Item 21: Reeling and lacing silk, preparing skeins for the weavers or dyers, silk throwing plant, Paterson, N.J.

Black and white image shows rows of equipment for reeling the silk to form skeins. The boys in the background place the spools on the lower part of the frames, and then start the thread in the frames and attend them as they rapidly spin, taking up the thread from the spools. The rectangular frames of silk are then placed on the form between the two girls who, using combs in their hands, separate the thread into smaller skein sections and pass a cord through and tie it, thus making it easy to find the silk ends and enabling "hanks" of silk to be taken off for use if desired by the weavers. This process is lacing. The plant is unidentified; Paterson in the mid-teens had literally several hundred silk mills. New York: Underwood & Underwood. 17.75 x 8.5 cm.

Format: Stereoptic print.