American Silk, 1830-1930: Entrepreneurs and Artifacts
(Part of the Costume Society of America Series Series)
No Customer Reviews
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
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.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0896725898
ISBN13:9780896725898
Release Date:January 2007
Publisher:Texas Tech University Press
Length:320 Pages
Weight:1.30 lbs.
Dimensions:1.2" x 6.5" x 9.4"
Customer Reviews
0 rating
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
