Pillowcase

Description

The B. B. & R. Knight Company, located in Providence, Rhode Island, manufactured this “Fruit of the Loom” pillowcase around 1917. This pillowcase still has the original label attached, which consumers would have seen when encountering the product at retailers. From the late 19th and into the 20th century, textile mills tended to market their goods under a variety of different brand names, or trademarks, depending on what the product was and where it was being retailed. A 1921 industry directory stated that “The lines of textile products... which are now being sold under trademarks or brand names, count up into the thousands, and the number is rapidly increasing.” Memorable names and labels helped differentiate products on crowded store shelves, while familiar brands held the promise of consistency and quality. Many of these brand names were short-lived, but some, like Fruit of the Loom, are still in use today. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.