A sample length of The Shelton Looms "Chiffon Plush" mohair pile fabric; 1914. Pale yellow long mohair pile on a yellow cotton back; panned to produce an allover design of detached irregular lines, similar to an animal fur in effect. . Used for gowns, trimmings, etc. Color: Corn. Width: 48"-50". 1 sample. One of a group of pile fabrics given in 1914 (accessioned in 1915) by Sidney Blumenthal and Co., Inc, owner and operator of The Shelton Looms, one of the best known and most important American pile fabric producers., whose mills were in Shelton, Connecticut.
Sample length of Goodall-Sanford Inc., fabric for automotive upholstery; Dark blue, in a blend of rayon, cotton, wool, and mohair. This kind of fabric gets hard wear and requires "slide-abiity" and specially developed blends of fibres.
Part of a gift of 14 fabric samples and 11 fiber samples by Goodall-Sanford Inc., Sanford, Maine, to illustrate "Fiber Blending for Better Performance", in September 1951. The Goodall Worsted Company (maker of the mohair and cotton blend fabric "Palm Beach Cloth"), and the Sanford Mills (maker of mohair and wool velvets, plushes, and imitation fur fabrics) merged in 1944 to form Goodall-Sanford Inc. Palm Beach cloth was a menswear summer staple, and was one of the first fabrics considered "easy-care", although both its components were natural fibers. This donation illustrates some of the company's other efforts at blending fibers, in this case natural and synthetic blends. Goodall-Sanford's sales headquarters were at 545 Madison Avenue, NY 22, NY.
Eagle & Phenix Mfg Co. "Cable Cottonade" sample, 1876. Sample of Eagle & Phenix Mfg Co (Columbus, Georgia) cotton goods, displayed at the Centennial Exhibition. A warp-striped fabric in light and dark brown; Twill weave; Specifications given as 28" wide; 44 x 36 ends and picks per inch; #14 yarn; 2.15 yards per pound.
The Eagle Mfg Co. of Columbus Georgia was established in 1851, before the Civil War, by New York native William Young. After the war, the mill was re-established and renamed the Eagle & Phenix Mfg. Co., symbolizing the renewal of the mill after the destruction of the war. The company survived several changes of ownership from 1896 until 1947, and the mill passed through several more changes until 2003.
Length of Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company, pile woven upholstery plush, "Friezette", 1928. Looped pile fabric woven in vertical stripee of unequal width. Two pieces, A, B - both pieces are the same colorway. Fabric believed to originally be one 2 yard piece and cut in two after acquisition by the museum. Fabric chemically treated against moths. Solid uncut (looped) mohair pile in vertical stripes in shades of brown with rust and black, on a cotton back.with a beige warp and a brown weft. Manufacturer title Upholstery Plush XXXX Friezette. Pattern #846; Colorway # 21195. Massachusetts Mohair Plush Co. sold in large part to railroads and furniture companies. Mohair plush was long-wearing and not easily crushed.
A sample length of Shelton Looms imitation fur fabric commercially known as "Baby Persian Lamb". Short curled cut pile fabric with tipped suface which has been crushed (panned) in an allover mottled pattern producint a stripe-like curled effect similar to the real animal. Artificial silk pile on a cotton ground. Pile yarns were black, possibly discharge printed on the surface to give an effect of white-tipping to the finished fabric. One of a group of pile fabrics given in 1921 by Sidney Blumenthal and Co., Inc, owner and operator of The Shelton Looms, one of the best known and most important American pile fabric producers, whose mills were in Shelton, Connecticut. Original fabric width 50", sample length sent was not noted.
Embroidered Cambric Flouncing. Schiffli embroidery reproduction of Hungarian hand-embroidery. Scalloped edge, conventional pattern, forming distinct sections, executed with yellow, tan, black & white mercerized cotton on white cambric. Based on an orignial collected in Budapest by Mr. Stewart Culin for the Brooklyn Institute Museum.
Part of a group of Schiffli machine embroidered trimmings, primarily for apparel, manufactured by Alpha Embroidery Co. of New Jersey, many of which imitated hand embroidered national and regional styles from China and parts of Europe. The firm's designers used the Brooklyn Institute Museum to research original examples, which were copied or from which they drew inspiration. The products were sold in foreign markets in competition with the native hand work, as well as in the U.S.
