At one time America’s silk industry was the largest in the world. Silk was late to be industrialized, well after cotton and wool. Nonetheless, nineteenth-century American entrepreneurs rapidly built a silk industry with levels of production once unimaginable. American Silk, 1830–1930 traces the evolution of the American silk industry through three compelling and very different case studies: the Nonotuck Silk Company of Northampton, Massachusetts; the Haskell Silk Company of Westbrook, Maine; and the Mallinson Silk Company of New York and Pennsylvania. The mills specialized in different products, from sewing-machine twist and embroidery threads to mass-produced plain silks and high fashion fabrics. The case studies span the development of the U.S. silk industry from its beginnings in the 1830s to its decline in the 1930s. Starting in the 1920s with the growth of rayon, the first of the synthetic imitators, the market share for silk shrank, and silk gradually returned to being a luxury at the top of the hierarchy of fabrics. But, for a time, American technological innovations and entrepreneurs succeeded in bringing the pleasure and aesthetic of silk within the reach of more people than ever before.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Jacqueline Field is a former costume curator and professor of textiles and design at Westbrook College. Her recent published articles on dress and textiles include “Dyes, Chemistry, and Clothing; The Influence of World War One on Fabrics, Fashions, and Silk.” A professor of mathematics and history of science and technology at Smith College, Marjorie Senechal is the author of several books, most recently Silk Unraveled! Madelyn Shaw curates the Costume and Textile collection at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. Her most recent publication is “Silk in Georgia, 1732–1840: From Sericulture to Status Symbol.”
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A key college-level title,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: American Silk, 1830-1930: Entrepreneurs and Artifacts (Costume Society of America Series) (Hardcover)
Co-authored by a former costume curator, a professor of math and science history, and a costume curator, three top authors create a high-quality scholarly analysis of an industry in AMERICAN SILK 1830-1930: ENTREPRENEURS AND ARTIFACTS. At one time America's silk industry was the largest in the world, so even though it hasn't nearly the stature today, it's an essential piece of American and business history. Here three case studies of silk company production mills span the heyday of the silk industry era and cover the technological and social issues surrounding silk. A key college-level title for any holding serious about American and American business history.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
American Silk - New Family History,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: American Silk, 1830-1930: Entrepreneurs and Artifacts (Costume Society of America Series) (Hardcover)
I went right to the middle section of this book to read about The Haskell Silk Mills in Westbrook, Maine. Why? Because my Great Grandfather Edwin Haskell was the founder. Excellent research by the author and her obvious love of the subject matter gave us, the Haskell descendants, an incredible look at the success and subsequent failure of this local business. I learned much more about my forebears and the operation of the mills than I had picked up anecdotally all these many years. If you have an interest in the textile industry in New England or in fact, anywhere. This is a wonderful read about the days before the synthetics came to town.
Ben Haskell Brewer, ME
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
THE DESIGN, a subtle choreography of Bombyx mori caterpillars, mulberry trees, and their human caretakers, proved far too intricate. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mac twist, staple variant, silk journal, sport silks, silk growers, silk company, raw silk prices, machine twist, imported raw silk, novelty fabrics, throwing mill, silk department, pure dye, silk manufacturers, waste silk, sewing silk, silk imports, silk manufacturing, silk mill, silk business Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Haskell Silk Company, New England, Pussy Willow, United States, American Silk Journal, Hiram Mallinson, Cashmere Peerless, James Haskell, Samuel Whitmarsh, World War, New Jersey, Nonotuck Silk Company, Samuel Hill, Baker Library, Irving Hanson, Blue Book, Silk Question Settled, Mill River, Carolyn Trowbridge Radnor-Lewis, Northampton Association, Rhode Island, Joseph Conant, James Atkins, American Institute Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
THE DESIGN, a subtle choreography of Bombyx mori caterpillars, mulberry trees, and their human caretakers, proved far too intricate. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mac twist, staple variant, silk journal, sport silks, silk growers, silk company, raw silk prices, machine twist, imported raw silk, novelty fabrics, throwing mill, silk department, pure dye, silk manufacturers, waste silk, sewing silk, silk imports, silk manufacturing, silk mill, silk business Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Haskell Silk Company, New England, Pussy Willow, United States, American Silk Journal, Hiram Mallinson, Cashmere Peerless, James Haskell, Samuel Whitmarsh, World War, New Jersey, Nonotuck Silk Company, Samuel Hill, Baker Library, Irving Hanson, Blue Book, Silk Question Settled, Mill River, Carolyn Trowbridge Radnor-Lewis, Northampton Association, Rhode Island, Joseph Conant, James Atkins, American Institute Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
