This example of the “Goose Tracks” pattern was pieced by Mrs. Ellen Parsons of Shelbyville, Tenn. Seven-inch blocks are set diagonally with triple sashing and a miniature “Nine-patch” block at the sashing intersections. The blocks are framed by three 7/8-inch bands, one printed and two plain cottons. The filling is cotton and the lining is plain-woven, open-weave white cotton.
According to a hand-written note with the quilt “Mrs. Parsons planted and grew the cotton in her garden. She picked the cotton and spun it into thread. She wove the threads into cloth to make the lining for the quilt. She pieced and quilted it by hand.” Of course information such as this is difficult to verify. The pieced blocks are outlined, the sashing and borders are zigzag quilted, 6 stitches per inch.
The donor, Mrs. M. B. Holleman, wrote about the quilt when it became part of the collection in 1965. “I am 71 years old and I have no one to leave the quilt to that would take care of it. . . . I will tell you the things my mother [about 1857-1938] told me. My Great Grand Mother made this quilt. She was drown in the river. She was on a horse & the saddle broke. It was slave time and one of her slave women was on a horse also and lived to tell how it happened. She had only one child a girl and the quilt went to her. She never used it and when my Grandmother passed away, my mother got the quilt and when my mother passed on I got it. No one ever used it. (?) We would put it out in the sun real often. I wish I could tell you more about it. I am the only one living now.”
Mrs. Parsons's quilt is a testimony to the importance to the family to hand down to future generations treasured objects and the stories that go with them. When there are no longer heirs to take care of an object, such as this quilt, they are often donated to a museum collection so that others can admire and appreciate them.
In 1945, when Gertrude O. S. (Cleveland) White donated this parlor throw, she wrote: “The silk crazy quilt [parlor throw] was made here at Intervale Manor [Quinebaug, Conn. / Dudley, Mass.] just previous to the year 1888. My initials and the year are on one corner of the lining. My mother, my sister and myself made it.” Eben Stevens, the donor’s father, was a founder of Intervale Textile Mills in Quinebaug.
Intervale Manor was a large private home in the late 19th century when the two sisters and their mother made this parlor throw. In the 1940s Intervale Manor became a tearoom, operated by a family member and known for its hospitality, exceptionally fine food, spacious grounds, and comfortable accommodations. Presently, what remains of the Intervale Manor estate has been converted to small apartments.
Twelve 14 ½-inch heavily embroidered blocks are framed by a 7 ½-inch border. Set off by a gold silk cord and dark red velvet sashing, each of the crazy-patched blocks is given focus and order. Among the embroidered motifs are birds, dragonflies, cats, a ladder, a shooting star, anchors, butterflies, flowers, and geometric motifs. Various initials are embroidered, including “G.O.S. 1888” on the lining and “C.S.” for the two sisters, Gertrude and Celia. An embroidered “A Merry Xmas” may have indicated the deadline for finishing the parlor throw. The crazy patch blocks are embellished with cross, feather, buttonhole, chain, herringbone, outline, running, satin, and couching stitches. The lining is tan glazed cotton.
Gertrude Olney was born May 1850 and married Eben S. Stevens in 1873. They lived in Dudley, Worchester County, Mass. One daughter, also Gertrude, was born in November 1873. She married Clarence Cleveland in 1894. Another daughter, Celia, who also worked on the parlor throw was born in 1874. In 1887 and 1888 the two teenagers and their mother created a neat and orderly version of the crazy-patchwork that was quite popular at the time.
Ruth Jones Black Patrick was born January 31, 1905, She was an artist, teacher and illustrator, and began making this quilt, her first, in 1932 for her infant son. He was 20 years old when she finished it! In a 1971 newspaper interview, she is quoted thus, “. . . Edward was a little boy, I needed some sort of cover for his bed and thought I’d do something original. It was just going to be a small quilt . . . but it grew as he did—into twin bed size.” She made her own designs for her quilts, inspired by life, pictures in books, and quilt patterns of the time. Her unique quilts won ribbons at Alabama State Fairs.She married December 25, 1930, Herbert Edward Black(1906-1954), and she died November 25, 1999.
The Princess Lace Loom is a lace pillow for making bobbin lace. It was patented by Sylvester G. Lewis in 1903, patent number 745,206.
It is set up with a lace pattern from the The American Lace Maker, Volume 1, 2016.0048.03 and 20 bobbins wound with Barbours linen. It was also called the Princess Lace Machine, and advertised widely in women's magazines from 1901. It was sold by mail-order.
The coat-of-arms of the Belgian Province of Hainaut was the design inspiration for this piece. The Mechlin bobbin lace motif depicting four lions and a crown was made by Belgian lace makers during World War I and was likely intended to be inserted into a larger item. See a similar motif in TE*E383965.
