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The spinning wheel was an advancement on the concept of the distaff[?] or drop spindle[?]; like the distaff, it worked by spinning the material - twisting the fibers into a long continuous strand. Rather than relying on hand-spinning or gravity, however, the spinning wheel used a pedal (or other motivation, such as water or electric power) to turn a large wheel, along which the thread was strung. The motion of the wheel twisted the thread, which was then collected on a post called (after its predecessor) the spindle.
Referred to in the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty; the princess (leading lady) pricks her finger on the spinning wheel and falls asleep before a handsome prince finds and kisses her. In the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin[?], a young woman is expected to use a spinning wheel to spin straw into gold.
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