Box 1

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts winders. Yarn from the smaller bobbins is wound into larger packages, seen at the top of the machines. Text: "Ply Winding. The two-ply yarns, as received from the twister, are wound onto large packages in order to increase the efficiency of subsequent operations."

Scope and Contents Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a room of winding machines. Note the row of bins placed beneath the machines to receive the filled bobbins. Text: "Filling Winding. In order to prepare filling yarn for weaving, it has to be wound on quills or filling bobbins. The yarn is wound from large packages onto wooden quills in such a manner that all of them are of the same diameter so that they will fit into the shuttle. This winder performs the operation automatically, that is, as a bobbin is...

Scope and Contents Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a room where female employees inspect the yarn for defects before it is wound onto spools. Each woman sits in front of a spooler inspecting numerous yarns as they pass over an inspection board in front of her. Text: "Jackspooling. Large yarn packages are placed in a creel behind each spooler. These individual yarns are pased over an inspection board to be observed for yarn defects. The yarns are ultimately wound on jack-spools at the bottom of the frame."...

Scope and Contents

Gelatin silver print. Image depicts the process of section beaming. Ten jackspools are combined to make one section beam. Note the size of the jackspools at the rear of the machine in contrast to the size of the beam being created at the front. Text: "Section Beaming. Usually 10 jackspools are combined to make one section beam of 400 ends. The yarns are run over lease rods and through a comb to get them straight on the section beam." 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 slasher, a machine that applies a sizing mixture to warp yarns. The sized and dried yarns are being wound onto a loom beam in the foreground. Text: "Slashing. Depending upon the amount of warp ends required for a fabric, a number of section beams are set up on a creel behind the slasher. These yarns are then passed through a size box containing starch solution of carefully controlled temperature. After the size has been...

Scope and Contents Gelatin silver print. Image depicts a female employee drawing in threads through a heddle. Text: "Drawing-In. Before a loom beam is placed into a loom, each thread must be drawn through a heddle. The heddle is a small metal rod having an eye in the center of it. These heddles are held by a frame or harness. Several harnesses are used in one weave; therefore, the operator must be exceedingly careful to draw the thread through the proper heddle. As these harnesses are lifted in the loom, the...

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...