History - the early cotton and denim industry in the USA

[fardin]

i dont really know where to put this , so i thought to share this song here, its a classic so check it out might be interesting to others then me

[fardin]

i just found another intersting link on the history of sanfordizing

it also has a pic of sanford cluett

hope you like it

http://www.fabrics.net/joan803.asp

[Paul T]

Anyone who's vaguely interested in the Harris Tweed story should check out the recent BBC4 documentary - now available on iPlayer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=Tweed

it's hilarious, but, no surprises, depressing. Its charm comes from its primitive setting, but they have only primitive ideas on how to promote the fabric - the state which the Scottish Government, and the Harris Tweed Authority, have let the industry fall into is indeed sad. Check out these episodes for some scary tweed gonks...

[fardin]

hey paul nice to see you back. hope everything is fine with you!!!!!

here is another link on harris tweed. its an interview with the director of the series

http://stylesalvage.blogspot.com/2009/09/harris-tweed-hanging-by-thread.html

[morse9443]

:(

[annacobra]

there will be a textile heritage festival in Greenville, SC. I am at the other end of the world and cannot go, but it might be interesting for some of you as well..

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20090924/YOURUPSTATE/909240346/1433/YOURUPSTATE01/Greenville-Textile-Heritage-Festival-Expands-to-Two-Days

[Paul T]

I have had some fascinating emails, headed Drapers In The Field, from a gentleman named Robert, up in New Hampshire.

He works in the aerospace industry, and informs me that Draper looms are still in demand for weaving aerospace fabrics; because they weave more slowly they can be used for more fragile fibres, and it seems the selvage edge, which doesn't unravel, is part of their appeal too. One of the uses for these fabrics, woven on the Drapers, is in jet engines to contain the debris if a fan breaks.

I find it fascinating that Robert, up in the hgih tech industries of New England, as part of his work looks out for old Drapers, and their parts. Until recently they were not too hard to obtain, but recently a major supplier closed its doors. He estimates that at one points there were perhaos a couple of hundred thousand of these looms in operation.

He also sent me this shot, hjence the title of the email, Drapers In Ther Field. We don't know where these are, they could evebn be the original X2 looms scrapped by Cone in 1983-4.

And lastly, if I had more money, space and lived in the US, I'd probably be bidding on this. It's an X-3, the type used by Cone currently. This is a 50s-era loom which makes selvage in a wider size. You can cut these down to make narrow selvage, too (I'm not sure, but I was once told that some of the Toyoda looms will make both wide and narrow selvage without such radical alterations).

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270334134814&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp3984.m38.l1313%26_nkw%3D270334134814%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

The auction number is 270334134814 - the loom is located in Richmond, Va.

[Paul T]

Another photo from RObert:

"Here is another picture of some Drapers I feel I saved from the scrap yard, The company I work for purchased these from a mill in Tennessee, they came out of the Training Room which is why they look so clean, it didn't take much to get these going and they are still running!"

I find it fascinating that this near-lost Victorian technology still has an applicaiton in the aerospace industry. Thanks, RObert!

[fardin]

man i am very tempted, would be interesting to start a business

[dralfonzo]

holy shit those are amazing! out of rep paul but once again amazing post!

[tvshooter]

WHAT?!? that's up in Richmond? Salaami, Lendo- let's do THIS!!!

[jpsmith98]

I make shirts (nothing I'm proud of, but I'm working on it!) and I am always on the lookout for vintage fabrics that I'll be able to use once I can make a worthwhile shirt.

I bought this fabric recently with an Amoskeag sticker on it (guess that means it dates to pre-35?) Of course, the sticker doesn't necessarily mean that it is incontrovertably Amoskeag fabric, but I see no reason why it would be otherwise.

It's a beautiful lavender chambray, about 31" from selvage to selvage. I have about 4 yards--i.e. enough for a shirt.

Since we have some pictures of old school looms, I thought I would share pictures of what came out of them!

[fardin]

looks great, would be intersting to know when they were made. any pics of shirts you made? or did i miss something ?

