Item 3: Copying design on copper rolls for printing cotton cloth, Lawrence, Mass.

Keystone View Company. Copying design on copper rolls for printing cotton cloth, Lawrence, Mass. Gelatin silver print, copyrighted by The Keystone View Company. Black-and-white image depicts a woman sitting at a table, painting the design onto an engraved zinc plate. Another woman, mostly unseen, stands to the left holding a large design. The mill in which this takes place is not identified but is most likely the Pacific Mills in Lawrence, Mass. Text on reverse: "Copying Design to be Printed on Cotton Cloth, Lawrence, Mass. [explanation of weaving and singing cloth] . This cloth is now ready for market as white cloth. But much of the demand is for colored or patterned goods. The patterns are printed on the white cloth by copper rolls, much after the fashion of paper printing on roller presses. To get the design on the rolls is the next step. This is the making and the transferring of the design. Skilled artists draft suitable designs. These are photographed, engraved on zinc, and transferred to the copper rollers by a chemical process. Each color demands a separate plate. The girl in the view is busy painting on the engraved zinc plate, those parts of the pattern which belong to one color. Making ready the copper rolls for printing is one of the most interesting processes of cloth manufacture." ca. 1914. 17.75 x 8.75 cm.

Format: Stereoptic print.