The phrase “the distaff side” is routinely used as an expression meaning “the wife,” but many people do not know its origin. A distaff is one of the tools used in spinning, which was considered women’s work. The emblem of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution incorporates tools of spinning into its logo. The book of Proverbs in the Bible describes a virtuous woman as one who “seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands” and “layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands holdeth the distaff.”