Doherty & Wadsworth Co Printed Mikado Silk Crepe fabric length; 1914. Silk Dress goods "Printed Mikado Crepe" with significant fading of color and print. Originally ground was pink, this has faded. "Pompadour design" of detached sprigs and sprays of flowers. Pinked edges.
Henry Doherty and Joseph Wadsworth came to Paterson, New Jersey from England and began working together in 1879. They rented small spaces in mills until 1882 when they were able to purchase a mill and began weaving grenadines. Paterson, NJ was the premier silk manufacturing location in the United States at the time. Doherty and Wadsworth was Paterson's largest silk manufacturers when they went to Allentown in 1910 to set up more mills. The president of the company, Henry Doherty, in 1913 automated his looms so that one worker could operate four looms at a time instead of just two. They also had silk mills in Wilkes-Barre. By 1938, the silk mills had closed down due to pressure from the Great Depression and changes in whoesaling textiles, and strikes by workers demanding higher wages.
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