The Crompton-Knowles Dobby Automatic Silk Loom c.1925


Harness Loom by John Martinkas c.1900

Men dominated in the mines and related industries, but women also played an important role in the anthracite economy.  While men and boys entered the mines and breakers, wives and daughters performed their work in the homes of mining camps and towns.  Moreover, after 1880, lace and silk manufacturers moved into the Region.  The intent was to take advantage of the cheap labor advertised by civic groups - the wives and daughters of miners.

Youngsters began work at age eleven or twelve as bobbin hands or lacers, moved up to positions as winders and doublers, and in their late teens or early twenties became weavers, edge warpers or forepersons using the winding and twist machines that were operated in the process of manufacturing silk.

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