question_answer

Why did the upper class people prefer to use hand products in the Victorian period? Explain with examples.                                                                                                       [Foreign 2008]

Answer:

In Victorian Britain there was no shortage of labour and vagrants moved to the cities in large numbers in search for jobs.

Wages were low. So industrialists had no problems of labour shortage, or cost of wages.

They did not introduce machines that got rid of human labour and required large capital investment.

A range of products could be produced only by manual labour. These required human skill. Among the upper class people there was demand for such products.

The upper class aristocrats and bourgeoisie preferred things produced by hand which symbolised refinement and class. They where better finished, individually produced and carefully designed for them.