[jpsmith98]

No pics of my shirts unfortunately, like I said it's a hobby (started about a year ago and have made 3 shirts--shows how devoted I am hehe) but I'm getting better. I will definitely post pics when I have something worth showing.

[Paul T]

WHoa, fantastic find. I'll check the Amoskeag book... I think corners of the factory struggled on for years after the main complex closed, but I would bet it is most likely pre 1935.

[rnrswitch]

Did you get that on ebay. I remember seeing something similar to that.

[jpsmith98]

Yessir. Fortunately the seller didn't write the word "Amoskeag" anywhere in the actual listing but just showed the sticker in one of the pictures, so I just stumbled across it.

[dralfonzo]

thats amazing its a beautiful colour. i'd stitch around the sticker to make sure it stays on haha. great find very jealous

[jdmcnary]

absolutely amazing what you can find on ebay...nice work jpsmith98!

[ringring]

The fabric looks lovely. Thanks for posting that and good luck with the shirtmaking jpsmith98. It's a great discipline for learning how to make jeans

For anyone in the Manchester area of England, then a visit to the Quarry Bank Mill may be interesting. The still have a working, water-powered cotton mill, including a spinning jenny...

Quarry Bank Mill, Quarry Bank Road, Styal, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 4LA, UK

http://www.quarrybankmill.org.uk/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/nov/27/manchester

[Maynard Friedman]

I visited Quarry Bank Mill many years ago and I can only echo ringring's sentiments that it's well worth a day out. It's a very evocative place - great historical interest and atmospheric, a good insight to the past.

Visit Manchester while you're there - the original Cottonopolis!

[fardin]

to all sufuers who speak german or french!

there is an intersting jeans docu on ARTE TV

here is the link to the site.

its going to be repeated on feb 5th at 9:15am

http://www.arte.tv/de/programm/242,day=3,dayPeriod=morning,week=5,year=2010.html#anchor_3016928

[cash]

While looking for info on leg twist, I came across this site: http://www.textilehistory.org/

[Shorty Long]

"adaptive use" at its best...at least the buildings weren't destroyed

http://www.revolutionmillstudios.com/index.html

[Shorty Long]

Wow! I didn't know the famous Stifel label had WV connections!!!

http://www.fabrics.net/joan1003.asp

[Paul T]

googling for some Hickory Stripe fabric, I came across this old Montgomery Ward catalogue from 1894.

MAny interesting fabrics, including denim from amoskeag; York Mills look to be another big supplier. Note also the special denims - blue and gold, blue and red, a luxury fabric, probably similar to the denim used in Levi's Spring Bottom pants.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zWel51IwQ2AC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=hickory+stripe+yard&source=bl&ots=LQYQu-zKtd&sig=_GjCYczeXu4D7EqNuGfylK6gZBM&hl=en&ei=B0rRTLjrFc2TjAfGvMyYDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=hickory%20stripe%20yard&f=false

Sample:

[Paul T]

Here's a cool video of a Toyoda loom in action.

Go to loomstate.co.uk for the truth behind the spiel about "levi's looms sold to Japan"...

[darly900]

Cool, the guy who now runs/owns ARN mercantile used to post on here. I think he claimed US mills were offered government subsidies to sell off old industrial plant post WW2 in the 50's and some looms ended up in the hands of Japanese family businesses (and allegedly remain to this day).

I assume this is bs and was too early in the timeline of phasing out looms unless it was phasing out older models? Its fun hype anyways, I like all the mystique.

[Paul T]

SOme fascinating photos of the cotton industry and clothing in pre-Soviet RUssia - in colour!

http://loomstate.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/glimpses-of-forgotten-past.html

[Joseph Hill]

I thought I was just about done with Sufu, then of course you drag me back in. Great find with the Russian pictures. Gives my wife a reason to support my interests.

You've probably seen it, but in case you've missed it Stephan Yafas' book 'Cotton, the biography of a revolutionary fiber' is a nice, if broad, overview.