The Amoskeag Mills

[Kaisha]

Amoskeag have been covered here to some extent, but i'd thought i'd start a new thread around the sleeping giant that used to be one of the largest mills in the world.

I still haven't read the book Paul T mentioned in a thread some time ago, but i've

always been intrigued by it all. Even the name "Amoskeag" holds some mysticism

in my mind.

I came across This and the pictures there are pretty aweinspiring. You can even

see some old "shuttles" lying on the lower left of one of them from way back,

and the pictures of the HUGE rooms filled with looms are even better.

And this quote from a Chicopee Mfg. Employee;

"During the final week, certain looms, like the last survivors in a beached school of fish, continued to vibrate in isolated corners of the vast space, until they too were finally stopped at 11:00 p.m. on that last Friday."

And before you start yelling at me for starting a whole new thread as a first post,

well... I do think Amoskeag deserves its own thread.

[Kaisha]

thanks for the link!

haven't looked at it fully yet, but it looks promising

welcome to superdenim

Thanks! I've been reading superdenim for probably a year so its cool to be posting.

As an addition to my previous post, i've done some more searching and there are

certainly alot of information about the child labour and "tyranny" in the

leadership there in the 1800-1900's. But that was probably not just a problem in

Amoskeag. The thing that boggles me is the amount of blood, sweat and tears in

the denim that came out of there in those days.

Its fascinating to think about how denim then and denim now is completely opposite.

[Paul T]

Thanks for the link, it's intriguing.

I guess that Amoskeag is a lot like the industrial North of England, and the original Manchester - a huge compllex of factories, set up at huge cost, gone, to be replaced solely by service industries. The book is fascinating, of course there was a certain amount of exploitation by the emplyers, who at best had a paternal attitude, providing houses for their workers - who, I guess, would be gone if they caused trouble. If memory served they had pretty good industrial relations until the company was sold around 1900-1910. And there was a big economic crunch in the cotton industry in the 20s, which meant they cut wages, provoking strikes, which finished them off - and around that time, Levi's switched to Cone for their denim.

Funnily enough, no-one seems to know conclusively who invented denim as we know it, with a dyed warp and natural fill. There were related fabrics in France and England, but the familiar fabric we all know and love seems to have first been produced in quantity in New England. So it might be an anonymous employee at amoskeag or another nearby complex who was responsible for creating denim.

[Dick Danger]

And before you start yelling at me for starting a whole new thread as a first post

I'm not going to call you a fucktard, or even say good first post, I simply don't care. I will say that was moderately okey dokey link, and thank you for providing it.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

those NEVADA MINE Levis were Amoskeag, no?

[superBobo]

Funnily enough, no-one seems to know conclusively who invented denim as we know it, with a dyed warp and natural fill. There were related fabrics in France and England, but the familiar fabric we all know and love seems to have first been produced in quantity in New England. So it might be an anonymous employee at amoskeag or another nearby complex who was responsible for creating denim.

I just finished reading your book (which I love! especially first half with orginal workwear/cowboy/bad boy) and this is one thing I didn´t really get, where/when the actual denim fabric (as we know it today) orginated. It´s kinda awe-inspiering that some unknown worker a hundred 130 years ago or so might be the inventor.

[Kaisha]

those NEVADA MINE Levis were Amoskeag, no?

Yes i think they were, 9 oz.

--

I wonder if anyone has done any intense investigation into to who invented denim, or

if it's simply just impossible to do? It certainly would be a time-devouring task.

[chucksvintage]

I have an original Amoskeag Chambray shirt.

[englandmj7]

I have an original Amoskeag Chambray shirt.

Pics please.

[tweeds]

Pics please.

what he said. which company made them?

[kiya]

Gravedigging a bit here...

Was up late last night doing some random research on Amoskeag and came across this thread.

Is there a log as to when Levi's was using Amoskeag's textiles and when they switched to Cone? Also, they were using both Cone and Amoskeag at the same time on different garments, what was their deciding factor between the two?

[who8mahrice]

I did a little searching and the best results have come from Levi's themselves. According to their site, they started using Cone in 1915 and by 1922, was exclusively Cone.

Amoskeag/manufacturing info starts on page 4: http://www.levistrauss.com/Downloads/History-Denim.pdf

Also: http://www.levistrauss.com/Downloads/history_of_levis_501_jeans.pdf

[kiya]

Any insight on what the differences between Cone and Amoskeag's output was between 1900 and 1920?

What was the deciding factor for Levi's to start using a secondary supplier?

Did the material have a different characteristic to it between the two mills?

[Busted Seam]

Any insight on what the differences between Cone and Amoskeag's output was between 1900 and 1920?

What was the deciding factor for Levi's to start using a secondary supplier?

Did the material have a different characteristic to it between the two mills?

Paul T's book has a lot of info on this I think.

Levi's changed primarily because Amoskeag were having labour problems in the 1910s and 20s... the facoty was under new ownership. Cone was nearer the cotton fields - hence the name Proximity mills- which was more efficient, and probably protected them from rising cotton prices. By the late 20s, I think, Amoskeag had pretty much had it. There is a very good book on this called something like Amoskeag, Life and Work in an American Factory TOwn. Really worth having around the shop, because it's fascinating social history. CHeck out the thread on here about old factories, too, has some great stuff from ringring.

Amoskeag and Cone denim were quite different denim; principall, Amoskeag was natural indigo, Cone was synthetic. Amoskeag fanric has a green cast, Cone a red cast. The first Cone denim is very dark; they were still hand dye-ing it in vats, so there was continuous variaiton in the early days of their, too. I don't think the wieghts differed; between 1915 and 1922 the 501 was being made with denim from both places, so I guess the weight was the same.

Some of the COne denim Levi's from the 20s are REALLY dark. Where most of the Amoskeag ones from the 1910s fade in a very different way, fewer whiskers, more thigh wear. Hard to know how much of this is due t o natural v synthetic, and how much is other factors.

If you haven't seen this Cone story, it's worth looking at. A lot of technical stuff.

http://www.trynka.net/Site/Cone.html

[pacioli]

Amoskeag and Cone denim were quite different denim; principall, Amoskeag was natural indigo, Cone was synthetic. Amoskeag fanric has a green cast, Cone a red cast. The first Cone denim is very dark; they were still hand dye-ing it in vats, so there was continuous variaiton in the early days of their, too. I don't think the wieghts differed; between 1915 and 1922 the 501 was being made with denim from both places, so I guess the weight was the same.

Some of the COne denim Levi's from the 20s are REALLY dark. Where most of the Amoskeag ones from the 1910s fade in a very different way, fewer whiskers, more thigh wear. Hard to know how much of this is due t o natural v synthetic, and how much is other factors.

If you haven't seen this Cone story, it's worth looking at. A lot of technical stuff.

http://www.trynka.net/Site/Cone.html

You are very knowlegable!

There is still no solid evidence whether Cone was exclusively using natural or synthetic indigo during the period in question, 1900 -1920. Certainly when Proximity started in 1896 it would have used natural indigo particularly because synthetic indigo did not become profitably commercially marketed and available until at least 1897. There is also the question of whether Cone would have used synthetic indigo during World War I. Was there a non-German source for synthesized indigo at this time?

[rnrswitch]

The coolest thing about Amoskeag mills is its name. It is definitely a cooler name than Cone.

[pacioli]

I've always liked Erwin and Stifel