Small is Beautiful

As we sit here, at our little spot in history, on the edge of the AI revolution, which promises to change life as we know it, it is timely to cast our minds back to the last major economic revolution- the industrial one. Beginning in England in the late 1700’s, the industrial revolution saw the mass migration of people moving from the countryside into urban centers to work in factories. Huge gains in efficiency drove down costs, which was the major benefit of large-scale production, and changed the living standards and culture of western civilization dramatically.

The benefits have been huge. Life expectancy doubled; in 1785 the average life expectancy in England was 40, today it’s 80. This is a wonderful thing and the reduction in childhood mortality, and sanitation and hygiene are the key drivers of the improvement, along with better nutrition and living standards.  

But much was lost in the revolution. Small farms growing and raising food in traditional ways and home-based manufacture disappeared almost overnight. The artisan was replaced by the machine, the quaint cottages by tenement buildings, and the picturesque landscape by the belching of black smoke.  In the 1973 book, Small is Beautiful, Economics as if People Mattered, the author – E.F. Schumacher- argues that industrialization brought higher living standards but at the expense of culture. Bigger is not always better; more is sometimes less.

One noticeable difference with century homes- other than their superior architectural and structural soundness- is the lack of closet space. My 1897 farmhouse does not have a single closet on the main floor. The sheer quantity of stuff that the average household now consumes would be inconceivable to even the wealthy of the nineteenth century. Clothing, appliances, furnishings – produced with slave labour in massive factories – are so affordable. People have so much stuff that Storage facilities are now a major industry ($6 billion industry in Canada in 2023 (source)).

Choosing quality over quantity is an increasingly popular approach. Buying higher quality goods that are produced locally is one way to go. Personally, I am a fan of less is more- buy higher quality and buy less. I’d rather have five outfits that are tailor-made of real materials (i.e. wool, linen, etc.) than fifty that are polyester blends (material made from recycled plastic bottles is now, apparently, a selling feature) that end up looking ratty within a few months. This does require a more minimalistic approach. Quality does cost more and resources are finite.

There is something about smallness that resonates deeply within the human heart. Everything, after all, comes down to a particular time and a specific place. The Cottage Line is inspired, and modelled after, the economy of pre-industrial revolution in England, where the economy was comprised almost entirely of small home-based manufacturers, when localism was not a buzzword but a practical necessity and where producers were artisans and craftsmen. Discover a little slice of this idyllic throwback by browsing our shop. And drop us a line -we’d love to hear from you.