine towns and textile towns of the North were very poor and now almost all people in Fourmies is always white, but there is much always much poorness in cause of the factorys which were closed in the sixties/seventies.

The conditions of the working people of the industrial era from 1870 until 1950 can be compared with the conditions of working in England in towns like Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham in England.

But there are in Fourmies some big houses, for example in the Street St Louis in Fourmies (the main street) with a very eclectic style. There were the houses of the trademen, of the banks and of the bosses of the factories.

Other sights of the Ecomusée by night, 1, 2.

Posted by "Perle de Rosée" on June, 16th, 2006.

The virtual travel of Perle de Rosée:

Another blog from Darren in Australia : Gold Coast City, the last city of Queensland before you come to New South Wales. It is on the East Coast of Australia towards the Pacific Ocean.

Perle de Rosée.