Co-operatives get everywhere – including the Museum of Liverpool!
Co-operatives get everywhere, and during a visit to Liverpool last weekend I spotted a few co-operative artefacts in the city’s shiny new(ish) Museum of Liverpool, down on the waterfront.
The Museum is dedicated to all walks of Liverpool life, covering work, transport, homes, leisure and everything in between. It’s jammed full of objects showing how life for people in the city has changed over the years. Like most places, Liverpool has long been home to co-operative societies, and among the historic artefacts on display was a small collection relating to the co-operative movement, and more specifically the Co-operative Women’s Guild, which has championed women’s status within both the co-operative movement and society since 1883.
Most prominent was a Women’s Guild banner made by a local branch. Beautiful banners were made by individual branches all over the country to display at their meetings and show off at parades and pageants, often using opulent gold-coloured and velvet fabric, and carefully embroidered with letters and co-operative imagery – to see more, visit the Rochdale Pioneers Museum once it has reopened later this summer!
I also spied a co-operative songbook and vinyl record – now that’s something I am going to have to find out more about!
Find out more about visiting the Museum of Liverpool at www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol.
Published On: July 17, 2012
Written By: Natalie
Filed Under: Blog Category
Co-operative Learning