Plural of 'doffer': multiple textile workers whose job was to remove and replace bobbins of thread in mills.
Plural formation of 'doffer' by adding '-s.' Used in historical accounts and labor histories of New England and American textile industries.
The doffers were a huge part of American Industrial Revolution history—thousands of poor girls worked 12-hour days doing this mind-numbing task, and their lives were documented by early photographers who visited mills.
Doffers were primarily young girls and women in 19th-century New England textile mills, tasked with removing (doffing) full bobbins of thread. The gendered assignment of this lower-paid, less-skilled labor reflected industrial segregation by gender.
Use 'doffers' accurately for historical context, but acknowledge the gendered labor system. Avoid romanticizing mill work; note that these were often children and adolescents in exploitative conditions.
["textile workers","bobbin operators"]
Women doffers, though underpaid, developed workplace solidarity and participated in early labor strikes (e.g., Lowell Mill Girls, 1830s), pioneering collective action for better conditions.
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