Renewing and refashioning: recycling furniture at the late Stuart court (1689-1714)

The prime economic function of recycling in the eighteenth century will be our first subject of analysis, paying particular attention to the secondhand market and the development of the paper industry. Recycling in this instance will be shown to be both at the centre of an age-old economy of survival and of the burgeoning industrialisation of the country. Pawning, like second-hand sale, was central to the economy and the survival strategies of many, offering people a quick means to get ready money when strapped for cash. The second main economic circuit of used clothing was the trade in scraps and rags. The salvaging and the professional transformation of textile scraps and rags offered networks of recycling that were integral to the eighteenth-century economy and its nascent industry. The trade in second-hand clothing and rag collecting operated differently but both were central to the economic developments witnessed by the country in the eighteenth century.