Nylon was the first fiber made entirely in a laboratory. In 1928 E.I. DuPont de Nemours Company hired Wallace Carothers, Ph.D. to conduct pure research in any area of chemistry he chose. His main area of interst was long chain polymers. This research led to the invention of nylon. Nylon was introducted to the American public in the form of women's stockings, at the 1939 World's Fair held in New York City. The stockings were a smashing success, and within two years nylon stockings were taking twenty percent of the stocking market. This is the spinning bobbin of nylon filament, made from the first batch of nylon made at Dupont's first nylon factory.
Dec. 28, 1858 - Wm. P. Uhlinger's Patent Model for a Sewing Machine Cabinet; Pat. # 22,464. Wooden "closet" with two doors, table top holding the sewing machine drops down into the cabinet, leaving space beneath for storage. A second table top drops into place as the lid.
Cover or curtain with Reticella needle lace insertion and an edging that looks like Genoese Rose bobbin lace. The hanging is from the 17th or possibly the 19th century, and is decorated on three sides
This sampler features a monument, rendered in perspective, flanked by two small trees and a flowering plant. On the top of the sampler is the inscription:
“So fadef[s] the lovely blooming flower
Cut of in lifef[s] erlief[s]t hour.”
On the monument is the inscription:
“In Memory of Sarah Pervier who died 16th of April 1826 aged 8 monthf[s]”
The monument represents death and Lydia’s inscription on the top comes from two different sources. The first line is by Anne Steele (1716-1778) from a poem entitled “On the Death of a Child” and the second line is from a hymn that is part of the Catholic liturgy for the feast of Holy Innocents (December 28). The sampler is stitched with silk and cotton embroidery thread on a linen ground with a thread count of warp 44, weft 44/ in. The stitches used are cross, satin, chain, and detached chain.
Large cornucopia of flowers and leaves above verse, with geometric carnation border. Flowers include morning glory, moss rose, sweet peas, and lily. Brown guidelines under cornucopia and flowers. Maker's age and date written in ink, probably added later. Silk embroidery thread on linen ground. STITCHES: Cross, crosslet, herringbone. THREAD COUNT: warp 30, weft 28/in.
Inscription:
"The star of Bethlehem Brighter than the rising day When the sun of glory shines; Brighter than the diamond's ray Sparkling in Golonda's [sic] mines Beaming through the clouds of wo Smiles in Mercy's diadem On the guilty world below The Star that rose in Bethlehem Elizabeth Orme Novr 9th" written in ink after the inscription is "1833 Age 9"
Background:
Elizabeth was born about 1825 to Sarah and Thomas Orme in Washington, D.C. She married James Hizer on September 6, 1854, but by the 1860 census, she was widowed and living with her mother and sister Anna, who was also a widow. Elizabeth died in 1892 of tuberculosis. See her mother's (Sarah Kurtz) sampler. Anna's daughter Mary donated her grandmother's and aunt's samplers.