Box 1

Scope and Contents Gelatin silver print. Image depicts male and female employees at work in a room full of looms. The "greige goods" referred to in the text simply mean cloth as it leaves the loom before any kind of finishing or bleaching treatment. Text: "Weaving. This process is the art of interlacing warp and filling yarns to form pieces of fabric. As these pieces of greige goods are woven, they are removed from the loom for subsequent finishing operations." 25 x 20.5 cm. (w/out mount); 27 x 20.5 cm....

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a young woman seated in front of a board on which cloth is spread, mending any flaws in the cloth,. Text: "Mending. Skilled operators must correct all yarn and weave imperfections. In some cases these yarns have to be removed and sewn in again by hand. Knots are pulled to the back of the material to obtain a fabric with a perfectly finished face." 25 x 20.5 cm. (w/out mount); 27 x 20.5 cm. (w/mount).

Scope and Contents Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a male employee standing by a crabbing machine. The "greige goods" referred to in the text simply means cloth that has come off the loom but has not yet been bleached or finished in any way. The steam is visible, as are the rollers through which the cloth is pulled. Text: "Crabbing. This process of passing greige goods through boiling water in open width under tension sets the warp and filling threads; thereby preventing the formation of cockles, creases,...

Scope and Contents Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a singeing machine. This machine appears to have been manufactured by Birch Brothers, Inc. of Somerville, Mass.; Birch Brothers manufactured textile dyeing and finishing machinery. Text: "Singeing. Fabrics as received from the loom contain fibers which protrude from top and bottom surfaces. These fibers must be removed to obtain a smooth fabric. The two methods most commonly used are passing the fabric at high speed over a hot gas flame, or over a...

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts the machinery involved in the process of tint removal. Text: "Tint Removal. Yarns containing varying percentages of different fibers must be tinted for identification purposes. This fugitive tint has to be removed prior to any subsequent finishing operation. The machine shown removes this fugitive tint by passing the fabric through a number of bowls containing chemicals." 25 x 20.5 cm. (w/out mount); 27 x 20.5 cm. (w/mount).

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a long line of scouring machines. Text: "Continuous Scouring. In this operation miles of fabric are being washed in a continuous process to prepare for dyeing and subsequent finishing operations." 25 x 20.5 cm. (w/out mount); 27 x 20.5 cm. (w/mount).

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a closer view of the scouring machines and the fabric as it is reeled from one machine to another. Text: "Continuous Scouring. A close-up view of the fabric being scoured in the continuous operation." 25.5 x 20.5 cm. (w/out mount); 27 x 21 cm. (w/mount).

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a printing machine where the slivers are printed, rather than finished cloth being printed,. Text: "Vigoureux Printing. For special types of color mixtures a number of slivers of top are passed through a printing machine. This machine transfers color by means of evenly spaced bars onto the top, thus creating harmonious color effects when this top is processed through subsequent operations." 25.5 x 20.25 cm. (w/out mount); 27 x 20.25 cm. (w/mount).

Scope and Contents Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a room filled with dyeing kettles. Several male employees are visible, one at the controls of one of the kettles, one standing by the kettles, and one standing next to a cart loaded with fabric. Text: "Kettle Dyeing. A number of pieces of fabric are continually rotated through dye solutions within these stainless steel kettles. Dyeing is one of the most important of all finishing operations and requires specialists having chemical and technical training...

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a close-up view of fabric as it goes through a dyeing kettle. Text: "Kettle Dyeing. Here we have a close-up of a stainless steel piece dye kettle. The pieces are laid over a stainless steel creel which revolves, thus continually changing the position of the pieces. This is necessary to get uniform dye penetration." 25.5 x 20.5cm. (w/out mount); 27 x 20.5 cm. (w/mount).