A length of Mallinson's trade name "Pussy Willow" silk fabric. Pussy Willow was one of the company's most enduring fabric qualities. It was described as a fine, soft "radium-like", plain weave fabric which is all silk and pure dye, not weighted. This example is printed with an allover scenic pattern "Catalina Islands" one of the H.R. Mallinson & Co. "Playgrounds of the World" series. Colorway: rose pink, red, lavender, yellow, grays, black on white. Company numbers: 1900/2665. Color #16.
Two lengths of piece-dyed, solid collor Khaki-Kool (Mallinson trade name) silk fabric. One of H.R. Mallinson's most enduring fabric qualities, Khaki Kool was styled and named during World War I. It was one of the company's early "Sport silks" - meaning silk fabrics that were durable and comfortable enough for active wear. This filament silk and tussah (wild silk) crepe finish "Khaki Kool" has a rough surface somewhat similar in appearance to shantung, and woven with warp of tussah silk and weft of tussah loosely twisted with a silk crepe yarn. These two samples of piece-dyed solid color silk (one in ecru, one in pale green) coordinated with the print colors used in H.R. Mallinson's National Parks print series in 1926-27.
A Mallinson's "Pussy Willow" silk process sample length, in white. Pussy Willow was the long-lived Mallinson trade name for an all silk, "radium like", fine plain weave fabric. This sample of the manufacturing process has been boiled off, or "degummed" (sericin removed) by boiling in soap and water. ["Radium" was a commonly used fabric name for a supple plain weave silk in the early 20th century.] Quality # 5459-E. This sample is from a group of six donated by the company to illustrate the discharge-printing process.
A sample cut with colorways of printed 'Pussy Willow' silk. a fine soft plain weave fabric, Mallinson's longest-lasting trade-name. One of the 1929 "American State Flowers" series: mistletoe, Oklahoma; sunflower, Kansas; goldenrod, Nebraska; wild prairie rose, North Dakota; pasque flower, South Dakota. Six samples, one of each colorway. One 18" x 40" sample with a black ground (#5); 5 8" x 6" samples: ground colors are: blue (#4), green (#7), dark blue (#10), tan (#12), white (#15). Selvage inscription gives company name, state names and associated flowers.
A sample cut with colorways of printed 'Pussy Willow' silk. a fine soft plain weave fabric, Mallinson's longest-lasting trade-name. One of the 1929 "American State Flowers" series: bitterroot, Montana; Lewis' syringa, Idaho; sage brush, Nevada. Ten samples, one of each colorway. One 18" x 40" sample with a light blue ground (#4)); 9 attached 8" x 6" samples: ground colors are: beige (#3), black (#5, #25), green (#7), gray (#9), dark blue (#10, #20), red (#11), white (#15). Selvage inscription gives company name, state names and associated flowers.
Length of gray "Pussy Willow" silk; a fine soft radium-like, plain weave fabric (mfr #5459) The HR Mallinson & Co trade name Pussy Willow was the firm's best known and most important product. Advertised as tub fast (washable) and pure dye. This length, in gray (mfr # 946) is a solid color coordinate that matches the gray used in various colorways of certain designs in the Early American print series of dress silks.
Mallinson's 1929 "Early American" series of printed dress silks was based on historical events and figures that were perceived at the time to consitute a shared American story. It was the last of the company's line of designs based on American themes in which each design was printed in at least seven colors, in several colorways, on three or four different ground cloths. The stock market crash and economic depression that followed made the investment in this kind of design unprofitable.
Length of weft ribbed, slubbed crepe fabric #6523, Mallinson trademarked 'Vagabond Crepe'; woven with silk warp and dupioni (rough irregular silk reeled from double cocoons) weft. Piece dyed orange #5060; also in liqueur green #10530. Orange coordinates with one of the print colors in T5947 - The Mayflower Pilgrims" design. Selvage width, selvage inscription.
Mallinson's 1929 "Early American" series of printed dress silks was based on historical events and figures that were perceived at the time to consitute a shared American story. It was the last of the company's line of designs based on American themes in which each design was printed in at least seven colors, in several colorways, on three or four different ground cloths. The stock market crash and economic depression that followed made the investment in this kind of design unprofitable.
A length of H.R. Mallinson's printed Pussy Willow (trade name) silk fabric. Soft drapey plain weave, cylinder printed. Manufacturer's numbers: #900/2332/12. Printed with an allover, spaced, non-directional design of a variety of sea shells and sea life in fuchsia, gray-blue, orange, brown with black and white on a light peach ground. According to the manufacturer this series shows the adaptability of marine objects applied to dress materials. One of the designs taken from sketches by artist Helen Tee Van, who accompanied the New York Zoological Society sponsored trip to the Galapagos Islands and Sargasso Sea captained by William Beebe in 1925.
A length of printed Mallinson trade-name Pussy Willow silk, a soft, drapey, plain weave fabric. Manufacturer's numbers: #900/2304/3. Printed design of a large tropical moth that camouflages itself as a leaf, from the Beebe Expedition series. Colorway is shades of blue, yellow, and reddish brown with black, on a Bois de Rose (pinkish-brown) ground. The design, called the Beebe Bug, was taken from one of the sketches by Helen Tee Van, artist on the 1925 New York Zoological Society sponsored expedition to the Galapagos Islands and Sargasso Sea captained by William Beebe.
