Capezio Ballet shoes; William Skinner Nylon satin; 1946
date: label: date made
content: 1946
name: label: maker
content: William Skinner and Sons
label: maker
content: Capezio
notes: label: Description
content: Capezio Ballet shoes; William Skinner Nylon satin; 1946. Black nylon satin outer made as application of fabric T9665 with white twill canvas cotton inner lining. Leather soles produced by Capezio. Sold by Lord + Taylor. Size 5 1/2. Very stiff soles, non-flexible. Insole glued to shoe base. Leather sole glue to shoe. Nylon string drawn through bias tape around shoe opening to adjust sizing. Upper is four pieces, machine stitched with side seams on left and right sides of shoes. Sole is one piece. Fabric strip on center back exterior to conceal back seam. Interior of shoe is two pieces. Bias tape machine stitched. Nylon woven in Holyoke, MA. Dark marks and raised stains on left sole. Brown staining on internior left and right.
label: Description
content: William Skinner emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1843, finding work as silk dyer. He eventually opened his own silk manufacturing company, the Unquomonk Silk Co., making silk threads and yarns for weaving and sewing. In 1874, the mill was destroyed when the Mill River Dam gave way. Skinner moved his company a few miles away, to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and rebuilt the mill, expanding production to include woven fabrics (Skinner satins were nationally famous) and silk braids. He ran the company until his death in 1902, and the firm stayed in the family, and remained in operation in Holyoke, until 1961, when his heirs sold it to Indian head Mills, which immediately closed the Holyoke operation.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Holyoke
label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Holyoke
label: Associated Place
content: United States: New Jersey, Allentown
label: Associated Place
content: United States: Massachusetts, Holyoke
topic: label: web subject
content: Fashion
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
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content: American Textile Industry
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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.T09667A-B
label: accession number
content: 172805
label: catalog number
content: T09667A-B
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Slippers, Ballet
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: nylon; leather; cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: Black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: satin weave (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/4 in x 2 5/16 in x 8 3/4 in; 5.715 cm x 5.842 cm x 22.225 cm