Familistère of Guise - a working Utopia - by Askar
May 13, 2017 19:19:12 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 19:19:12 GMT
The small town of Guise (pronunce gwizz) is celebrating this year the 200th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Baptiste Godin.
Most of the French are familiar with the name Godin since it was, and still is, a very popular brand of cast-iron stoves and heating appliances, but relatively few know the man, Jean-Baptiste Godin, and the real work of his life - the Familistère of Guise.
Jean-Baptiste Godin (26 January 1817 – 15 January 1888) was the son of an artisan smith. He started work at age eleven at his father's forge in the little village of Esquéhéries (you can forget this detail), in the Picardy region.
When he was seventeen, he set out on a tour of France as a journeyman to improve his craft. His journey would lead him through Meaux, Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes, Marseille, Toulon, Avignon and Lyon.
It is during this time that he discovered the living conditions of the working class; unhealthy lodgins, 15 hour workadays, child labor.. He later said that this experience was the turning point of his life. It is then that he started reading the early socialist thinkers.
In september 1837, he was back in his village (whose name you've already forgotten). After he got married, in 1840, he started a a little factory of cast-iron stoves. The business was doing very well but the village was too isolated so in 1846, he moved his factory to the nearby town of Guise to take advantage of the railroad.
For Godin, industrial progress should go hand in hand with social progress. His reading of the book of Charles Fourier Traité de l’Association domestique-agricole came as a revelation. The next year, he joined a group of disciples of Fourier. In 1848, aged 31, he ran for election at the National Assembly on the list of the "candidats phalanstériens. He lost however. In 1854, Victor Considerant, another disciple of Charles Fourier, convinced Godin to participate at the creation of La Réunion, a socialist community in Texas. The colonists were ill-prepared, there was not enough land and they faced a severe drought followed by invasion of grasshoppers - the experience was a failure. Godin had lost 100,000 francs, a third of his fortune. "Esther [his wife] was not too happy".
"Suffice it to say that in losing the illusions on which my confidence had been based, I did some soul-searching and came to the firm conclusion that I would never expect anyone else to try and to apply social reforms that I could just as well apply myself"
Why would you want to build a Phalanstère thousands of kilometers away when you can build one next door? It happens that there was a vacant lot across the street from the factory. Godin bought it for 40,000 francs. The building started in 1858. The first families moved in their new appartments in 1860. By 1872, 900 workers and their families were housed in the Familistère, for a total population of about 1200.
I think it's time we start the visit. Sorry for the photos, I had only my cell phone and I'm a very poor photographer.
This is the main building. What you see on the left is the right wing and on the right, the left wing.
(I stole this photo to Wikipedia)
Monsieur Godin:
Le pavillon central - the central part.
If you look closely, you will see that the windows of the top floor are smaller than the ones of the lower appartments. The lower floors have to receive as much light than the top floor...
There were several toilets at each floor and a fountain (but no water in the appartment). Godin had devised a system of ventilation to keep the appartment from humidity.
I just took 2 photos of the right wing. There are still about 30 people living there so you're not supposed to visit.
In fact the Familistère was much more than an appartment building. Someone said that the Familistère was "a machine for living together".
It had a nursery, caring for children from 15 days to 4 years old.
A school with two classes - the bambinat for children from 4 to 6 plus another class for children from 7 to 14. The classes were mixed. The school was mandatory and free - One should bear in mind that, at the time, it was perfectly legal to employ children as young as 8 in the industry. Actually, the first law limiting the employment of children came in 1841 (prohibition of employing children under 8). Before 1841 there was absolutely zero limit.
The school is still in use today.
At Godin, the workday was 11 hours. Sunday was free. One thing which was remarkable for the time: equal salary for women and men.
Salaries were substantially higher than in other places. Most of the employees of Godin had never earn so much. Many were shy of spending their money. Godin had to push them: "Even manual workers have the right to wear nice clothes!".
Employees could shop at the économat at reduced prices. (sorry, no photo)
Hygiene was very important for Godin - it was forbidden to wash clothes and hang them up to dry in the appartments. For that, Godin build a laundry supplied with hot water from the factory. There were also several bathing cubicles supplied also with hot water.
There was more than enough hot water for the laundry so, why not to build a swimming pool?
The pool was 2.50 meters deep. It had a moveable wooden base which could be brought closer to the surface to provide the right depth for the children.
A musical band was created as soon as 1859. Over the years, it became renown around the region. It took a special place in the life of the Familistère.
I have no photo of the library but of course there was one.
Did I say that there was a theater?
And so you're wondering - When did it stop? What went wrong?
In 1880, Godin formed a cooperative to take over the Familistère after his death. He died in 1888, there were successively 4 administrators after his death. The business went well for several décades but it started to decline after 1950. Apparently they didn't adapt their production to the new markets. There were more and more conflicts between the members of the cooperative. The new generation had lost the spirit of community of their forebearers. At last, in 1968, the cooperative was dissolved, the factory was sold to Le Creuset (cast-iron cookware). The current owner, Godin S.A, uses the name Godin but it has no link with the Godin family.
Le Familistère lasted more than 100 years. There are probably no other social experiment of that kind that lasted so long. (The locals don't say "probably").