Sample length of a printed silk sheer, Mallinson tradename "Indestructible Chiffon Voile". Selvage width; selvage inscription. A sheer, plain weave all silk fabric printed with National Park series "Garden of the Gods" design; samples of five different color combinations (ground color are: peach, grey, blue, green, and orange). In late 1926 American silk manufacturer H.R. Mallinson & Co. introduced a bold new line of printed silks, twelve landscape designs, each available in from eight to twelve colorways (color combinations) on three different ground fabrics. The designs celebrated America's National Parks - then only a decade old. The designs represented all the usual styles necesssary for making clothing: allover prints, horizontal stripes, checks, a border design, etc. These samples illustrate how strikingly different a single design can appear by changing the colors of the ground and design elements.
Three sample lengths of printed "Khaki Kool," Mallinson tradename for a rough finish sport silk: Rough surface crepe fabric woven with warp of tussah silk and weft of tussah loosely twisted with a silk crepe yarn. Selvage width; selvage inscription. Printed with National Park series "Garden of the Gods" design; in three different color combinations (on grounds of white, orange, and mauve). In late 1926 American silk manufacturer H. R. Mallinson & Co. introduced a bold new line of printed silks, twelve landscape designs, each available in from eight to twelve colorways (color combinations) on three different ground fabrics. The designs celebrated America's National Parks - then only a decade old. The designs represented all the usual styles necesssary for making clothing: allover prints, horizontal stripes, checks, a border design, etc. These samples illustrate how strikingly different a single design can appear by changing the colors of the ground and design elements.
A length of H.R. Mallinson & Co.'s printed "chiffon brocade" in beiges, gray, and rose on a black ground. Novelty weft-figured, thin, gauze like fabric. Manufacturer's numbers: 535/2192/10. Woven leaf and stem ground pattern produced by extra weft thread of rayon, those that float on the back of the goods from one outline of the pattern to another are trimmed or "burned"off by printing with a chemical, leaving the raised design on a sheer ground. Overprinted (discharge?) with a repeating design of a large tropical moth by Helen Tee Van, from one of her sketches from the 1925 New York Zoological Society sponsored expedition to the Galapagos Islands and Sargasso Sea captained by William Beebe.
A length of printed Georgette Crepe. A thin sheer fabric dull in texture with a creped effect, Manufacturer numbers: quality #5721/ pattern 2210/ color 22. An engineered pattern repeating vertically along one edge, not quite across the width, of sea gulls flying in a dull orange and white. The design was introduced by H.R. Mallinson & Co. at the same time as, but perhaps not as part of, the "Beebe Expedition" print series.
A length of printed "Pussy Willow" silk, H.R. Mallinson & Co. trade name for a soft drapey plain weave fabric. Manufacturer's numbers (#900/2318). Allover repeating design of flying fish against a ground of water droplets/ocean spray from an original sketch made by artist Helen Tee-Van on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands. Colorway: three shades of blue, orange, tan, black, white.
A length of printed Mallinson's "Indestructible" Voile. A sheer, plain weave silk fabric. Manufacturer's numbers: #800/2321/4. All over printed pattern in rose, green, yellow, brown, black, and blue of square-rigged sailiing ships, other boats, and island fortresses against a busy sea made up of dashes and swirls of color. Released at the same time as, but not a part of, the 1925 Mallinson "Beebe expedition" print series.
A length of H.R. Mallinson & Co.'s trade name silk "Kameo Krepe". Closely woven crepe fabric #5998 similar in construction to crepe de chine; piece dyed reddish-brown (henna). A solid color coordinate to Mallinson's 1925 line of printed dress silks.
A length of printed Pussy Willow silk. Pussy Willow was the H.R. Mallinson & Co. trade name for a soft drapey plain weave fabric Manufacturer's numbers: #900/2322/4. Design by Helen Tee-Van of kelp from one of her original sketches - under-water studies of the dense Sargasso seaweed beds -- Van was an artist on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands. Colorway: medium blue ground with design of waving and overlapping seaweed fronds in yellow, white, dull orange, black, and light blue.
A length of printed H.R. Mallinson trade name Indestructible Chiffon Velvet. This important 1920s fabric innovation is a very light, soft and pliable velvet with a rayon pile warp and a ground warp and weft of silk. This particular fabric quality was sometimes known as 'transparent velvet', because the ground weave was open and the rayon pile very light. This design is called "Flying Fish" and depicts an array of flying fish against a ground of water droplets/ocean spray from an original sketch made by artist Helen Tee-Van on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands. The design is the same as on T05453. Manufacturer's numbers:. fabric quality 831/ pattern 2318/ color 7. Colorway: blue-gray ground with orange, tans, white and black.
A length of printed Pussy Willow (Mallinson trade name) silk fabric. A soft drapey plain weave cylinder-printed with a design of starfish in pink, violet, orange, tan, light green, and off-white. Manufacturer's numbers: #900/2331/15. Spaced allover pattern of large and small starfish, some overlapping, some widely spaced. One of the designs taken from sketches by artist Helen Tee Van, who accompanied the New York Zoological Society sponsored trip to the Galapagos Islands and Sargasso Sea captained by William Beebe in 1925.
A length of H.R. Mallinson & Co. printed and voided chiffon velvet. Sheer gauze-like fabric of silk with a rayon pile figure. The fabric is woven as a solid velvet with rayon pile and silk base. Discharge medium that will remove only the rayon pile is applied by a printing cylinder engraved with the design. This removes pile not needed for pattern, leaving a sheer ground. Fabric is then overprinted in usual way. This design of seaweeds, printed in black and browns on a background design of bubbles and seaweed fronds in velvet pile against a yellow chiffon ground, may have been taken from an original sketch made by artist Helen Tee-Van on board the Steam Yacht Arcturus on the New York Zoological Society's 1925 Expedition under Capt. Wm. Beebe to the Sargasso Sea and the Galapagos Islands.
