Daily AncestorBobbin boy
A bobbin boy was a boy who carried bobbins of thread to and from the workers at the machines in a textile mill.
Bobbin boys brought empty bobbins to spinners and weavers and took away full ones. They might also fix small problems with the machines. Days were long and pay was low.
The job is common for boys in the early mill era. Andrew Carnegie began his working life as a bobbin boy.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1880 census
Thos. Grady, 11, Bobbin boy, Mass.
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Bobbin boy." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/bobbin-boy. Last checked 2026-10-01.