Sample of Collins & Aikman figured cotton upholstery velvet, 1929. Multi-colored, yarn-dyed, jacquard woven cotton pile fabric with twill weave ground. A large bold floral pattern in bouquet effect stands out in relief on a twill weave background where the pile yarn interweaves with the ground structure. This ground work is ornamented by occasional colored warps brought to the surface in a seed effect. The floral pattern is also ornamented within the design motifs by striping or seeding in different shades of the same color family: eg yellows and tan, pink and red, light and dark blue, aqua and olive. The seed effect is also seen in these color combinations, with the addition of dark brown. Predominatly greens, gray, rusts. One specimen, a half width. Machine overlocked on three sides; no selvage.
Collins & Aikman Corporation was founded in 1891 and incorporated in 1929. The company made high end upholstery fabrics, including velvets and plushes in cotton, mohair, and silk, and beginning in the 1910s, artifical silk (rayon). Early on the firm competed successfully in the market for automotive and aviation fabrics. In the 1920s the company had mills in Astoria (Queens), New York; Philadelphia, PA; and North Carolina.
Arlington Mills worsted fabric process sample, 1940. Black wool; twill weave; Process label reads: "Made from 3/8 Blood Wool". Good condition. [Originally part of an Arlington Woolen Mills process display board; dismantled, probably before 1980.]
Several of the process samples in this group are labeled with where the wool came from. "Territory" wool came from the American west; "3/8 Blood" probably meant only 3/8 merino sheep in the mix. Territory, also called Range wools, comprised a large and important segment of US wool-growing, but into the early 20th century the wools were often characterized as being badly sheared and packed, dirty and with a lot of plant material caught in the fleeces.
Arlington Mills, successor to Arlington Woolen Mills, was one of the premier woolen and worsted companies in the US for many decades. The mills were in and around Lawrence, MA, and company headquarters was in Boston. American manufacturers of woolen and worsted yarns and of woven and knitted textiles relied on both American-grown wool and on imports of raw wool and partially processed wool fiber, called "tops", American growers never produced more than about half the raw wool needed by the American manufacturing sector.
Photograph, black & white: Woolen Carding - Finisher Card and Spool Drums. American Woolen Co., The National & Providence Worsted Mills, Providence, RI. 1912.
One of a series of 71 photographs documenting the workings of the American Woolen Company's National & Providence Worsted Mills, part of a large donation of fibers, yarns, and fabrics by American Woolen Mills in 1912.
Sample of Collins & Aikman mercerized cotton upholstery velour, 1929. One of two samples of the same fabric, this one in plum (the other in rust-brown) Heavy, closely-woven solid cut pile fabric, with a short pile pressed flat to give it a smooth, suede-like finish. Half width.
Collins & Aikman Corporation was founded in 1891 and incorporated in 1929. The company made high end upholstery fabrics, including velvets and plushes in cotton, mohair, and silk, and beginning in the 1910s, artifical silk (rayon). Early on the firm competed successfully in the market for automotive and aviation fabrics. In the 1920s the company had mills in Astoria (Queens), New York; Philadelphia, PA; and North Carolina.
Eagle & Phenix Mfg. Co.fabric sample, "Plaid Cottonade"; 1876. Plain weave check in medium weight cotton. Blue and white warps and wefts alternate to create a directional check, bordered by a two-thread tan warp and weft check. Original cataloging: 28" wide; 69 x 64 picks and ends per inch; #20 yarn; 2.35 yards per pound in weight.
The Eagle Mfg Co. of Columbus Georgia was established in 1851, before the Civil War, by New York native William Young. After the war, the mill was re-established and renamed the Eagle & Phenix Mfg. Co., symbolizing the renewal of the mill after the destruction of the war. The company survived several changes of ownership from 1896 until 1947, and the mill passed through several more changes until 2003.
"Margot Lace". Schiffli embroidery in an all over floral pattern, executed with ecru cotton cord on a fine silk net, of deeper shade, by the chemical burn-out-process.
