Box 11

Scope and Contents

Littleton, New Hampshire: Photographed and published by Kilburn Bros., ca. 1875-1885. Gelatin silver print. Black and white image depicts male workers standing by the printing machines in a long row of machines. These machines printed patterns onto fabric. 17 x 8.25 cm.

Format: Stereoptic print.

Scope and Contents Littleton, New Hampshire: Photographed and published by Kilburn Brothers, ca. 1880-1888. Gelatin silver print. Black and white image shows a female worker seated at an open table on which is a pantograph. A pantograph [from Wikipedia] "is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen." This is most likely being used to design prints for fabrics. Another woman stands behind...

Scope and Contents

Color image shows women sitting in chairs at drafting tables with colored cloth on the slanted surface in front of them that they are inspecting for flaws. The walls are brick and each woman has a pendant light fixture hanging above her head. One woman is standing and appears to be inspecting a plaid fabric. Brainerd & Armstrong was located in New London, Conn. Chilton Printing Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ca. 1907-1915. 14 x 9 cm.

Format: Postcard.

Scope and Contents Black-and-white image shows a woman inspecting combed silk. After the combed silk is taken from the dressing machine it is carefully inspected and the remaining impurities are removed by hand. The work is done in a dark room upon a plate of glass lighted from below. The inspector spreads out the combed silk on this glass and any dirt, or other impurity not removed by the dressing machine, becomes plainly visible. Piles of combed silk are shown here on the glass table on either side of the...

Scope and Contents Black and white image of a man examining cord fabric for automobile tires. Heavy threads from long-staple cotton are woven into wide sheets of cord fabric; the workman in this image is inspecting the cotton fabric while it is passing over a glass table that has strong lights underneath it. He is examining the material through a magnifiying glass to make sure it is perfect. A sheet of this cotton will eventually be run between heavy rollers and the rubber is pressed in between the threads of...

Scope and Contents

Black and white image shows a man inspecting some finished fabric spread out on a table. The fabric is closely examined for any flaws or faults. No specific mill is cited, other than in Canada. Meadville, Pa.: Keystone View Company. 18 x 8.5 cm.

Format: Stereoptic print.

Scope and Contents

Sepia image of a mill room with three male workers, two of whom are inspecting cloth and one, wearing a hat on the left, who may be an overseer or supervisor. Made by the Artvue Post Card Co., 225 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. ca. 1930s. 14 x 9 cm.

Format: Postcard.

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Black and white image of a woman inspecting gray cloth at the Pacific Mills, Lawrence, Mass. The cloth is rolled out from the top so that it can be closely examined for flaws, etc. "Gray cloth" does not mean cloth that is gray in color but simply material that has not been bleached in any way. ca. 1900-1920. 17.5 x 9 cm.

Format: Stereoptic print.

Scope and Contents

ca. 1880. Published by A. B. Hamor. Burling is a finishing process usually used on woolens and worsteds, by which knots, loose threads, etc. are removed by hand. Note the piles of fabric on the right. 17.5 x 10 cm.

Format: Stereoptic print.

Scope and Contents Black and white image depicts a man working at the fulling stocks in Lupton & Co.'s woolen mill in Leeds, England. Printed on reverse: "The lengths of loosely woven woollen cloth were soaked in a special solution and pounded under huge hammers called 'fulling stocks.' This fulling, as it was known, caused the cloth to shrink by almost a third, and as a result, it became much thicker and more weatherproof." Number seven in a series of eight. Postcard by Armley Mills, Leeds Museum of...