JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

The following photos are from a pamphlet entitled The Miracle Workers, a product of the Cheney Silk Company, extolling more the virtues of the considerable workforce and their living conditions more so than the product. My guess is that the pamphlet (with no publishing info) was printed around 1910, evidently when the company was coming towards its zenith after having been in business for 40+ years.  I thought it would be worthwhile to share industrial/production images from uncommon sources like this one–especially since the “wrapper” holding the text wouldn’t necessarily invite a reader inside.  In any event, here are the few photos dealing with the interior of the factory, though there are others (like the one showing a worker’s lunch room) that show the school, and church , and other such social buildings that were constructed for the workers by the company.  It seems that the company had an unusual trajectory–getting a boost during the Civil War by producing the famous Spencer Rifle, then concentrating on the silk business, and then after suffering through the Depression and the failure of the silk market selling itself off to a company in teh 1950’s that switched gears from silk to velvet