The shoddy manufacturing is interesting - I was thinking pre-industrial revolution. I can't comprehend that cloth that had been painstakingly spun and woven would be simply stuffed inside a pillow. My modern mindset keeps thinking that the thrifty Medieval or Elizabethan housewife would at least save them for clothing repairs, or consoldated with other scraps for blankets.
> Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:59:01 -0700 (PDT) > From: "WorkroomButtons.com" <westvillagedrap...@yahoo.com> > To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> > Subject: Re: [h-cost] Cabbage question > Message-ID: <496935.32708...@web130220.mail.mud.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > Maybe shoddy and/or mungo? > > "Benjamin Law developed a process of turning recycled old rags > mixed with some > virgin wool > into shoddy around 1813. He was unable at the time to figure out a way of > incorporating tailors' clippings into the > process. This was figured out by his nephews several years later and was > called "mungo". > > > > > By 1855, 35,000,000 pounds of rag were being sorted and processed > > into yarn to make "mungo" and "shoddy". The making of shoddy and mungo is a > similar process > > to the making of woolen and worsted, once the rags had been ground up and > processed into > > yarn." > > From:? http://www.maggieblanck.com/Land/Shoddy.html > > Dede O'Hair > _________________________ > > West Village Studio > > www.workroombuttons.com > > > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume