THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Flax
Lisa Karen Miller
In textile mills, weavers routinely sucked thread through the eye of the shuttle, much like we lick thread before threading a needle. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that someone noticed that weavers were dying of tuberculosis, or consumption, at higher rates than others.
When German bacteriologist Robert Koch isolated the tubercle bacillus in the sputum of patients in 1882, public health campaigns were lauched to stop the spread. Finally, the practice of sucking the thread and the contagion among textile workers were linked.
Ever after, it was known as the Kiss of Death.
Linen mill workers were especially susceptible to contracting tuberculosis. The fibers of flax have to be kept moist; if they dry out, they become brittle and unusable. Passing them through warm water made a finer thread, highly desirable in the luxury marketplace.
The millions of specks of damp, easily inhaled lint floating about and poor ventilation made the perfect incubator for the bacillus.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Belfast, once known as Linenopolis, was the linen capital of the world. The conditions in both the mills and the workers’ homes – overcrowded and unsanitary – contributed to entire families contracting TB. Flax has happier preindustrial associations, however.
If a German bride put flax, Linum usitatissimum, in her shoe, she would never want. A string of flax tied around her left leg ensured children.
Farm workers jumped over midsummer fires and rang church bells on Ascension Day to have a good crop of this blue-flowered annual. Before sowing the seed, Yorkshire farmers sat on the sack and faced east; if even a few of the seeds were stolen, the luck was increased.
On the first day of the flax, or lint, harvest in Somerset, everyone wore something blue to ensure a healthy crop the next year. At the flaxpickers’ dance on “Spark Sunday,” high stepping was encouraged. The higher the dancers stepped, the higher the following year’s crop would grow. Each spark from the many bonfires betokened a single grain.
Handkerchiefs were often made of cotton or linen, and were a status symbol for the middle classes. Purchasing one, not to mention keeping it clean and dry, however, was beyond the means of the working poor.
They would often spit or blow their noses directly onto the street. Their sputum would dry into flakes and become airborne, to be breathed in by others. If they had TB or some other infectious disease, it would spread rapidly among passersby.
So what invention greatly reduced the transmission of such diseases? The disposable paper handkerchief, easily affordable for everyone.
Thank you, Kleenex.
© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller
Folklore of Plants 
Leave a comment