How Castors Would Have Revolutionised the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th Centuries did exactly what is suggested by the label in revolutionising the world we live in. Starting in the UK and subsequently spreading throughout Europe and the Americas, it irrevocably altered numerous areas of society at the time including but not limited to mining, transportation, technology, agriculture and especially manufacturing. Cultures changed and certain countries began to get richer. However, it did bring problems of its own, particularly in regards to child labour and child welfare. Children as young as 4 years old were made to work hard in mines and factories but their labour could have been reduced had Castors been around at the time.

Of course, nobody should underestimate the conditions that children had to work in at that time. They were appalling but parents often had no choice but to send their children to work if they wanted to keep a roof over their heads and eat. In addition, there were very few opportunities for children in terms of education so there was no reason not to send them to work. According to statistics available for the period, more than 66% of all workers at the 143 cotton mills in England and Scotland that were powered by water were children. They and children in other industries would be forced to drag baskets and carts to collect materials from between machines that could amputate limbs or kill them, bring coal to the surface in mines and generally perform tasks that adults were too big for. Imagine doing that 14 hours a day six days a week. Of course, legislation was eventually passed to prevent children under nine working in industry and limited them to 12 hour shifts but the existence of Castors would have made their lives so much easier.

Using castors in the industrial revolution would have been a real boost for the children that were forced to crawl down mines or under machines and risk bodily harm. Small ones like the BZMM series would have been enough to help them to drag hand carts to the surface filled with coal without hurting their arms and legs. Trays that were low to the ground on wheels would have enabled them to remain low when collecting cotton from under machines in factories, shoving the tray out to be emptied when it was full instead of risking life and limb.

So Castors would not have solved the child welfare issues of the time and would not have contributed to the legal side of things either but they would have saved some of the children from the back breaking work they had to do with absolutely no help at all. Wheels would have made the carts in mines move easier, helped them to manoeuvre trays on which cotton could have been collected in the mills and prevented injuries to joints and the back that many suffered with later in life. Think about how much they are used in industry now and you may well see how they would have revolutionised the revolution.