The 'free-love utopia' that ended up as a silverware company

[Allegra]

This is what happens when a man puts his fantasy thoughts into reality rather than on paper. It could have been an interesting novel.

Oneida: The 'free-love utopia' that chased immortality - BBC Reel

Most Americans today associate the name Oneida with fine silverware, yet very few know how it began life as a radical 19th Century religious experiment in free-love, whose members believed polyamory was key to the pursuit of immortality. Video by Maria Badia

www.bbc.com

 

[sknox]

That's funny, because all I knew/know about Oneida was that it was one of the Utopian communities founded in the later 19thc. No idea they made silverware.

 

[kythe]

I'm the other way around - I didn't know them as anything but a silverware company.

 

[JJewel]

Okay my turn, I had never heard of them before, but anyone offering free love should be commended!

 

[-K2-]

It's not that surprising actually--the free love part. The industrial aspects very much so, though I knew of Oneida (just not the community aspect). However, a bit of searching will find a whole slew of free love groups and beliefs throughout the 17th Century till today.

K2

 

[sknox]

Yeah, we hippies weren't nearly the pioneers we thought we were.

 

[MikeAnderson]

Free love AND quality made kitchenware? SIGN ME UP!!

 

[-K2-]

And they say the pioneers of electricity invented free love... Nonsense!

Have you ever looked at your electric bill!

K2