Economy
Saba lace (also known as "Spanish work") is actually drawn thread work, and as of 2013 it is still produced on the island. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Saba lace was a major export. In the 1870s, as a young lady, Mary Gertrude Hassell Johnson, was sent to a Caracas convent in Venezuela for study – where she learned the difficult craft. On her return, lacework spread through the island. The women of Saba began a mail-order business, and would copy addresses of businesses off shipping containers from the United States, and write to the employees. Often they would get orders for the lacework, and it started a considerable cottage industry. By 1928, the women were exporting around $15,000 (USD) worth of lace products each year.
Read more about this topic: History Of Saba
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