1837 Harvey's Patent Model of a Hair Cloth Loom
date: label: model constructed
content: before 1837-11-25
label: patent date
content: 1837-11-25
name: label: inventor
content: Harvey, Charles R.
notes: label: Description
content: Hair Cloth Loom Patent Model
label: Description
content: Patent No. 490, issued November 25, 1837
label: Description
content: Charles R. Harvey of Poughkeepsie, New York
label: Description
content: Weaving with horsehair was difficult and slow because the weaver had to select an individual horsehair for each weft and insert it into the warp. Harvey’s loom was a step toward mechanizing this process. But Harvey dealt only with changing from a hand loom to a power loom, not with the problem of weaving with horsehair. Even in his patent specification, he mentioned that the “hook” (a simple wooden rod with a hook at one end by which the horsehair was drawn in to be woven) is “made in the usual way.” Harvey detailed his improvements as the application of power to both the movement of the hook and the operation of the loom overall.
label: Description
content: At the tenth Annual Fair of the American Institute in 1837, Harvey was awarded a gold medal for his “hair seating loom.” The Journal of the American Institute, published in 1838, remarked that “this is the first application of power to weaving hair cloth; and concerning the extent of the article [hair cloth] now used for furniture, we think the loom is entitled to the highest consideration.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: New York, Poughkeepsie
topic: label: classified
content: Patent Models
label: classified
content: Invention
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Patent Models, Textile Machinery
label: See more items in
content: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: Patent Models
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Janssen, Barbara Suit. Patent Models Index
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T11411.035
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: catalog number
content: T11411.035
label: patent number
content: 490
objectType: label: Object Name
content: hair cloth loom patent model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (mechanisms material)