On Monday, October 6, 2014 7:09:34 PM UTC-7, Jymesion wrote:   
   > Over the years, I've collected considerable info about cloth in   
   >    
   > Medieval England (types, costs, tpi, etc.).   
   >    
   >    
   >    
   > Unfortunately, there's one thing I've never found explicitly stated:   
   >    
   > how does it compare to readily available cloth today?   
   >    
   >    
   >    
   > Specifically, if I fill my time machine with $5 end-bolt bargains from   
   >    
   > Wal-Mart and take them to a fair in York in 1350, will I become rich   
   >    
   > or have to peddle them as rags?   
      
   You should do well.  I read all over in histories of the Age of Exploration of   
   ships carrying cargoes of fabric as standard trade goods for very long ocean   
   voyages.  This tells me that 1) cloth is, pound for pound, profitable enough   
   to be worth hauling    
   across the ocean sea on a costly and small sailing ship; 2) fabric from   
   distant cultures decorated in styles utterly foreign still found easy markets   
   almost anywhere.     
      
   btw, there's an easy answer to anyone who shows surprise at the unnatural   
   fabrics or colors:  tell them you got it from a middleman and you have no idea   
   where it came from.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)