Alex has spent a lifetime in the sewing industry and is considered one of the foremost experts of pioneering machines and their inventors. He has written extensively for trade magazines, radio, television, books and publications world wide.

           
            How old are your reels of thread?

Have you ever wondered how long sewing threads have been around?

The answer is almost as long as man has walked on two legs. The first threads would have been little more than thin leather or twine. Many ancient tribes knew which local plant or tree gave the best thread such as honeysuckle, reed and cactus.

As the centuries went by we learned how to twist materials into thread such as fine wool and silk. History of Cotton.

The first needles or bodkins were animal bone and wood, later bronze and eventually steel so fine that they could pierce the most delicate silk without a mark. 

Today some of the traditional net maker still use wooden needles made from the holly tree which has remarkable abilities to keep its point and not break. 

For centuries the centre of the needle industry for the entire world was Redditch producing the best needles on the market such as Milward's and Able Morrall's.

The Forge Mill next to Bordesley Abbey, Redditch, is well worth a visit. The museum provides a fascinating insight into the early working life of the industrial revolution where children as young as 4 worked for a living! 

The Redditch needle industry kept the secret of  fine needle making closely guarded. There secret was in the endless polishing of the needles with fine grinding powders. The water powered machinery proved so successful that it was used for generations. 

Birmingham & Redditch were the centre of the needle industry

In 1806 nasty Napoleon (where the name Bogey Man originally came from, Bonepart--Boney--Bogey, the Bogey man is coming over the water to get you! What horrible parents eh!), made a blockade around the coast of Britain.

The defeat of his fleet at Trafalgar left him embittered and out for vengeance. This stopped almost all but the most ardent smuggler from bringing goods to England. All ships were prey to the French fleet.

In turn the silk sewing threads became scarce and incredibly expensive. A reel of silk thread would cost two days pay.

Only skilled smugglers managed to break through the blockades in the dead of night. Their vessels often painted matt black and set with sails at both ends to move silently in and out of moonlit bays.

The cost of threads rocketed as did tobacco and booze. Great years for the smugglers!

Years later all that changed as Huguenots fled from persecution. Many focused themselves around the Brick Lane area of London. By 1851 Britain had over 100,000 silk weavers. Today there is only one working silk mill left in England at Whitchurch.

A saying emerged around that time. 'We are all born Adam's children but silk makes the difference'.

However we are jumping ahead, stay with me now! Britain is being blockaded and silk, the normal sewing thread is a silly price.Hanks of silk from China cannot get to England and the price soars! An alternative was needed and fast!

Patrick Clark came to our rescue inventing a method to twist cotton threads together to produce an excellent sewing thread for most applications. Cotton was still available and could be recycled from fabric so there was no shortage.

Clark opened his factory in 1812 in Paisley, Scotland, and never looked back. His son's opened the Coats factory a few years later and so two of the biggest names in thread were established and all because of the Bogey Man.

By the 1890's they had become one company again, Coats & Clarke.

An early advertising card showing Gulliver taking thread to the Lilliputians.

The original two, three and four cord hand sewing thread was not strong enough for sewing machines so later George Clark, one of the grandson's, invented a thread specially designed for these new fangled gadgets. 

The six-cord soft thread sewed very well and helped the sewing machine industry flourish compared to the wiry old hand-sewing stuff. 

This thread was labelled and each reel was marked with the initials "ONT" Our New Thread. Simple eh! I would love to find one of these reels as it would date it to around 1850.

Silk threads were around years before Clark and Coats so look carefully in your sewing box, you may have an ancient reel of thread in there.

The earliest I have come across was a Barbour thread of 1783.

Well, that's it folks, I hope you enjoyed the info, do let me know: alexsussex@aol.com

Fancy a funny read: Ena Wilf  & The One-Armed Machinist

A brilliant slice of 1940's life: Spies & Spitfires

Alex's stories are now available to keep. Click on the picture for more information.

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