[HN Gopher] The Match Girls
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       The Match Girls
        
       Author : c-linkage
       Score  : 78 points
       Date   : 2022-11-13 17:07 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.historic-uk.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.historic-uk.com)
        
       | ljf wrote:
       | Wow, phossy jaw sounds horrendous
       | https://bonesdontlie.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/new-morbid-ter...
       | 
       | (cancer caused by working with white phosphorus for the matches)
        
         | lob_it wrote:
         | It sounds similar to a ceramics art teacher getting silicosis
         | in Austrailia.
         | 
         | https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-27/ceramics-teacher-sili...
         | 
         | Technology natives do have to be concerned with carpal tunnel
         | syndrome as a workplace hazard or ergonomic deficiency as well.
        
           | croes wrote:
           | Or the radium girls
           | 
           | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls
        
       | themitigating wrote:
       | "With the support triggering public debate, the management were
       | keen to play down the reports, claiming it was "twaddle"
       | propagated by socialists like Mrs Besant"
       | 
       | I thought this was a new technique
        
         | basilgohar wrote:
         | The playbook of the powerful has almost always been the same
         | since the beginning. Divide and conquer, have the different
         | parties your want to control blame each other for the problems
         | that are ultimately your fault, make personal attacks against
         | your enemies according to the values of the people you oppress,
         | and ultimately, blame your opponents for the crimes you've
         | committed, to take attention away from your own atrocities.
         | 
         | I think a good summary of a lot of this is "lie enough until
         | they believe you".
        
       | Thorentis wrote:
        
         | DC-3 wrote:
         | Go to the slums of Dhaka or Lagos today and report back how
         | many beautiful people you see.
        
         | thriftwy wrote:
         | Your life actually has huge influence on your face (which is a
         | "mirror of the soul"). They lived a miserable life and that's
         | what you happen to see here.
        
         | exolymph wrote:
         | Nutrition is a big factor.
        
         | aqme28 wrote:
         | You're comparing what exactly? The photos in the article with
         | the girls you see on Instagram? The photos in the article have
         | way too much contrast and everyone's expression seems a bit
         | surprised.
         | 
         | I don't think enough generations have elapsed for any genetic
         | differences. If anything, diet and lifestyle, but I think most
         | likely it's fashion and makeup and comfort infront of a camera
         | and cultural understandings of beauty.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | zeristor wrote:
       | Co-incidentally a local historical society had a talk about the
       | Match Girls:
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/AnnnY7MnAK8
       | 
       | I remember my History teacher talking about the Match Girls were
       | on strike until they struck a deal; although that lame joke seems
       | out of place.
        
         | tobylane wrote:
         | The factory and strike recently gained a heritage blue plaque.
         | https://diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-match-girls-b...
        
       | tehchromic wrote:
       | Ugly business is industrialization. I suppose it's seems to be
       | the most noble application of technology to avoid the techno-
       | horrors of the past in the future. But there are always newer,
       | greater techno-horrors emergent. In fact, one might say that
       | techno-horror is a fundamental emergent property of the universe.
        
         | INTPenis wrote:
         | The only horror here is shit employers and bastard politicians
         | who don't care for worker's rights.
        
           | bus85 wrote:
           | It's time to join a union HN
        
         | zwkrt wrote:
         | Any technology (physical, social, philosophical) we create has
         | the ability to wreak havoc on equilibrium (natural, societal,
         | or otherwise). We are fundamentally unequipped to restore
         | equilibrium because that process takes the unwilling
         | participation of all agents. So I think all technologies have a
         | way of creating an existential threat, obviously some more than
         | others.
         | 
         | My own internal sci-fi version of the future involves us
         | creating replicating but non-intelligent technology that
         | outlasts us.
         | 
         | Another free sci-fi premise while I'm on a roll is
         | consciousness becoming such a good interpreter of reality (that
         | sees everything so clearly) such that it evaporates. The map
         | has become the territory.
         | 
         | /confused rambling
        
           | notgoodrobot wrote:
           | Interesting ideas. Would you expand on your last point? We're
           | you meaning an artificial consciousness becomes so good at
           | interpreting the things around it that the consciousness
           | itself evaporates?
        
           | itsthecourier wrote:
           | You mean, because by observing everything we affect it? Like
           | Heisenberg's uncertainty
        
           | lob_it wrote:
           | Diversification is an interesting innovation in the 21st
           | century.
           | 
           | Getting stuck as a head-in-a-fishbowl doesn't sound that
           | appealing :/
        
       | simonbw wrote:
       | Somewhat related: my favorite Disney short is called The Little
       | Matchgirl. It's set to a Borodin string quartet, which I think is
       | an excellent choice. If you haven't seen it, I think it's worth 6
       | minutes of your time.
       | 
       | https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7ybb3s
        
         | erk__ wrote:
         | The original fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen is also
         | worth a read. In my opinion one of his best short stories.
         | 
         | https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheLittleMatchGirl_e....
        
           | tamaharbor wrote:
           | It always made me cry.
        
       | zokier wrote:
       | And few decades later across the pond:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls
       | 
       | The thing that is surprising to me is that people were so
       | desperate for these horrible factory jobs for so long. I think I
       | need to read up on history again to figure out what was going on
       | in the agriculture side that made people flood into cities,
       | making labor expendable for factories.
        
         | maxerickson wrote:
         | Mechanization.
        
         | Shacklz wrote:
         | > The thing that is surprising to me is that people were so
         | desperate for these horrible factory jobs for so long
         | 
         | We folks on HN (well, anyone who's even remotely related to
         | tech) just tend to forget how good we have it. You might want
         | to look up working conditions in meat plants, healthcare,
         | warehouses, construction... in today's day and age.
         | 
         | Sure, it's not as bad as painting with Radium (although, back
         | then they did not know how bad it is), the jobs might not be an
         | immediate health hazard, but there are still plenty of people
         | out there working under miserable conditions for terrible
         | wages.
        
       | robjwells wrote:
       | Louise Raw wrote a book about the Bryant and May matchwomen and
       | their 1888 strike, Striking a Light, which I recommend:
       | https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/striking-a-light-9781441114266...
        
       | welder wrote:
       | OP must have watched the Enola Holmes 2 movie on Netflix... the
       | case she solves is all about match girls.
       | 
       | https://www.cbr.com/enola-holmes-2-sarah-chapman-true-story/
        
         | Mikeb85 wrote:
         | Funny timing, literally watching it right now.
        
           | colechristensen wrote:
           | It just came out I think so not much of a coincidence :)
        
         | Josh5 wrote:
         | ...based on this true story.
        
         | [deleted]
        
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       (page generated 2022-11-13 23:00 UTC)