Speaking of epic rap battles (that counts as a musical relationship and goes in this thread, right?), Fritz-in-my-head keeps getting suuuper annoyed that porcelain gets mentioned in Alexander's verses and not his, seeing as how porcelain wasn't even a *thing* yet in AtG's time, and porcelain was all the rage in the 18th century. Fritz was obsessed with it like he was obsessed with, idk, Italian greyhounds.
Like, "Hey, we seem to have invaded Saxony in the course of my warmongering. That's cool, that's where Dresden and all the people who know the closely-guarded secrets of making the highest quality porcelain are!" obsessed.
So Fritz took advantage of this opportunity to introduce the porcelain industry into Berlin. After the war, he ended up buying the porcelain factory in Berlin and running it himself. You know, in his copious spare time. Says one biographer, "Given his concern to micromanage every other aspect of his state, it will come as no surprise to learn that Frederick was very much an activist proprietor, combining the roles of chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Although he could not always be there in person, he insisted on being sent monthly accounts and often visited the factory."
When did he find the time???! Coffee, peppercorns, and mustard, right. Got it.
Anyway, so I knew all this, and so today, because he was really complaining about Alexander and the porcelain, I thought I would google his factory. Then I found this little gem in Wikipedia:
"On 19 September 1763, Frederick II officially became the manufactory's new owner. He purchased the manufactory for the considerable sum of 225,000 thaler and took over the staff of 146 workers. He gave the business its name and allowed it to use the royal sceptre as its symbol. From then on, it was called the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin ("Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin") and became a model of how to run a business. There was no child labour, there were regular working hours, above-average incomes, secure pensions, a healthcare fund and assistance for widows and orphans."
I don't agree with his economics (forcing Jews to buy porcelain to keep profits high, not cool), but I mean, if you're going to run a country 18th-century semi-mercantilist style and use your royal power to acquire profits, I guess there are worse things than using said questionably acquired profits on good labor practices. I hope Wikipedia can be trusted here.
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Re: speaking of musical relationships....
Date: 2019-10-13 05:15 am (UTC)Like, "Hey, we seem to have invaded Saxony in the course of my warmongering. That's cool, that's where Dresden and all the people who know the closely-guarded secrets of making the highest quality porcelain are!" obsessed.
So Fritz took advantage of this opportunity to introduce the porcelain industry into Berlin. After the war, he ended up buying the porcelain factory in Berlin and running it himself. You know, in his copious spare time. Says one biographer, "Given his concern to micromanage every other aspect of his state, it will come as no surprise to learn that Frederick was very much an activist proprietor, combining the roles of chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Although he could not always be there in person, he insisted on being sent monthly accounts and often visited the factory."
When did he find the time???! Coffee, peppercorns, and mustard, right. Got it.
Anyway, so I knew all this, and so today, because he was really complaining about Alexander and the porcelain, I thought I would google his factory. Then I found this little gem in Wikipedia:
"On 19 September 1763, Frederick II officially became the manufactory's new owner. He purchased the manufactory for the considerable sum of 225,000 thaler and took over the staff of 146 workers. He gave the business its name and allowed it to use the royal sceptre as its symbol. From then on, it was called the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin ("Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin") and became a model of how to run a business. There was no child labour, there were regular working hours, above-average incomes, secure pensions, a healthcare fund and assistance for widows and orphans."
I don't agree with his economics (forcing Jews to buy porcelain to keep profits high, not cool), but I mean, if you're going to run a country 18th-century semi-mercantilist style and use your royal power to acquire profits, I guess there are worse things than using said questionably acquired profits on good labor practices. I hope Wikipedia can be trusted here.