Projects and Science

Flea market treasures
18th and 19th century textile tools

ABT

Do you also like to go to garage sales and flea markets? There's always plenty to see. Sure - most of it is junk - but sometimes you can find some real treasures there and that at reasonable prices. Sometimes because of the seller him- or herself does not really know what he or she´s really got but much more often because what is for sale sells poorly. Why? Because nowadays no one can use something like that. Or do you spin and weave the fabric of all your clothes yourself? Therefore one can find real bargains now and then. Old tools that are actually worthy of being displayed in a local history or folk museum.
Therefore the ABT offers you here a little virtual museum showing what can be found on flea markets or in the attic. Prices will not be revealed.

Fiber preparation

Flachsbreche — Flax brake, Styria 1793. Total length 37.4“.

Handkarden/hand cards — *Pair of hand cards from Styria, Austria.*

A pair of hand cards typically consists of two mobile square or rectangular paddles, but this pair has a bigger lower stationary part (length 42,52") and a mobile upper part (length 18,89"). On the mobile part the year 1839 is engraved. A pair of cards is used to brush the wool between them until the fibers are more or less aligned in the same direction. The type of yarn made from carded wool is called woolen (American English) or woollen (British and Canadian English).

Wollkarde — *Wool cards with IHS monogram, Styria, dated 1797.* Length with handle: 15"; width: 8.4".

Wollkäemme/wool combs — *Wool combs.* Length 13,38" and 15,74". Combing organizes the fiber so that the hairs remain parallel to one another and removes broken fibers and impurities, leaving the spinner with the strongest, purest fiber. What you get is sliver or roving which then is spun into worsted.

Flachskämme/flax combs — *Flax combs*. *Left*: the initials HG and ZG and the year 1793 carved into the wood, length 14.84". *Center:* 1844, length 13.77". *Right:* Christogram IHS, 1799, length 14.96". Styria, Austria.

Flachshechel — *Flax hetchel, dated 1799, Austria.* Length: 16.5".

Kamm — *Flax comb, 18th century, Austria.* Length: 18.7"; Width: 13".

Flachshecheln_2 — *Flax hetchel.* Top: dated 1816, length 18.50". Bottom: flax hetchel with Virgin Mary Monogram, dated 1795, length 30.51". Styria, Austria.

Flachshecheln/flax hetchels — *Flax hetchels.* Upper left: dated 1777, length 21,65". Lower right: dated 1774, length 16,14". Styria, Austria.

Spinning the yarn

Spinnrocken, Spinnrad — *Distaff for spinning wheel* decorated on both sides from Styria, Austria. On one side the Christogram IHS and the year 1888 are carved into the wood. Length 19,88".

Haspel — *Six-armed* *spinner's weasel or click reel, Germany*. A narrow strip of wood is raised by a splint on the pinion gear (see details right). Upon reaching the required number of revolutions this "tongue" rebounds and produces a warning sound. Height 22,83", circumference 53,93"

Kreuzhaspel_niddy noddy — *Niddy noddy (yarn winder).* Length 14.56"; Length of the crossbars 13.77"

Kreuzhaspel, niddy noddy 2 — *Niddy noddy (yarn winder).* France, 19^th century. Length 19.30"; Length of the crossbars 11".

A spinner´s weasel or clock reel is a device for measuring yarn and turning it into a skein. It consists of a spoked wheel, each spoke having a crossbar at the end, with gears attached to a pointer on a marked face (which looks like a clock) and an internal mechanism which makes a "pop" sound after the desired length of yarn is measured. Some spinner´s weasels have a mechanism that clicks or pops for each turn of the reel instead of a “clock”. These are sometimes called click reels. When the wheel is turned it rotates a screw that in turn rotates a gear. The screw turns until the gear makes a complete revolution at which time a pin on the wheel will let a slim piece of wood slip over it and make a snapping sound.

After the yarn is wound onto the crossbars by turning the reel the skein can be further processed by washing, bleaching, dyeing or sold in this form. Rotating reels have at least four arms, but also five to eight-armed examples exist, very common are reels with six arms. They can stand free or be bolted to a table.

Extract from: Wikipedia Haspel

Spinning box (flax box). Length of the box: 16,92".

A spinning box is a cross between a supported spindle and a spinning wheel. It consists of a wooden box with elongated side parts into which a spindle with a drive wheel is clamped. It operates by pushing the drive in the box with the hand or foot and the thread jumps over the tip of the protruding shaft. If the tip has a reel that can be clipped onto the shaft you can just pull off the spool and the yarn must not be laboriously unwound from the spindle. Some evidence seems to indicate that they were (also?) used as bobbin winders (e.g. to wind yarn onto a bobbin or a pirn for a flying shuttle).