Joseph Marie Jacquard, a French silk weaver, had in 1801 introduced a loom that used sequential punch cards to allow intricate patterns of harness elevations to achieve brocade, damask and matelasse fabrics. Let's just say, the loom replicated some aspects of the Jackquard loom without all the hardware. It is connected to the eddle frames with round leather straps - not shown - passing around the pulleys, B B." And so on in a description that makes sense if you're a weaver but is puzzling to the general reader. A is the side eddle lever, pivoted at the center and vibrating in both directions. "The principal improvements on the loom are the harness motion and deep-box motion. "The loom here illustrated is designed for weaving all kinds of figured fabrics, such as cassimeres, balmorals, shawls, woolen skirting, broadcloths, and all styles of fancy cotton and woolen goods," the text read. Duckworth Patent Fancy Loom on the front cover of its Sept. This Loom is of remarkable simplicity throughout, and we are not surprised that it is held in such favor by Manufacturers." The Duckworths' response, as we see, was to begin to make power looms.Īs to the family's Pittsfield factory, the Pittsfield Sun said in its March 3, 1870, issue that Duckworth & Sons fancy looms "for weaving Cassimeres, &c., have gained a wide reputation for their superiority in commanding the Shuttle, an important consideration in the weaving of figured fabrics. With the power loom, the profession transitioned to factories and was taken over by mill girls and women. A major labor change came about in England and North America: Hand weaving had been a male occupation, a cottage industry. Thomas Duckworth remembered some members of the riotous mob shouting, "What are we to do? We're starving. Thomas when 16 had been a handweaver in Lancashire, England, and had experienced the anti-power-loom riots of 1826, when weavers rebelled against mill owners and mechanization. Family patriarch Thomas Duckworth had brought his several sons to North America from England and settled in Mount Carmel, Conn. Duckworth & Sons' machine shop on Depot Street was a Pittsfield manufacturer of power looms.
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