A Snapshot of Work in a Silk Weaving Factory
There's something about these photos of this unknown woman doing her job in 1937 that really captured my attention. Can you imagine working a job like this?
Her work is fairly simple:
1. Take the silk out of the box.
2. Give the silk a bath in really hot water.
3. Take the silk out of the bath and place it in a machine called the "whizzer."
4. Take it out of the machine and hang it to dry.
5. Load the silk onto a bigger machine called the "winding machine."
6. Repeat.
It could be kind of fun to work in a factory and actually spend your work day making something.
I wonder if the workers were able to switch jobs every once in the while, just to keep it exciting.
These photos were taken by Lewis Wickes Hine, who used his camera as a tool for social reform.
There's something about these photos of this unknown woman doing her job in 1937 that really captured my attention. Can you imagine working a job like this?
Her work is fairly simple:
1. Take the silk out of the box.
2. Give the silk a bath in really hot water.
3. Take the silk out of the bath and place it in a machine called the "whizzer."
4. Take it out of the machine and hang it to dry.
5. Load the silk onto a bigger machine called the "winding machine."
6. Repeat.
It could be kind of fun to work in a factory and actually spend your work day making something.
I wonder if the workers were able to switch jobs every once in the while, just to keep it exciting.
These photos were taken by Lewis Wickes Hine, who used his camera as a tool for social reform.
Packages of silk being untied, preparatory to soaking the skeins. Paterson, New Jersey March 1937
Silk skeins soaking in a solution of boiled water. This was done to free the silk of gum. Paterson, New Jersey March 1937
After the skeins soaked in the solution, they were removed and placed in the whizzer, where they were centrifugally dried. Paterson, New Jersey March 1937
After the drying process, the skeins were removed from the whizzer and hung up on racks to dry. Paterson, New Jersey March 1937
After drying, the skeins were taken from the rack and each skein was put on a swift of the winding machine. This machine wound the yarn from the skein on to bobbins. Paterson, New Jersey March 1937
Source posted by Michelle
RSS Feed