Textiles - Overview
The 50,000 objects in the textile collections fall into two main categories: raw fibers, yarns, and fabrics, and machines, tools, and other textile technology. Shawls, coverlets, samplers, laces, linens, synthetics, and other fabrics are part of the first group, along with the 400 quilts in the National Quilt Collection. Some of the Museum's most popular artifacts, such as the Star-Spangled Banner and the gowns of the first ladies, have an obvious textile connection.
The machinery and tools include spinning wheels, sewing machines, thimbles, needlework tools, looms, and an invention that changed the course of American agriculture and society. A model of Eli Whitney's cotton gin, made by the inventor in the early 1800s, shows the workings of a machine that helped make cotton plantations profitable in the South and encouraged the spread of slavery.
"Textiles - Overview" showing 24 items.
Page 1 of 3
1838 Faber's Patent Model of a Hand Card
- Description
- Hand Card Patent Model
- Patent No. 863, issued August 1, 1838
- George Faber of Canton, Ohio
- Faber’s patent related to the construction of the common hand card used for carding cotton or wool prior to the spinning process. He specifically patented using wood veneer, instead of leather, for the foundation that contained the card’s wire teeth. The wood was cut from 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch in thickness, 4 inches in width, and 4 to 8 inches in length. The wood was then steeped in water to soften it so that when placed in a card-making machine, it could be pricked and the teeth inserted. The veneer was nailed to another piece of wood and a handle inserted to form the hand card.
- Although Faber did not claim credit for inventing the card-making machine, in his patent specification he did mention that he had made improvements on it.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-08-01
- patent date
- 1838-08-01
- inventor
- Faber, George
- ID Number
- TE*T11396.030
- catalog number
- T11396.030
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 863
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Sibley's Patent Model of a Calico Printing Machine
- Description
- Calico Printing Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 823, issued on July 9, 1838
- Alden Sibley of Pawtucket, Massachusetts
- Sibley’s improvement concerned the arrangement of the color box, which held the coloring matter used in printing; the furnishing roll, which supplied the coloring matter to the printing roll; and the doctor, which acted as a scraper to remove any superfluous color from the cylinder. In his patent specification, Sibley stated that the advantage of his machine was “being able to work as heavy an Engraving, last as first, or second, and by which means you can place the Light, delicate colors, first and Black or Chocolate last or as you please.” His patent model shows only one engraved copper roller although the machine was designed to do three- or four-color work with multiple rollers.
- Sibley recommended using flour instead of gum to thicken the coloring matter. He calculated that to print 175 pieces, it was necessary to use 42 pounds of gum senegal at 22 cents a pound, which added up to $9.24; whereas 42 pounds of flour cost only 5 cents a pound, for a sum of $2.10. That totaled up to a savings of $7.14 if the flour was used. Whether the use of flour was ever adopted is not known.
- By 1836, textile mills in the United States had printed 120 million yards of calicoes. Calico printing was popular among manufacturers largely due to the fact that the printing only added one step to the finishing process and did not affect or complicate the weaving process.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-07-09
- patent date
- 1838-07-09
- inventor
- Sibley, Alden
- ID Number
- TE*T11398.012
- catalog number
- T11398.012
- patent number
- 823
- accession number
- 89797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1837 Swasey's Patent Model of a Cloth Napping Machine
- Description
- Cloth Napping Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 350, issued August 8, 1837
- Benjamin Swasey of Mount Vernon, Maine
- Swasey’s patent concerned the setting of teazles ( thistle-like plant heads) in the wires of the large napping cylinder. He also claimed certain springs and levers that shifted the cloth rollers in and out of gear. This shifting of the cloth rollers caused the cloth to come in contact with the teazles as the cloth was wound forward and then disengaged the cloth from the teazles as the cloth rewound.
- In this way, the cloth could roll from one cylinder to another as long as necessary to ensure a well-napped surface. Also, the shifting of gears did not require a person to match and unmatch the gears. Friction bands on the ends of the cloth rollers, together with hanging weights, kept tension on the cloth even.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1837-08-08
- date made
- before1837-08-08
- patent date
- 1837-08-08
- inventor
- Swasey, Benjamin
- ID Number
- TE*T11403.011
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11403.011
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 350
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Day's Patent Model of a Cordage Machine
- Description
- Cordage Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 596, issued February 7, 1838
- Moses Day of Roxbury, Massachusetts
- This patent was an improvement on Day’s earlier patent (9692x) of June 2, 1836, which was destroyed in the 1836 fire and reconstructed by the Patent Office for the Columbian Exposition of 1893.
- The difference between the two patents is the addition of a gauge-plate to the end of the machine, by which it became a strandmaker. Day stated that his method of making cordage had two advantages over those in common use. First, the twist given to the strand was uniform throughout its length. Second, as the cord was made, it was wound on a bobbin, thereby eliminating the need for long rope walks and large buildings. The whole process could be done in a room that was only slightly larger than the cordage machine and the bobbin frame.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-02-07
- patent date
- 1838-02-07
- inventor
- Day, Moses
- ID Number
- TE*T11405.045
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11405.045
- patent number
- 596
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Wheeler's Patent Model of a Spinning Wheel
- Description
- Spinning Wheel Patent Model
- Patent No. 710, issued April 25, 1838
- Hiram F. Wheeler of Springville, Pennsylvania
- Hiram Wheeler’s domestic wheel was for spinning wool. He titled his invention “inclined spinner,” referring to the fact that the operator would sit at the wheel as opposed to standing and walking when using the typical wool wheel. When the treadle was forced down by the operator’s foot, a cord pulled the carriage and spinning wheel head away from the spinner. A weight brought both of them back toward the spinner. This movement of the carriage was equivalent to the spinner walking forward to the spindle tip for the draw out and then back to the wheel. Wheeler specifically claimed as his invention this sliding action of the wheel head.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-04-25
- patent date
- 1838-04-25
- inventor
- Wheeler, Hiram F.