Part of a set of six, this Valenciennes bobbin lace medallion focuses on the American eagle motif. Two other medallions with the Belgian lion coat-of-arms, two with the municipal shield of Ruysselede (Ruiselede) in the Belgian province of West Flanders; and another with the American eagle complete the set. See a similar motif in TE*E383967. Belgian lace makers made these laces during World War I.
Motifs of tipped-over flowerpots were used for the design of this Mechlin bobbin lace border. The pattern repeat is three and one-half inches long, and a heavier cordonnet or gimp thread outlines the motifs. The donor identified this border as lace made by Belgian lace makers during World War I.
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Grand Prize certificate awarded to Mrs. Edy Verporte, Spokane, Washington on October 16, 1909 for the needle-lace medallion 2003.0186.01 she designed and made. The lace medallion and the printed certificate depict the official seal of the exposition, highlighting the five industries being celebrated. The vignettes show fishing; the Trans-Pacific trade by a woman dressed in a kimono and holding a ship; the Klondike gold rush and mining by a woman holding a large gold nugget; the railroad by a woman holding a train engine; and logging. The certificate is signed by four officials of the exposition and is adorned with a gold colored embossed seal.
The shuttle and bobbin were integral parts of weaving on a loom. The bobbin carried the weft or filling yarns, which unspooled and interlaced with the warp yarns (stretched on the loom) to make the cloth as the weaver passed the shuttle from side to side, hand to hand. Until the invention of the flying shuttle in 1733, most cloth was only as wide as a weaver could comfortably reach. The new shuttle made it possible to weave wider fabrics, and to weave more quickly. This set the stage for the invention of the power loom, adopted widely in the new American textile mills. By the 1830s textile mills were a major source of employment for young women, a trend which continued through the 20th century. This shuttle and bobbin, for a power loom, were used in the donor’s father’s mill in about 1870.
Stewart Silk Co white crepe de chine fabric length. White color with some light purple splotches. Two staples with paper scraps attached in corner. Pinked cut edges.
John Wood Stewart was born in 1856 in New York City. In 1897 he acquired an interest in the Phillipsburg Silk Mill Company, which he later took over, expanding into South Easton, Pennsylvania, with a new mill and the addition of the Eastern Throwing Company, a throwing mill. The Perfect Dyeing and Finishing Company was also shortly added, and these three eventually incorporated to create the Stewart Silk Company. The company's mills were in Pennsylvania, the sales offices in New York City. John Stewart died in 1922. Commercial Factors Company purchased the Stewart Silk Mills in 1930.
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: scattered allover design of white carnation: Indiana; scarlet carnation: Ohio; apple blossom: Michigan. One large sample (18" x 40") of the design in various colors on a black ground; smaller samples (6" x 8") of 9 different colorways attached. Ground colors: black (#5, #25), white (#15), blue (#4), green (#7), gray (#9), dark blue (#10, #20), tan (#12). Selvage inscription gives company name, state names and associated flowers.
Doherty & Wadsworth Co floral printed silk dress fabric sample, "Mikado Crepe"; 1914. A pompadour (small detached sprigs and flower heads in an offset repeat) design printed on off-white. Silk dress goods. Some of the dyes appear to have faded. The floral is pink and green and yellow on an off-white ground.
Henry Doherty and Joseph Wadsworth came to Paterson, New Jersey from England and began working together in 1879. They rented space in other mills until 1882 when they purchased their own mill in Paterson, NJ, the premier silk manufacturing location in the United States at the time. In 1910 the firm, then Paterson's largest silk manufacturer, opened new mills in Allentown, and Wilkes-Barre, PA.. By 1938, the silk mills had closed down due to pressure from the Great Depression, changes in the wholesaling of textiles, and labor issues.
William Skinner and Sons rayon and cotton "Tackle Twill" olive drab selvedge width fabric length; 1941. Manufacturer's notes: Quality 8245, color 902E (olive drab). Rayon 3/1 twilled face, cotton poplin back; warp is a special yarn of the same type used in the manufacture of automobile tire cords because of its quality of strength of wear resistance. The filling is a long staple 3-ply cotton yarn. Used as uniform matieral for the first parachute division of the U.S. Army. Vat dyed, fast color, "Long Life" Cravenette water repellent finish. Cold water shrunk three times to full the fabric. Manufacturer claimed that it cost as much to finish the fabric as to make it.
