Those Were The Days

I recently came across 2 images from the 1940s and 50s which both tell of very different days in terms of linen, its production and care.

First of all the photo of linen being spread out on a bleaching green. 

The label on the back of the photo reads as follows: 

"Northern Ireland: An elderly worker spreads out fine damask linen on the grass to bleach in the sun."  Dated November 1949. The worker doesn't look that "elderly" to me, but this is how he was perceived in the press in the USA. This photo came from the archives of a New York press agency.

The second image made me laugh out loud. Again from the archives of an American press agency, this one is entitled "Winsome Twosome"! 

Dated November 1957, the label gives us more information on the scene.

"Paris: The 'Blue Flower' of French womanhood, Camille des Ardins, turns her cheek for a congratulatory kiss from an official of the French linen industry in Paris. She was named Parisian winner of a nationwide contest to find the girl having the best qualities for the upkeep of household linen, some of which is prominently displayed during the ceremony at the Eiffel Tower."

The blue flower refers to the flax flower of course, and it was often represented on the selvedge of French linen metreage and sheeting. It is also the emblem of Northern Ireland and was adopted as the symbol for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Poor Camille! I can imagine the hours she must have spent practising her ironing skills, and that was in the days before the steam iron was in use!  And after all that she gets to wear a sash and receive a kiss from an old boy in a suit! A high price to pay!!

This image will come to mind as I tackle the next pile of linen laundry - although it is unlikely anyone will offer me a sash as a reward!! I shan't even think about the chap in the suit!!!

Linen Journey 2015 Part 2

As promised some more about my recent visit to the home of Irish Linen.

Thankfully in addition to the artefacts being preserved in museums, there are one or two individual collectors who are doing a great job of saving important linen-related materials and machinery, which might otherwise be discarded or destroyed.

One such collector is a gentleman near Gilford in Co. Down, who has amassed a huge collection. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit him and be shown some fascinating memorabilia, machinery and documents. At last I stood in front of the type of machine that would have been used by my great aunt, when she worked as a linen yarn winder in 1901 in Belfast.

Her job involved transferring the linen yarn from the large spools to the smaller pirns or bobbins, which were then inserted into the shuttles and passed to the weavers. She would have worked from 6am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 6am to 12.30 on a Saturday! Long hard hours, for sure.

I have talked about point charts before; but I had never seen ones of the size in this collection! 

Below the chart you can see the salesmen's cards showing the style of the tablecloth designs, each one with its design name and pattern number printed to the top.

And then there were pattern books full of beautiful damask cloths and napkins. Each design was stamped with the pattern number and the size. I thought perhaps these too were salesmen's samples, but apparently it was more likely that they were archive records. The quality of the weaving was just stunning and there were 100s of designs!

So there I was in a huge barn in the middle of a field in the heart of Co. Down (an unlikely place for me, as anyone who knows me will tell you!) and I couldn't believe what a great time I had. So many new facts learned and so many stories recounted. I think I need to go back for another visit sometime soon!

Linen Journey 2015

I have just returned to London after almost 3 weeks at home in Northern Ireland, and I spent time with some fascinating people still involved with the linen trade.

It was the end of July and the flax was  in bloom. The pretty blue flowers just about visible here outside the Irish Linen Museum in Lisburn.

I almost feel like a bundle of flax that has been immersed in a retting dam and has emerged after the 2 to 3 weeks of soaking, ready to be dried in the sun and then moved on to the next phase of linen production!

In my case I have been submerged in a wealth of information and anecdotes about linen, and have now surfaced to let the vast quantity of facts settle in my head. After 2 weeks of almost constant rain I could certainly do with some sun to assist the process! 

I was reminded of how precious linen was to the producers. In the days when linen was laid out on linen greens for bleaching, it was not uncommon for the linen to be stolen. Watchtowers were built so that the greens and their valuable contents could be guarded at all hours. I visited one such tower near Banbridge, which has been restored by the Follies Trust.


This small stone hut was one of 2 guarding the Uprichard Bleaching Green at Tullylish. The second one has been removed and rebuilt at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, near Belfast.

I saw beautiful damask cloths and napkins being woven at Thos Ferguson in Banbridge, the only remaining damask weavers in Ireland.

I took a trip to Co. Londonderry too and had the opportunity to visit Upperlands, the village which is home to William Clark & Sons Ltd. The village owes its existence to the linen trade, a mill was founded there in 1736. Remarkably the mill is still in the hands of the same family after all this time and I was privileged to be shown around by Bruce Clark, a direct descendant of William Clark.

As we drove into the car park I could hear the throbbing sound of the beetling engines.We enjoyed a coffee in the community run coffee shop housed in one of the former mill buildings and then Bruce took me across the yard to the beetling shed. Quite an experience! I met Sam Anderson, the beetler and he explained to me the process of pounding the cloth with huge wooden mallets to flatten it and give it the distintive sheen. Sam is the last commercial beetler in Ireland. 

Click on the image below for a snippet of film of the huge beetling engine pounding the cloth on the roller.

Clark's process is known as wet beetling and gives the cloth a finish not dissimilar to patent leather. Damask used to be finished by dry beetling, giving it that wonderful lustrous sheen which set it apart from unbeetled cloth.

I have lots more to share from my trip, but I will finish here for now.