Sucking thread through the shuttle eye, Draper Company, 1911

Negative no.B861. February 11, 1911. Image depicts an unidentified male operative demonstrating how mill operatives would suck the thread through the eye of a shuttle. The man holds the shuttle to his mouth; he would use his right hand to draw the thread out. Mill operatives would draw the thread through their mouths to help smooth it and make it easier to draw through the eye of the shuttle. However, sucking on cotton thread could eventually cause lung problems and did so in many mill operatives. The unidentified man wears work clothes: dark shirt and pants with a light tie. He also wears wire-rimmed glasses. The demonstration takes place in an unidentified mill; the battery of a loom can be seen on the left. He is presumably a Draper Company employee. See Negative 862 and Negative 863, in this box, for images of another employee demonstrating this, and Box 179, Negative 870 through Negative 874 for images demonstrating this procedure using a skeleton. As the Draper Company manufactured textile machinery, primarily looms, and did not manufacture cloth, it is unclear what relation this photograph has to Draper unless it was to demonstrate something with their looms. 8 x 10 in. See Collection 6612 P, Box 15, Folder 1, Item 861 for print of this negative.