Duplan Silk Corporation figured crepe satin dress silk; 1921. Figured novelty crepe. Woven at Hazelton, Pa. A silk crepe fabric with a lustrous, broken surface in an ondulee or waved effect produced by interlacing of extra weft artificial silk yarns on the back of the fabric. These floating yarns form a detached flower motif, combined with a satin warp figure.
Jean Leopold Duplan, a French businessman, founded Duplan Silk Company in New York in 1898 as an extension of his silk weaving plant in Lyons, France. The 1897 American tariff spurred Duplan to supply the American silk market with domestically made cloth. Duplan Silk began producing artificial silk (now known as rayon) as early as 1911. The lustrous artificial silk was spun from cellulose and a gelatin extracted from seaweed. Duplan himself was quite secretive about the artificial silk production process, keeping the looms in a separate, boarded section of the mill. Eventually, Duplan Silk produced silk velvets, formulated its own dyes, and printed fabrics in its own mill.
Stewart Silk Co "Chinese crepe" fabric length; 1914. Navy blue with white long marks possibly from sun damage or folding. Plain weave, crepe finish.
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.
Stern and Pohly warp-printed "Bulgarian Plisse Epingle" Silk fabric length; 1914. Trimming silk. Warp is all silk, printed before weaving; filling (weft) is irregular flake cotton and silk. Woven on Knowles box loom. Suitable for ladies vests and coat trimmings. Ribbed. Persian inspired print. Warp-faced rib weave with a crepe like finish.
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.
Samuel Eiseman silk compound weave jacquard figured shirting fabric length; 1915. SECO silk shirting. A striped silk and cotton fabric with warp stripes and a Jacquard figure. Green and blue stripes with white ground. Striped sections are 1 inch wide with green thin stripes, then a white, then a blue in the center, then it repeats. There is white jacquard figuring inbetween the stripes. Thin and light. Used for shirts and blouses.
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
William Skinner and Sons "Escape Parachute Cloth," or "Canopy Cloth" white silk twill fabric length, 1941.
Lightweight, soft silk fabric used in making soldiers' parachutes. Commercial names: Escape Parachute Cloth or Canopy Cloth. Manufacturer's notes: Twill weave, 2 x 1. Quality Exp 302A, Lot No. 47539. Color white. Thread count 288 x 84. Used in World War II. Woven in Holyoke, MA by William Skinner and Sons. Small rivet-like indentions on one side of the length, spanning all the way across every few inches.
A H Straus & Co 'Luxor Taffeta' dress silk, Renaissance design; 1917. Luxor taffeta made by A H Straus and Company. A lustrous, reversible fabric with a discharge printed, "composite design of the old French School. Example of textile industry of the 14th and 15th centuries." Stripes of faded dye throughout the length. Colors are green, yellow, and black on a 'lucifer' (dark bluish-red) ground. Stripes of alternating green pine cone and gold roundel motifs are separated from each other by 1.25 inches and are parallel to the selvedge edge. The ground is printed in two shades of 'lucifer' - with a palmette pomegranate ogee design taken from Renaiisance damasks and velvets. carefully situated between the more brightly colored stripes.
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.
William Skinner and Sons silk satin face cotton back dark blue fabric length; 1914. One edge is pinked and the other is cut with frayed edges. Satin face is very shiny in comparison to the dull cotton backing. "Skinner's Satin" is woven in the red selvedge edge.
William Skinner emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1843, finding work as silk dyer. He eventually opened his own silk manufacturing company, the Unquomonk Silk Co., making silk threads and yarns for weaving and sewing. In 1874, the mill was destroyed when the Mill River Dam gave way. Skinner moved his company a few miles away, to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and rebuilt the mill, expanding production to include woven fabrics (Skinner satins were nationally famous) and silk braids. He ran the company until his death in 1902, and the firm stayed in the family, and remained in operation in Holyoke, until 1961, when his heirs sold it to Indian head Mills, which immediately closed the Holyoke operation.
Samuel Eiseman & Co., SECO printed dress silk; 1915. Plain weave, printed check in black and white. The 1915 date and the black and white color scheme suggest it was part of the general vogue for black and white that came about as a result of the shortage of (mostly German-made) dyestuffs after the British began to blockade German ports in early 1915, during World War I. Silk dress goods commercially known as "Harlequin checks". A china silk printed with diced pattern in black and white squares. Black pattern placed with Cylinder printing and 6 checks per inch. Some stains.
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
Stern and Pohly "Roman Plisse Epingle" silk fabric length; 1914. Trimming silk. Warp-faced rib weave with a crepe-like finish, with silk warp, silk and irregular flake cotton filling (weft). Woven on Knowles box loom. Adaptable for vestings, sashes and coat and jacket trimmings. Narrow stripes in several colors between wider blue and red stripes.
