William Skinner and Sons silk slipper satin fabric length; 1932.
date: label: date made
content: 1932
notes: label: Description
content: William Skinner and Sons slipper satin, silk face, cotton back fabric length; 1932. Heavy, close, lustrous, smooth surface warp face, satin weave fabric for women's shoes which are dyed to match the colors of the wearers'gowns. Cotton back and Silk warp face. Piece dyed white currently, would have been dyed to be used for shoes to match a gown. Selvedge has "Skinner's" woven in the same color as fabric. Small punctures and round imprints surrounding the puctures seen throughout fabric.
label: Description
content: William Skinner, a prominent silk manufacturer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, moved his family and business to Holyoke, MA in 1874. At the time his family consisted of 2 daughters from his first marriage to Nancy Warner, Eleanor Skinner, and Nancy Skinner; along with his second wife Sarah Elizabeth Allen Skinner, and their children, Elizabeth Allen Skinner, William Cobbett Skinner, Joseph Allen Skinner, Ruth Isabelle (Belle) Skinner and Katharine Skinner. With an unlimited source of power and inexpensive immigrant labor available in Holyoke, the silk production and textile manufacturing business grew and profits increased. William Skinner remained at the head of the firm until his death in 1902 when control was turned over to his two sons William C. and Joseph. In 1961 the Skinner family sold the business, with all their trademarks and patents, to Indian Head Mills. The William Skinner & Sons silk and satin mills were earning sales revenues in the millions of dollars and employing over 1,000 people at the time of William Skinner’s death in 1902. As manufacturer of “Skinner’s Satins” he came to be widely known, and his own success was extended philanthropically to Holyoke and its people. The family maintained a residence in Holyoke at their home, Wistariahurst, for eighty years. The Skinners donated the property to the city of Holyoke in 1959. [From the Wistariahurst web site.]
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Holyoke
label: Associated Place
content: United States: New Jersey, Allentown
topic: label: web subject
content: American Textile Industry
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Textiles
label: See more items in
content: American Silks
label: See more items in
content: American Textile Industry
label: See more items in
content: Textiles
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of William Skinner and Sons
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TE.T06931
label: accession number
content: 117978
label: catalog number
content: T06931.000
label: catalog number
content: T6931
label: catalog number
content: T (/) 6931
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Dye Satin Shoe Fabric
label: Object Name
content: Fabric Length
label: Object Name
content: pure dye satin shoe fabric
label: Object Name
content: pure dye satin shoe fabric length
label: Object Name
content: Fabric length
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: cotton back (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: silk face (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: satin weave (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: piece dyed (overall production method/technique)
label: Physical Description
content: synthetic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 36 in x 36 in; 91.44 cm x 91.44 cm