Part of a group of Schiffli machine embroidered trimmings, primarily for apparel, manufactured by Alpha Embroidery Co. of New Jersey, many of which imitated hand embroidered national and regional styles, including from China and parts of Europe. The firm's designers used the Brooklyn Institute Museum to research original examples, which were copied or from which they drew inspiration. The products were sold in foreign markets in competition with the native hand work, as well as in the U.S..
American Woolen Company Shetland Cloth sample, 1912. Plain weave wool, heavy weight, with long nap, pressed and curled, heavily fulled. This sample in brown with wisps of white in the nap. Produced by American Woolen Co's National & Providence Worsted Mills.
The Providence and National Worsted Mills, founded in Rhode Island in the 1870s, were originally two companies owned by Charles Fletcher, one a spinning and one a weaving mill for working with worsted yarns. Fletcher amalgamated the two companies into one in 1893, and then sold this company to the large Lawrence-based American Woolen Company in 1899. When the Lawrence mill workers struck against pay cuts in 1912 (the Bread and Roses strike), the American Woolen Company was one of the firms affected. The Rhode Island mills, however, did not strike.
Sample of Collins & Aikman Corporation figured upholstery velvet, 1929. Multi-color lustrous cut pile pattern of floral/foliate meander against a gray pile background with deliberate strie, and a voided floral pattern tied in twill. The pile colors are organized in vertical bands (predominatly rust-brown-red and predominantly green-blue-yellow, in the cataloging sample). The pile warps are woven into the ground on the reverse of the cloth, not sheared. Colors: gray ground with deliberate strie shading; dark brown, yellows, reds, blues, greens. Half width.
Collins & Aikman Corporation was founded in 1891 and incorporated in 1929. The company made high end upholstery fabrics, including velvets and plushes in cotton, mohair, and silk, and beginning in the 1910s, artifical silk (rayon). Early on the firm competed successfully in the market for automotive and aviation fabrics. In the 1920s the company had mills in Astoria (Queens), New York; Philadelphia, PA; and North Carolina.
American Woolen Co. fabric samples; 1912. All worsted mixture. Skein dyed, Mill finish. 1. Black, 2. Black, 3. Grey-brown, 4. Brown. Bound with black tape by machine. Manufactured by the National and Providence Worsted Mills, Providence, RI. The Providence and National Worsted Mills, founded in Rhode Island in the 1870s, were originally two companies owned by Charles Fletcher, one a spinning and one a weaving mill for working with worsted yarns. Fletcher amalgamated the two companies into one in 1893, and then sold this company to the large Lawrence-based American Woolen Company in 1899. When the Lawrence mill workers struck against pay cuts in 1912 (the Bread and Roses strike), the American Woolen Company was one of the firms affected. The Rhode Island mills, however, did not strike.
American Woolen Co. Fancy menswear Suiting sample, 1912. Piece dyed - woven in the gray (undyed yarn) and dyed after being woven, dark brown. 26" W x 9" L. From American 'Woolen Company's National and Providence Worsted Mills, Providence, RI. The Providence and National Worsted Mills, founded in Rhode Island in the 1870s, were originally two companies owned by Charles Fletcher, one a spinning and one a weaving mill for working with worsted yarns. Fletcher amalgamated the two companies into one in 1893, and then sold this company to the large Lawrence-based American Woolen Company in 1899. When the Lawrence mill workers struck against pay cuts in 1912 (the Bread and Roses strike), the American Woolen Company was one of the firms affected. The RHode Island mills, however, did not strike.
Length of Botany Worsted Mills "Botany Flannel" dress fabric, 1924. A lightweight, smooth finish, twill weave worsted wool cloth; dress weight. Color #671 "Banana" (yellow). 54" wide. One of 10 specimens of worsted dress goods donated in October 1924 by Botany Worsted Mills of Passaic, New Jersey.
Sample length of Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company "Panne Plush" upholstery fabric, 1914. Cut pile fabric which has been permanently flattened to give a lustrous surface. Ground of cotton with a yellow warp and weft, and a mohair pile in emerald green. According to manufacturer's note, used for furniture and draperies; may also have been a "railroad plush". 52 1/4" wide. Given by Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company, headquartered in Boston with a mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1914, along with samples of mohair fiber in various stages of processing, and samples of the company's finished textiles.