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.
The popularity of the 1937 Walt Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based on a German fairy tale, inspired this quilt pattern. The movie has been re-released many times. In 1972 Lehman Brothers published a pattern, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” that is very similar to this quilt. It was advertised as “a perfect quilt for your favorite child. White bearded dwarves [sic] dressed in bright suits, and colorful trees and flowers surround Snow White and the cottage.”
From the early 20th century, kit quilts have been available in the market to save time and/or provide the quilter with assistance in design or color choices. This quilt was made from a kit as evidenced by stamped lines that are still visible along some edges.
The quilt is appliquéd with motifs that include a stylized cottage, trees, and dwarfs, and, of course, Snow White. All of the dwarfs have coral-colored caps and boots, blue tights, yellow shirts, green vests, and white beards. Details are embroidered with satin, outline, daisy, and French knot stitches. The figures are outlined in quilting stitches, 4 stitches per inch. The 7 ½-inch border is quilted with flowers and diagonal lines. The “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” pattern, based on a well-known children’s story and animated movie, made a special quilt to brighten a child’s room.
A H Straus and Co 'Luxor Taffeta" dress silk; yellow ground fabric length; 1917. Luxor taffeta by A H Straus and Co. A lustrous reversible fabric with a discharge printed design taken from a Saracenic fabric of the 13th century. Original at Vienna. Colors are purple, pink, greens, and black on a yellow-tan ground. Print shows birds (Senmerv and Phoenix?) with field of floral details in a very Chinese style, with 'flame-tipping' of floral tendrils and flower heads. Printing includes selvedge edge, which is so narrow it is barely visible.
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.
A length of printed crepe. Pattern "Nellie Custis" one of the H.R. Mallinson & Co. George Washington Bicentennial prints.Pattern inspired by an old silk brocade is made up of many different tiny flower motifs with plain 2 inch border along one selvage, outlined with a flower garland in a running vine effect. The discoloration and oily residue apparent in this textile sample suggests that either a) it was not either pure dye or pure silk, as most of the other Mallinson samples are, or b) it was stored for some time in contact with another object that damaged it. Additional research should be done to determine the source and cause of the discoloration and residue.
Samuel Eiseman & Co., Inc. - SECO Silk twill Polo Dots fabric length; 1915. Silk dress goods commercially named "Polo Dots". A fine twilled silk printed with spaced coin dots in a half drop repeat in black on a white ground. Semi-transpaprent. Dots are 0.75 inches and 4 inches from each other. Selvedge is thin and gold. Lengths are pinked. The 1915 date and the black and white color scheme suggest it was part of the general vogue for black and white that came about as a result of the shortage of (mostly German-made) dyestuffs after the British began to blockade German ports in early 1915, during World War I.
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
William Skinner and Sons satin nylon fabric length; 1946. Smooth, soft, close fabric, used for ballet slippers & corsets. See T09666.000, foundation garment or T09667A-B, ballet slippers for application of fabric. 8 shaft satin weave, counting 512 x 112. Yarn sizes - warp 40/13, weft 105/34. 100% nylon in nude color.
William Skinner emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1843, finding work as silk dyer. He eventually opened his own silk manufacturing company, the Unquomonk Silk Co., making silk threads and yarns for weaving and sewing. In 1874, the mill was destroyed when the Mill River Dam gave way. Skinner moved his company a few miles away, to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and rebuilt the mill, expanding production to include woven fabrics (Skinner satins were nationally famous) and silk braids. He ran the company until his death in 1902, and the firm stayed in the family, and remained in operation in Holyoke, until 1961, when his heirs sold it to Indian head Mills, which immediately closed the Holyoke operation.
A length of "Vagabond Crepe" dress silk, from H.R. Mallinson & Co.'s "Playgrounds of the World" series of printed silks. This sample is an allover printed design, "French Riviera", a landscape design with large reserves, and scenes of palm trees, sailboats, beach-goers, and buildings. Colors are black, canary yellow, tan, brown, blue, orange and cream on a ground of grey. "Vagabond" crepe is a Mallinson tradename for a crepe twist fabric woven with doupioni silk in the weft or filling. Selvage inscription - Mallinson's Silks Deluxe Playgrounds of the World French Riviera. The series dates to 1928 and included both European and American "playgrounds". NMAH holds samples of each design in the series..
Jewett Washington Curtis, a career soldier in the U.S. Army, pieced this brilliantly-colored wool bedcover. Its geometric design incorporates the dates “1889” and “1893.” Each corner has a 44-star flag. The central focus, a star, is flanked by five borders on each side and two mirror-image borders at the top and bottom. The entire quilt is pieced of 7/8-inch diamonds consisting of plain- and twill-weave wool. The still-vibrant colors contribute to the overall effect. Needlework was encouraged in the military as an activity for either relieving boredom in lonely postings or as part of physical therapy during hospital stays.
