Photograph, black & white: Measuring Cloth. 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.
A length of an imitation fur fabric; long solid cut pile of off-white artificial silk on a cotton ground; pile crushed (or panned) in a random pattern and over printed with a mottled animal-fur pattern in browns. Manufactured by The Shelton Looms.This sample is tradenamed "Perwitzsky".. 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.
Sample length of Goodall-Sanford Inc. commercial-use upholstery fabric in blue, using wool, mohair, and vicara. Commercial upholstery requires a completely different blending of fibers than that in home-use upholstery.
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.
Photograph, black & white: Welfare Work - Escalators - Moving Stairways. 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 length of Collins & Aikman mercerized cotton velour, 1929. One of two samples of the same fabric, this one in rust-brown (the other in plum) 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.
American Woolen Co. Shetland Cloth sample, 1912. Plain weave wool, 20 ounce weight, with long nap, pressed and curled, heavily fulled. This sample in dark blue. 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.
A sample length of a Goodall-Sanford Inc., men's summer suiting, "Palm Beach". A blend of rayon, mohair and nylon fibers; structure similar to a "houndstooth" check in blue, black, and white.
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.
Photograph, black & white: Wool Scouring - Drying Machine. 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 length of Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company "Frieze Plush" figured upholstery fabric, in dark green. 1914. This was a standard pattern on some of the large railroad systems in the US at the time of its donation. This is a figured pile weave with a spaced, detached rosette pattern in uncut pile against a cut pile ground. The backing is cotton; ground warp and weft are dark blue. The pile is mohair, in green. This gives an overall color effect of dark green, with the rosette design created by uncut (looped) pile standing out slightly lighter in tone against the cut pile ground. The rosette pattern is arranged in rows in slide repeat. 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.
Eagle & Phenix Mfg. Co.fabric sample, "Southern Camlet or Jeans"; 1876. Plain weave alternating indigo blue and white warp yarns, with an indigo blue weft or filling. Yarns irregularly spun, deliberately, giving a variegated effect to the finished fabric.
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, figured pile woven upholstery fabric, "Friezette", 1928 Mohair pile, cut and uncut, in brown, on a cotton ground with yellow warp and a brown weft. Small-scale allover patterning of rectangles or blocks of cut pile surrounded by a grid of uncut pile, appearing as a slightly lighter shade of brown. The short pile allows the yellow ground to show through. Chemically treated by the manufacturer to resist moths. "Friezette, XXXX. Quality 1231, Color: Taupe." Massachusetts Mohair Plush Co., headquartered in Boston with a mill in Lowell, Massachusett, sold in large part to railroads and furniture companies. Mohair plush was long-wearing and not easily crushed.
American Woolen Company all worsted, plain mixture Suiting fabric samples, 1912. Samples bound with black tape by machine. 3 samples: Greys; Black, Black & Grey.
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.
"Charmeuese" silk dress fabric, A lightweight satin with a high natural lustre and a soft hand. White. Sold for $2.00 per yard at Lansburgh & Bro. 420-430 7th St., Washington, DC, Jan 29 1915. Width - 40" ; Manufactured by Stehli & Co.; 1915
Group of six all worsted mixture fabric samples of woven wool; Mill finish skein dyed; bound with black tape by machine. From the American Woolen Company; The National and Providence Worsted Mills. A. Brown; B. Midnight blue; C. Brown; D. Blue; E. Brown with Black pinstripe; F. Blue with Black pinstripe
Manufactured by the National and Providence Woolen 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.
Sample length of Collins & Aikman mohair upholstery plush; solid cut pile in golden-brown (tan) on a cotton ground with black warp and yellow weft. This is a heavy, cotton back fabric with a long pile of mohair which is finished to stand erect, giving the fabric a slightly shaggy appearance.
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.