Samuel Eiseman & Co., jacquard figured silk and cotton fabric sample; 1915. Jacquard figured dress silk. A cotton backed satin, having a silk warp and a combed cotton filling. Jacquard figured in a floral patttern. Length is 16 inches and the edges are frayed, cut unevenly. White ground with white floral design. The first material of its kind to be made in the state of New Hampshire.
Previous name of the company was Eiseman Bros. from 1881-1898. The trade name was – SECO – acronym for Samuel Eiseman & Co. It was a silk dress goods sales agency and converter, which also operated mills in New Hampshire. Goods were sold through the headquarters and sales offices in New York City. The company dissolved in the early 1930s. Founder - Samuel Eiseman
This token valued at a half penny was issued by a merchant to pay his workers in 1794. The inscription reads "Pay at Leighton Berkhamsted or London - 1794" with a sheep on one side, "Lace Manufactory" and a woman making lace on a pillow under a tree on the other. "Chambers, Langston, Hall & Co” is stamped around the rim. The token could only be used at one of the merchant's stores. Chambers, Langston, Hall & Co were haberdashers at 46 Gutter Lane, Cheapside, London. This type of tokens was possibly issued due to a shortage of official small change coins in the late 18th century.
A H Straus & Co "Luxor Taffeta" dress silk, yellow ground fabric length; 1917. Inspired by a 14th century woven silk from Lucca, italy.. Luxor Taffeta. A lustrous, reversible fabric with a discharge printed design taken from a Lucca fabric of the 14th century. Original in Vienna. Design refers perhaps to the Northern Swan legend. Printed design is black on a canary yellow ground. Design is very busy, with vine patterned bands creating small irregular reserves holding vignettes of one swan or two cygnets, with flowers surrounding.
A. H. Straus and Co. was active in the 1910s and 1920s. The company was based in New York City and was a premier importer and manufacturer of printed silks. Many fabric lengths in this collection have prints copied from ancient textiles.
Length of Mallinson's Morocco series dress silk, printed silk crepe:"Kutubia". Smooth lustrous plain weave weighted silk fabric made with crepe weft yarn as in flat crepe. Company #s - fabric quality #450; pattern #3546; color #13. Printed design in pink, brown, and white of an architectural motif and palm tree pattern named for Kutubia Tower, of a mosque in Marrakech, built in 1063 A.D.. One of H.R. Mallinson's 1930 "Morocco" print series, inspired by the film starring Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich, which was nomiated for 4 Academy Awards in 1931.
Once the Great Depression took hold in 1930, textile companies attempted to remain profitable by cutting costs, including moving from "Pure Dye" to "Weighted" silks: weighting meant adding a chemical to the dye bath that was absorbed by the silk and made it fel somewhat heavier and of a better quality.
Stern and Pohly silk moire fabric length; 1914. Silk dress goods: "Raye Moire Antique". Silk warp and filling (weft). Woven on Knowles Stafford Dobby loom. Warp-striped fabric suitable for dresses and coats. Striped with black, red, green, and yellow; finished with a moire or watered effect.
Harry Stern and Joseph Pohly began business in the Cooke Mill in Paterson, NJ in 1897. They erected the Highland Mill, also in Paterson, in 1902, manufacturing novelty silks. In 1914, the company moved their sales offices to Fourth Street in the Garment District, in response to the change in the customer base from the retail market to the wholesale market, with the growth of ready-to-wear clothing for women. The company was sold in 1916 to the Durable Silk Corporation.
Stewart Silk Co orange crepe faille fabric length; 1914. Warp-faced plain weave rib weave with a crepe finish. Burnt orange color. Pinked edges. Some light colored striping possibly from folding or sun damage.
John Wood Stewart was born in 1856 in New York City. In 1897 he became a stockholder and New York representative with the Phillipsburg Silk Mill Company. He then acquired the stock, and opened a larger facility in South Easton with a new mill and the addition of the Eastern Throwing Company, a throwing mill. The Perfect Dyeing and Finishing Company was also shortly added, and these three eventually incorporated to create the Stewart Silk Company. John Stewart died in 1922. Commercial Factors Company purchased the Stewart Silk Mills property in 1930.
A H Straus & Co 'Luxor Taffeta' dress silk, Italian design; 1917.. Luxor taffetta. A lustrous reversible fabric with a discharge printed design in exact duplication of an Italian lining of the 14th century. Original in Vienna. Checked design in black, white, gray; checks are of 1 inch by 1.25 inches, alternating black and white. Checks either have floral or animal images in grey or white on a white or black contrasting background. Colors are shadow gray and black on a white ground. Printing continues onto the selvedge edge.
A. H. Straus and Co. was active in the 1910s and 1920s. The company was based in New York City and was a premier importer and manufacturer of printed silks. Many fabric lengths in this collection have prints copied from ancient textiles.