Jewett Washington Curtis was born in Vermont, on March 7, 1847. In 1862, at the age of 14, he enlisted as a musician in Company K, 104th Regiment New York Infantry for a term of three years. He was hospitalized for a short time at Gettysburg in July 1863. He returned to his unit and was discharged in 1865 near Petersburg, Virginia. About five years later, in 1870, he re-enlisted at age 23 in Company B, 11th Regiment U.S. Infantry. Other than a few years between 1886 and 1889, Jewett served in the U.S. military with various units until his retirement in 1899. He died on March 20, 1927 in Walcott, New York.
In a 1922 letter from the State Soldiers Home in Orting, Washington, where Jewett was then living, he summarized his military career. “I enlisted on 8th of March 1862 was assigned to Co K 104th Voll. Infantry as a drummer. Served 3 years was discharged on the 8th day of March 1865 at Pellerburg [Petersburg], Va. I enlisted in the Regular ? Army in 1870 served 24 years was retired from the regular ? Army in 1899 my retired pay as a sergeant is 46 50/100 a month. I am not allowed a pension while on the retired list. Will you please inform me what I will have to do (?) that I may be entitled to a Civil War pension . . . . I have been in two Indian engagements The Souix [Sioux] War in 1877 and the Nes [Nez] Perce War of the same year.” He was unable to apply for a pension based on Civil War service while he was on the retired list.
On June 16, 1895, while he was still serving in the military, Jewett married Mary Putnam (1876-1904) in Mill Plain, Washington. Clark Edward Curtis was born on March 22, 1896, two other children died young. According to the family, after his mother died in 1904, Clark lived with various relatives and wasn’t close to his father. He too at the age of 14 set out on his own and eventually joined the army in World War I. Clark didn’t keep in touch with his father, but when Jewett died he received a trunk with his father's things. This quilt was among the belongings in the trunk. It was assumed by the family that the quilt was made in Skagway, Alaska, one of the places that Jewett was stationed during his career. According to military records, Jewett spent several months in 1885 and 1891 in hospital for rheumatism, and 1892-1893 recovering from a finger amputation. He may have learned needlework skills while convalescing.
At the time of donation, Clark E. Curtis wrote: “It is a eight foot by eight foot blanket . . . . My father Mr. Jewett W. Curtis made it; on the top of the blanket is the date he started 1889, and at the other end is the date he finished 1893. It is all hand stitched with over 400,000 stitches in it . . . . This blanket has been in several state fairs and won many ribbons. . . . I do remember, however, the Portland [Oregon, 1905 Louis and Clark Centennial Exposition] and Seattle [Washington, Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition] World Fairs, where it won first place ribbons, at which time I was just a very small child. . . . I would like to get my father’s hand made blanket where it belongs, in an institution for all to enjoy.” Jewett Washington’s precisely pieced and prize-winning bedcover is a stunning example of needlework done by a man.
A length of the "Shoshone" design dress silk; Mallinson's 1928 American Indian series, with small samples of 7 additional colorways attached with a Mallinson tag at the upper right. The manufacturer's number for this fabric quality (Pussy Willow) is #5459. Pussy Willow was a long time Mallinson trade name for an unweighted, pure dye plain weave silk with a soft hand.. At the time it was popular it was considered similar to a generic fabric type called "radium". The large sample in this group is in red, orange, blue, yellow, green and white on a black ground. TheShoshone design is a geometric with overlapping blocks and bands of zigzags, triangles, diamonds, and long rectangles - inspired by Shoshone beadwork.. The other colorway samples include grounds of: white; tan; green; and blue.
Mallinson's American Indian series followed the "National Parks" and "Wonder Caves of America" designs, and illustrates the company's continuing interest in using American themes, and in utilizing the collections of New York area museums for research and inspiration.
John Oldfield, Assistant Manager of the Garner Print Works in Garnerville, New York, kept a series of record books that date between 1844 and 1880. The notebooks contain samples of cloth produced by the mill on one page, with quantities and the costs of dyeing or printing on the facing page—this notebook covers the years 1877-1878. Garnerville was originally called Calicotown, but was renamed after the Garner family, which owned the print works from 1838 to 1909. In the late nineteenth century the family’s textile companies produced more printed fabrics than any other print works in the U.S.
A friendship album with perforated paper covers that have been embroidered. The inside of the covers are lined with silk. Between the covers are many pages of verses and newspaper clippings. It was made by Matilda Selenda Chaffee, daughter of Samuel and Ursula Chaffee of Berkshire, Vermont. She was born October 9, 1840 and made the album in 1857. Matilda married Charles Smith Moulton on December 24, 1867, and they had one daughter, Nettie Bell Moulton.