- ID Number
- TE*T11407.001
- catalog number
- T11407.001
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 710
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Holland's Doubling and Twisting Silk Machine
- Description
- Spinning, Doubling, and Twisting Silk Machine Patent Model
- Patent No. 977, issued on October 10, 1838
- Harrison Holland of Northampton, Massachusetts
- The central part of Holland’s patent concerned the stop motion mechanism on a silk thread making machine. If a thread broke, a small rod, connected to each of the threads by bent wires, would drop. A lever, to which the rod was attached, would come in contact with the drum and then stop the machine by throwing it out of gear. Also included in the patent was a method to change the twist of the silk thread by using a short cylinder.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-10-10
- patent date
- 1838-10-10
- inventor
- Holland, Harrison
- ID Number
- TE*T11407.027
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 977
- catalog number
- T11407.027
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1837 Hartford and Tilton's Patent Model of a Loom Heddle
- Description
- Loom Heddles and Harness Patent Model
- Patent No. 544, issued December 29, 1837
- Benjamin Hartford and William B. Tilton of Enfield, New Hampshire
- Hartford and Tilton improved upon the construction of heddles (the mechanisms that raise and lower warp threads) by using strips of rolled flat metal with an eye punched through the middle of each strip to allow for the passage of warp yarns. Heddles were commonly constructed of cord. The replacement of metal for cord produced a more durable heddle. These one-piece metallic strips and the construction of the heddle frame were the basis of their patent. The heddles slid on two rods and were attached to adjustable clasps, permitting the heddles to correspond to the part of the reed (a comb-like device used to space the warp yarns evenly) that was in operation.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1837-12-29
- patent date
- 1837-12-29
- inventor
- Hartford, Benjamin
- Tilton, William B.
- ID Number
- TE*T11409.015
- patent number
- 544
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T.11409.15
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1840 Thorp and Angell's Patent Model of a Loom Heddle
- Description
- Loom Heddles Patent Model
- Patent No. 1,498, issued on February 26, 1840
- John Thorp and William G. Angell of Providence, Rhode Island
- These heddles, both wire and twine, were exhibited in the Patent Office in a round wooden frame. In the patent specification, Thorp and Angell described the dimensions of heddles for use on a common power loom. A chain of the heddles was formed by taking two pieces of wire or twine and tying them with a common square knot, “which will unite them in the same way and manner that a lady ties her apron strings or a child his shoestrings.” The placement of the knots resulted in the formation of the eyes of the heddles, which raise and lower warp threads in weaving cloth.
- Thorp and Angell did not include a patent drawing with the specification. The 1841 Journal of the Franklin Institute remarked of this omission: “We must suppose . . . that the description, although to us somewhat obscure, would be clear to a professional weaver.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1840-02-26
- patent date
- 1840-02-26
- inventor
- Thorp, John
- Angell, William G.
- ID Number
- TE*T11409.032
- catalog number
- T11409.032
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 1,498
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1837 Harvey's Patent Model of a Hair Cloth Loom
- Description
- Hair Cloth Loom Patent Model
- Patent No. 490, issued November 25, 1837
- Charles R. Harvey of Poughkeepsie, New York
- Weaving with horsehair was difficult and slow because the weaver had to select an individual horsehair for each weft and insert it into the warp. Harvey’s loom was a step toward mechanizing this process. But Harvey dealt only with changing from a hand loom to a power loom, not with the problem of weaving with horsehair. Even in his patent specification, he mentioned that the “hook” (a simple wooden rod with a hook at one end by which the horsehair was drawn in to be woven) is “made in the usual way.” Harvey detailed his improvements as the application of power to both the movement of the hook and the operation of the loom overall.
- At the tenth Annual Fair of the American Institute in 1837, Harvey was awarded a gold medal for his “hair seating loom.” The Journal of the American Institute, published in 1838, remarked that “this is the first application of power to weaving hair cloth; and concerning the extent of the article [hair cloth] now used for furniture, we think the loom is entitled to the highest consideration.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1837-11-25
- patent date
- 1837-11-25
- inventor
- Harvey, Charles R.
- ID Number
- TE*T11411.035
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11411.035
- patent number
- 490
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
1838 Fairman's Patent Model of a Loom
- Description
- Power Loom Patent Model
- Patent No. 595, issued February 6, 1838
- Elijah Fairman of Stafford, Connecticut
- Fairman’s improvements, consisting of an additional cam and a set of treadles, were applied to power looms in common use. His improvements allowed the harnesses to operate more smoothly and the warp to open, enabling the shuttle to pass more easily. The end result was that the loom was better suited to weaving either light or heavy fabrics. Six pages and three illustrations in Clinton Gilroy’s 1844 book, The Art of Weaving, are spent in describing Fairman’s patent. Gilroy commented that Fairman’s loom would probably work fine for simple weaves, but for fancy patterned work, requiring 10 to 100 heddle frames, it would be totally impractical.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- model constructed
- before 1838-02-06
- patent date
- 1838-02-06
- inventor
- Fairman, Elijah
- ID Number
- TE*T11411.095
- accession number
- 89797
- catalog number
- T11411.095
- patent number
- 595
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center