Hi Kelly,
I never said they were the most common, I said they were the best
available option; documented period technique using period
appropriate fibers.
Ok, that's different, then.
What dating criteria have you been using in your examinations? As
you previously stated this was not a period technique, perhaps you
misinterpreted what you were examining.
The book I started with is _Socks & Stocking_ by Jeremy Farrell.
It's out of print, but available through book searches. Also the
Chapman books, which are a history of the technology, patents, etc,
and then anything else I can get my hands on. I've looked at
stockings in many collections in the US (east coast) and England,
taking in the dates they assign to the objects and sometimes leaving
notes suggesting a different date. It's fun to see the results of
the technology in an antique stocking.
As far as a cut and sewn stocking, they would need to have a
seam allowance because otherwise the stocking would come apart very
quickly. What I see are stockings knit to shape, where there is a
seam with about one or two knit stitches on the inside.
And I have seen the seam allowances on the stockings made from
fancy knit fabrics, so I can see the difference.
Back to period techniques - Farrell cites the circular knitter,
improved in 1840. "Although admired for its speed, it could only
make a tube which had to be cut and sewn into stockings. By 1845 the
hosiery industry was just beginning to crawl out of a recession and
'cut ups' were seen as an unacceptable cheapening of the product."
That's where I got the impression that it was not being done
commonly, and additionally there was a lot of improvement of
machinery that could shape the stockings as they were knit. Farrell
cites an improvement patented in 1838 of a wide frame where stitches
were shifted automatically, so shaping did not have to be a hand
operation as it was in the 18th and early 19thC.
Also, we are all aware that the items in museums tend to be
representative of those fine, expensive items of the upper classes
as opposed to the common everyday items of the middle or lower
classes, which were usually used and reused until nothing was left.
But there are plainer items in some museums. Especially in the
case of industry, samples are kept to illustrate what was being made,
and the technological improvements can be seen. The Nottingham
costume museum has many stockings of this sort.
The employments of women also states that one single factory was
employing 700 women to sew stockings, unfortunately it does not
state how many per day they could complete, but that's a very large
workforce for the time period - there most have been a demand for
the product.
Absolutely! Stockings were knit flat and shaped with the
increases/decreases in the sides of the piece, which became the back
seam. The seaming could also be outsourced, as well as the
embroidery. Even the circular knit stockings needed to have the
soles sewn together and the toes sewn up, until the introduction of
the short-row heel. Sewn toes are still a part of hosiery
manufacture, which I just checked on the socks I'm wearing today.
And while the circular knits might not be desirable for ladies, they
were worn by children.
Stockings did not need to be cut in order to be sewn - the
machine wrought hose had sewing as part of the finishing process.
Not only that, seamed nylons were in common use through the middle of
the 20th century.
The Aiken's machine was hand-cranked and focused towards home manufacture.
Steam power was used in the factories. There were issues with
converting machinery originally intended for hand power to steam
power. The steam power was so powerful (if not properly regulated)
that the older equipment frequently did not function optimally - it
simply couldn't keep up. I suspect in knitted goods, it led to
imperfect knitting, obviously especially along the selvedges
Ok, I know that type of machine - I saw the factory in
Massachusetts. The machines I primarily research are the hand
frames, which are body-powered - hands and feet. There are some
still around, and the last one ceased producing in a factory in 1985
when the operator retired. (Not a typo - this was a mere 21 years
ago!)
However you do have power machinery being developed in the 2nd
quarter 19th century that did produce good quality knitting.
Another interesting thing I realized at the knitting factory in
Nottingham - the hand frames could work faster than the modern
electric powered machines. The difference is that each hand frame
needs the full attention of an operator, whereas the roomful of a
dozen modern machines took four mechanics to keep them running.
The difference today is that human labor is a more expensive
part of the equation than it was in earlier centuries.
I believe Mickey Childs (not sure I'm remembering the name
correctly) was making men's socks and there was some controversy on
the heel construction. I'm not aware of anyone ever making correct
machine knit ladies stockings.
That name sounds familiar. I only heard he was making Civil War
era, not any details beyond that. Was he making circular knits, or a
flat knit with a seam?
-Carol
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