Shuttle and Bobbin
notes: label: Description
content: The shuttle and bobbin were integral parts of weaving on a loom. The bobbin carried the weft or filling yarns, which unspooled and interlaced with the warp yarns (stretched on the loom) to make the cloth as the weaver passed the shuttle from side to side, hand to hand. Until the invention of the flying shuttle in 1733, most cloth was only as wide as a weaver could comfortably reach. The new shuttle made it possible to weave wider fabrics, and to weave more quickly. This set the stage for the invention of the power loom, adopted widely in the new American textile mills. By the 1830s textile mills were a major source of employment for young women, a trend which continued through the 20th century. This shuttle and bobbin, for a power loom, were used in the donor’s father’s mill in about 1870.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: W. O Stricker
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.E238655
label: accession number
content: 46114
label: catalog number
content: E238655
objectType: label: Object Name
content: shuttle