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“We Have Raffeled For The Elephant & Won!”: The Wool Industry At South Union, Kentucky, Donna C. Parker, Jonathan J. Jeffrey
“We Have Raffeled For The Elephant & Won!”: The Wool Industry At South Union, Kentucky, Donna C. Parker, Jonathan J. Jeffrey
SCL Faculty and Staff Publications
Wool, next to cotton, is perhaps the most important of all textile fibers. Like most of their contemporaries, the Shakers of South Union, Kentucky, recognized the ease with which wool fibers were spun into yarn and the advantages of sturdy wool clothing. South Union’s textile industry grew from a simple carding mill to a full-fledged woolen factory with a 240-spindle spinning jack and 4 power looms. From its genesis in 1815 to its abrupt demised in 1868, the sect’s woolen industry provides a paradigm for the study of the United States’ textile industrialization.
Sericulture, Silk And South Union Shakers, Donna C. Parker, Jonathan J. Jeffrey
Sericulture, Silk And South Union Shakers, Donna C. Parker, Jonathan J. Jeffrey
SCL Faculty and Staff Publications
Kentucky Shakers were particularly adept at the process of producing silk. Kentucky's temperate climate was conducive to mulberry tree cultivation and sericulture, the raising of silkworms. South Union Sisters hatched and grew silkworms to harvest the delicate silk fibers they used in the manufacture of kerchiefs, neckwear, hat bands, bonnets, and sewing silk. Occasionally entire garments such as dresses were made from the luxurious silk.