Haptic & Hue – Episode Summary

Podcast: Haptic & Hue

Host: Jo Andrews
Episode: Finding a Foundling – Textiles of Identity
Date: March 5, 2026

Main Theme

This episode delves into the deeply personal and historical significance of foundling textiles—small, humble fabric tokens left with abandoned children at the London Foundling Hospital in the 1700s. Through stories, interviews, and textile analysis, Jo Andrews and guests (notably historian John Stiles and archivist Caroline de Stefani) explore how these scraps of cloth became symbols of identity, survival, and the emotional bonds between mothers and their children. The episode brings to life the stories woven into these fragments, revealing a hidden history of women’s lives, fashion, and resilience.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Ordinary Textiles

• Not all textiles that move us are luxurious; often, the most powerful are everyday items imbued with deep meaning (00:20).
• Foundling Hospital’s practice: Mothers would leave tokens—scraps of cloth, ribbons, or notes—with their babies, to identify them in case they could reclaim them later (00:54).

2. Historical Context: The London Foundling Hospital

• Founded in 1739 after decades of Thomas Coram’s advocacy (05:36–06:18).
• Aimed to offer hope and survival to children of women facing desperate straits in 18th-century London (grinding poverty, stigma, high child mortality) (04:50–07:50).
• The system was designed for anonymity, due to shame and the dangers faced by unwed or unsupported mothers (07:50).

3. The Billet System and Tokens

• Registration “billets” contained a child’s details and often a fabric token—a split piece left with the child and retained by the mother (08:39–11:38).
• Practicality of fabric: More recognizable, durable, and divisible than paper (11:38).
• Emotional weight: “The little pieces of fabric are the last gift each mother gave her child, and also a record of the parting between the two.” – Jo Andrews [13:09]

4. Examples from the Billet Books (Mid-1700s)

• Touching stories from actual entries: handwoven caps, silk ribbons, parts of embroidered samplers, symbolic cutout hearts (13:45).
  • “Pray take great care of this child.” – Note attached to a ribbon, 1758 [13:09–14:19]

5. Types of Textiles Used as Tokens

• Ribbons: Colorful and cheap, often silk waste (15:32).
• Check Fabrics: Especially blue and white, popular among working women.
• Printed Linens and Cotton: Early European colorfast prints inspired by Indian techniques, but domestically produced.

6. Material Literacy and Everyday Fashion

• All textiles were handspun, hand-dyed, and handwoven—an immense investment of labor and knowledge (17:15).
• Staff had a remarkable ability to recognize and categorize textiles, “a kind of what I’ve called a material literacy, which we don’t really have in the same way.” – John Stiles [18:20]
• Mother's tokens sometimes customized to include symbols with personal or cultural meanings (buds, butterflies, acorns for growth and flourishing) (20:20–20:48).

7. New Lives, Names, and Heartbreaking Bonds

• Children were given new names and sent to wet nurses; some mothers tried to preserve their child’s original name in the tokens (21:03–21:44).
• Emotional complexity: Were tokens genuine expressions of hope, or an attempt to influence the institution? (21:38–23:57)
  • “When the mother, you know, gives a ribbon with her name on when she knows that's exactly what the hospital doesn't want…that must have been a heart wrenching decision for the mother.” – John Stiles [23:21]

8. Outcomes and Legacies

• Most foundlings did not survive (two-thirds mortality rate), but some were reclaimed or lived long lives (24:02).
• Example: Needle case token signaled mother and child reunited years after admission (24:19).

9. The Billet Books: Conservation and Connection

• The Billet Books are now preserved at London Metropolitan Archives under care from conservationists like Caroline de Stefani (26:41).
• Fragile nature: Fading, staining, rusting pins. Restricted access due to vulnerability (26:41–28:57).
• Conservation techniques: Controlled environment, bespoke boxes, gentle cleaning, repairs for display (28:06).

10. Unique Historical Evidence

• The billet tokens are almost the only surviving physical evidence of clothing worn by poor women and children, as most garments from working-class families didn’t survive (31:13–31:54).
• Revealed unexpected reach of fashion across classes—fabrics and prints similar to those worn by elites, adapted in cheaper versions (32:29–35:10).
  • “There isn’t a kind of class split between the clothes that poor people wear and the clothes that rich people wear. Essentially the look, the basic look of women's clothing is shared...” – John Stiles [35:20]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jo Andrews:
  "The little pieces of fabric are the last gift each mother gave her child, and also a record of the parting between the two." [13:09]
• John Stiles:
  "Textiles will survive a lot of bending, folding, ripping—experiences that paper would suffer with." [12:17] "They had a kind of what I've called a material literacy, which we don't really have in the same way." [19:50] "Sooner or later you always come back to this sense, to that very visceral physical realization that these things represent a child..." [37:14]
• Caroline de Stefani:
  "It's really moving...you didn't think that someone would put all this effort to make sure that some children would survive." [36:44]

Key Timestamps

• 00:20 – Introduction to the emotional power of ordinary textiles
• 05:36 – John Stiles on Thomas Coram’s background and mission
• 07:50 – Anonymity and the reason behind it
• 09:37 – Details about the billet system
• 13:09 – The emotional content of the billet books
• 15:32 – Popular types of textile tokens
• 17:15 – The skilled, labor-intensive nature of 18th-century textiles
• 18:20 – Hospital staff’s “material literacy”
• 20:28 – Symbolic meaning in customized tokens
• 21:03 – Naming practices and mother-child bonds
• 26:41 – Caroline de Stefani on the conservation of billet books
• 31:26 – John Stiles’ research and what the books reveal about poor, but fashionable, women
• 35:20 – Lack of a strict class divide in basic clothing styles
• 36:44 – Emotional legacy and continuing relevance of the archives

Tone & Closing Thoughts

This episode is rich with empathy, vivid historical detail, and a sense of reverence for the silent stories left in the folds of fabric. Through its blend of personal family discoveries, expert interviews, and meticulous description of material culture, it brings to light the everyday heroism and heartbreak of mothers who left tokens in hope, despair, and love. The billet books are presented not only as artifacts but as profound human testimonies—fragile connections reaching across centuries.

Useful Links:

• More on the Foundling Museum and billet books: www.hapticandhue.com/listen