People who knew him used to say "Le père Godin, il était pas toujours facile" - he wasn't easy to get on with. Surprised?
[/a]
Most of the French are familiar with the name Godin since it was, and still is, a very popular brand of cast-iron stoves and heating appliances, but relatively few know the man, Jean-Baptiste Godin, and the real work of his life - the Familistère of Guise.
Jean-Baptiste Godin (26 January 1817 – 15 January 1888) was the son of an artisan smith. He started work at age eleven at his father's forge in the little village of Esquéhéries (you can forget this detail), in the Picardy region.
When he was seventeen, he set out on a tour of France as a journeyman to improve his craft. His journey would lead him through Meaux, Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Nîmes, Marseille, Toulon, Avignon and Lyon.
It is during this time that he discovered the living conditions of the working class; unhealthy lodgins, 15 hour workadays, child labor.. He later said that this experience was the turning point of his life. It is then that he started reading the early socialist thinkers.
In september 1837, he was back in his village (whose name you've already forgotten). After he got married, in 1840, he started a a little factory of cast-iron stoves. The business was doing very well but the village was too isolated so in 1846, he moved his factory to the nearby town of Guise to take advantage of the railroad.
For Godin, industrial progress should go hand in hand with social progress. His reading of the book of Charles Fourier Traité de l’Association domestique-agricole came as a revelation. The next year, he joined a group of disciples of Fourier. In 1848, aged 31, he ran for election at the National Assembly on the list of the "candidats phalanstériens. He lost however. In 1854, Victor Considerant, another disciple of Charles Fourier, convinced Godin to participate at the creation of La Réunion, a socialist community in Texas. The colonists were ill-prepared, there was not enough land and they faced a severe drought followed by invasion of grasshoppers - the experience was a failure. Godin had lost 100,000 francs, a third of his fortune. "Esther [his wife] was not too happy".
"Suffice it to say that in losing the illusions on which my confidence had been based, I did some soul-searching and came to the firm conclusion that I would never expect anyone else to try and to apply social reforms that I could just as well apply myself"
Why would you want to build a Phalanstère thousands of kilometers away when you can build one next door? It happens that there was a vacant lot across the street from the factory. Godin bought it for 40,000 francs. The building started in 1858. The first families moved in their new appartments in 1860. By 1872, 900 workers and their families were housed in the Familistère, for a total population of about 1200.
I think it's time we start the visit. Sorry for the photos, I had only my cell phone and I'm a very poor photographer.
This is the main building. What you see on the left is the right wing and on the right, the left wing.
(I stole this photo to Wikipedia)
Monsieur Godin:
Le pavillon central - the central part.
If you look closely, you will see that the windows of the top floor are smaller than the ones of the lower appartments. The lower floors have to receive as much light than the top floor...
There were several toilets at each floor and a fountain (but no water in the appartment). Godin had devised a system of ventilation to keep the appartment from humidity.
I just took 2 photos of the right wing. There are still about 30 people living there so you're not supposed to visit.
In fact the Familistère was much more than an appartment building. Someone said that the Familistère was "a machine for living together".
It had a nursery, caring for children from 15 days to 4 years old.
A school with two classes - the bambinat for children from 4 to 6 plus another class for children from 7 to 14. The classes were mixed. The school was mandatory and free - One should bear in mind that, at the time, it was perfectly legal to employ children as young as 8 in the industry. Actually, the first law limiting the employment of children came in 1841 (prohibition of employing children under 8). Before 1841 there was absolutely zero limit.
The school is still in use today.
At Godin, the workday was 11 hours. Sunday was free. One thing which was remarkable for the time: equal salary for women and men.
Salaries were substantially higher than in other places. Most of the employees of Godin had never earn so much. Many were shy of spending their money. Godin had to push them: "Even manual workers have the right to wear nice clothes!".
Employees could shop at the économat at reduced prices. (sorry, no photo)
Hygiene was very important for Godin - it was forbidden to wash clothes and hang them up to dry in the appartments. For that, Godin build a laundry supplied with hot water from the factory. There were also several bathing cubicles supplied also with hot water.
There was more than enough hot water for the laundry so, why not to build a swimming pool?
The pool was 2.50 meters deep. It had a moveable wooden base which could be brought closer to the surface to provide the right depth for the children.
A musical band was created as soon as 1859. Over the years, it became renown around the region. It took a special place in the life of the Familistère.
I have no photo of the library but of course there was one.
Did I say that there was a theater?
And so you're wondering - When did it stop? What went wrong?
In 1880, Godin formed a cooperative to take over the Familistère after his death. He died in 1888, there were successively 4 administrators after his death. The business went well for several décades but it started to decline after 1950. Apparently they didn't adapt their production to the new markets. There were more and more conflicts between the members of the cooperative. The new generation had lost the spirit of community of their forebearers. At last, in 1968, the cooperative was dissolved, the factory was sold to Le Creuset (cast-iron cookware). The current owner, Godin S.A, uses the name Godin but it has no link with the Godin family.
Le Familistère lasted more than 100 years. There are probably no other social experiment of that kind that lasted so long. (The locals don't say "probably").
People who knew him used to say "Le père Godin, il était pas toujours facile" - he wasn't easy to get on with. Surprised?
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