Sample

Description

Pacific Mills, located in Lawrence, Massachusetts, manufactured this muslin fabric – a variety of cotton cloth – in the early 20th century. This section of fabric has manufacturer information stamped in blue ink and a label still attached. Textile manufacturers would put information like this on bolt ends to identify their products, as well as proclaim their quality, to both retailers and consumers. The label on this muslin fabric, showing a man wearing a turban leading two oxen through a wheat field, is perhaps meant to evoke an image of India, where muslin was first produced. This object is one of a large group transferred to Winterthur from the American Textile History Museum when it closed in 2017.