1940s stock footage - from flax to linen

[Music] the first cloth woven from vegetable fabric one of the earliest products of civilization was made from flax fiber and is known as linen primitive man man first covered his body with garments made from the skins of animals then the use of wool was discovered and cloth took the place of animal skin it was from Egypt where the first great civilizations developed along the banks of the Nile River records of the use of linen came its history can be dated back at least 4,000 years for the linen wrappings found in the Tomb of ramesis II who died in 1258 BC were in a state of perfect [Music] preservation when the land came under cultivation flax was among the plants grown because of the discovery that its fiber could be woven into cloth It is believed that Ireland's linen industry was begun by the Phoenicians who have been credited with introducing flax growing and the making of linen to the country the first definite records however have been kept only since the 1560s it was then that Lewis croman a weaver of fine linen fled to Ireland from France and settled near Belfast through his works the Board of Trustees of the linen manufacturer of Ireland was formed in 1711 this board controlled every branch of the linen industry from inspecting the seed to the fixing of the quality of the cloth for over a 100 years today Ireland holds first place in the linen industry it is of great importance to the country economically for it is one of the major exports many of the thousands of persons employed by the industry are flax Farmers almost any occasion calls for a gathering of these friendly happy people whose gay Spirits are most in evidence when the violin breaks into a lively Irish [Music] jig the story of Ireland is the story of The People's love for their country most of the land is agricultural country and a large part of the population Farms the land or raises livestock the tendency is to have many small farms rather than a few large ones it is not unusual for several generations of a family to share one farm this one for instance is owned and tended by three generations the sewing or planting of the flax Fields becomes a family affair even the Young EST member of the family does his share of the work no part of the country is more than 50 mil from the sea the constant moisture makes the Green Field so fresh and fair that the country has often been called the Emeral Isle or the Green Isle flax which grows so well in such a climate is gathered just before the SE seeds are fully ripe the stalks are pulled by hand because the fiber loses spinning value if cut by a sharp instrument in Ireland no effort is made to save the seed of the regular crop and so the next process is called rting or rotting Bunches of flax straw are stacked in ponds or dams with mud sold or Stones placed on top to prevent the flax from rising to the surface for at least 7 Days the bundles remain underwater reting is a process for separating the fiber from the core of the stem with the least possible breakage or loss there is a gum called pectin found in the flax stems which holds the fibers together the purpose of reting is to remove this gum During the period the flax is left underwater bacteria called the pectinovorum devours the Gum as soon as the rting process is completed the fiber can be separated from the stem the next step is to shake the bundles and spread them out on the grass the spread flax must be turned often to keep its color This Grass exposure lasts for about 7 to 14 days after having been stacked for about a month the flax is taken to a scotch Mill [Music] here it first enters a butting machine which evens the roots of the stalks it goes through grooved rollers which break up the Boon or Woody matter of the flax stem into small pieces a man the scutcher holds the stems against revolving wooden blades or beaters which knock off the Woody matter and leave the fiber clean and ready to be sold in bundles to the Spinners a good fiber is 12 to 24 in in length and under the microscope its shape is cylindrical 5 tons of flax taken from the fields yield only between 450 and 550 lbs of fiber after rting and scutching are finished many more processes are worked out upon the flax fiber before it's ready for the loom only the most Choice fibers are left after many combing processes the yarn May then be spun either dry as by the hand operated spinner or wet in wet spinning the fiber is passed through hot water so that when they pass between rollers they're soft and they fall into proper places easily finer linen is made by this method the the next operation is weaving most of which is done by machines but some is still done on hand operated [Music] Looms in weaving the threads which run up and down the loom represent the warp while the cross threads are called the weft weaving is done by the shuttle which carries the weft passing over and under the warp threads by changing the number of threads passed over or under by the shuttle different kinds of linen are produced such as plain cloth twilled cloth or linen [Music] drill most of the table linen used is damis which has a woven ornamental design and contrasting weave talented artists are employed to execute the intricate designs this machine is used to punch out the designs on cards making a [Music] pattern this pattern is followed by the loom as the cards are passed into it the finished ornament looks the same on the damis as it did on the design created by the artist when the woven fabric is taken from the loom it is ready for bleaching or whitening pieces of linen are pieced together end to end in one piece many thousands of yards in length it is put through many washes and boilings and then it's spread on the grass for some days the process continues until a certain stage of whiteness is reached and is then washed starched and pressed then beaten for hours to give it a glossy look and pressed out again finally it has become [Music] linen a fabric whose history goes back at least 4,000 years a beautiful durable fabric whose popularity has increased with the years