The spinning mule was one of the most important innovations in the rise of the British cotton industry during the Industrial Revolution. First introduced in 1780, the mule’s diffusion overturned the traditional division of labor in spinning from women to men. This article produces new insights on this process by examining the business records of Samuel Oldknow, a pioneer of fine cotton manufacturing and an early adopter of the technology during the understudied transition period of the late 1780s and early 1790s, when the machine was still hand powered before the factory system. It demonstrates that strength was the most important factor in shaping the gendered division of labor in mule spinning. Although no direct gender-pay discrimination is evident, men’s earnings were higher because of the physical effort required to operate the larger mules that more easily produced the finest yarns that secured the highest piece rates. Crucially, this shift of the gender division of labor predated factory mule spinning.

走锭纺纱机是工业革命期间英国棉花工业崛起过程中最重要的创新之一。走锭机于 1780 年首次推出，其传播颠覆了纺织业从女性到男性的传统劳动分工。本文通过研究塞缪尔·奥德诺 (Samuel Oldknow) 的业务记录，对这一过程提出了新的见解。塞缪尔·奥德诺是细棉制造的先驱，也是 1780 年代末和 1790 年代初过渡时期该技术的早期采用者，当时机器仍然是手动驱动的。在工厂系统之前。它表明力量是塑造走锭纺纱性别分工的最重要因素。尽管不存在明显的直接性别工资歧视，但男性的收入较高，因为操作较大的走锭机需要体力劳动，这些走锭机更容易生产最优质的纱线，从而获得最高的计件工资。至关重要的是，这种性别分工的转变早于工厂走锭纺纱。