Of Silk, Cotton, Linen and Wool
Boston Newsletter
June 25 - July 2 1772
Any person that has accasion to have any Linnen Cloth made into Buckram, or to buy buckram ready made, or Callendring any Silk, Watering, Dyeing or Scouring; they may apply themselves to Samuel Hall, lately from London, and Thomas Webber near the New North Brick Meeting House, or at their Work-House near the Bowling Green, Boston.
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from The Beekman Mercantile Paper 1746 - 1799
18th Century Trade Terms
(Fabrics)
A LA MODE: thin, lightweight, glossy silk used
for scarves and hoods
ALEPINE: (alapine, alpine) French word for Bombazine,
dress material first made entirely of silk but
later of silk and cotton.
BAISE: coarse woolen used especially for work clothes.
BALLINDINE: a white Turkish silk
BANDANNA: richly coloured silk handkerchief with spots left white
or yellow; also a cotton of similar pattern.
BARCELONA HANDKERCHIEF: one made of soft twilled silk
BARLEYCORN STUFF: dress fabric characterized by small spots
(1/3")
BASKET CLOTH: woolen characterized by small squares produced by
the weave.
BAPTISTE: fine white linen of French or Flemish manufacture, much
used for neckwear.
BEAVER CLOTH: heavily napped fabric in imitation of beaver fur
used for coats and scarves.
BENGAL: light thin cloth made of silk and hair.
BIRD'S EYE STUFF: cotton or linen marked or spotted as if with
bird's eyes.
BLANKET: any thick, heavy wool, cotton or combination wool and
cotton, with a short nap on both sides; often a white or undyed
woolen stuff used for clothing.
BLONE LACE: (blonde) a white silk pillow lace.
BOMBAZINE: dress material entirely of silk, later of silk and
cotton
BROAD CLOTH: soft lustrous woolen with nap sheared close and
pressed; also a fine, smooth surfaced cotton or silk.
BRUNSWICKS: twilled fabric made in Germany
BUCKRAM: coarse linen stiffened with gum or paste and used for
linings.
BUNT: open-made worsted or cotton for flags.
CALENDAR: machine and rollers to press cloth to smooth or glaze
or to give it a wavy appearance.
CALICO: cotton imported from Calicut, India, generally imported
in natural color.
CALLAMANCO: plain or patterned woolen of Flemish or English
manufacture, sometimes part silk or goat hair.
CAMBRIC: fine, thin white linen made in Cambrai, Flanders; also
an imitation made from closely woven cotton.
CAMLET, CAMBLET: originally a costly fabric made from camel hair
or angora wool; also a wide variety of similar cloth made from
silk, wool, or combinations of fibres; camlets were characterized
by silky texture and were often watered.
CASHMERE: the fine wool found beneath the hair of the goats of
Kashir and Tibet; a soft twill fabric or shawl made from this.
CASSIMERE: medium weight woolen of soft texture used especially
for men's clothing.
CHELLOES: an Indian fabric
CHEVIOT: woolen named for Scottish sheep - cloth has a hairy nap.
CHEVRETTE: thin goatskin used for gloves.
CHINTS: painted or stained calicoes from India, later a cotton
cloth fast printed with designs in a number of colors, sometimes
glazed
CHIP HATS: those made from wood or woody fibres split into thin
strips.
CLOCK: ornamental pattern in silk thread worked on the side of a
stocking or other garment.
DUCK: strong, untwilled linen or cotton, lighter and finer than
canvas. Russian duck is coarse, heavy and unbleached but softer
than English duck.
DUFFELS: coarse woolen with thick nap or frieze.
DURANT: thick, heavily felted woolen made to imitate buff leather
also called Everlasting.
FELT: fabric of wool or wool and fur or hair, made by beating and
rolling the fibers under moist heat; used not only in hats but if
especially heavy, in carpets.
FERRET: strong tape of cotton or silk.
FLANNEL: loosely woven, lightweight woolen with slight nap.
FLORINTINE: rough material made from wild as opposed to
cultivated silk, for curtains and parasols.
FRIEZE: coarse woolen with nap usually on one side only; cloth
with looped pile.
FUSTIANS: coarse cloth of cotton and flax, thick twilled cotton
with short nap.
GAUZE: thin transparent fabrics of silk, linen or cotton.
GIMP: In lace-making gimp is a coarse thread which forms the
outline of the design; in curtains or furniture trimming gimp is
a narrow band usually of silk or worsted with a cord running
through it.
GROSGRAIN: (program) a coarse fabric of silk, of mohair and wool,
or of these mixed with silk and often stiffened with gum; a
particularly thick taffeta.
HOLLAND: a closely woven white linen used especially for shirts
and bed linen.
HUCKABUCK: a stout linen fabric with the weft threads thrown up
to form a rough surface; used especially for towels.
HUM-HUM: a coarse cotton of Indian origin used for lining coats.
JEAN: a stout twilled cotton cloth.
KENTING: a kind of fine linen named for its place of manufacture,
the County of Kent.
KERSEY (karsey): a kind of coarse woolen cloth made chiefly in
Kent and Devonshire.
LAWN: a kind of fine, thin linen of open texture.
LEVERET: the fur of a young rabbit.
LINSEY: probably short for linsey-woolsey; a coarse cloth made of
linen and wool.
LORETTOS: a silk material used for waistcoats
LUNGI (lungee): a fabric of Indian origin made with richly
colored silk and cotton.
LUSTRING (lutestring): a soft silk which might be either plain or
flowered.
MOHAIR: yarn made from the hair of the Angorra goat; a fine
camlet made from that yarn; imitations of the yarn or cloth.
MOREEN: a strong woolen or woolen and cotton material, often
watered, used for curtains and in upholstery.
MUFFETEE: a muffler worn around the neck or a worsted cuff worn
on the wrist.
MUSLIN: a general name for the most delicately woven cotton
fabrics, especially those used for ladies dresses, curtains, etc.
NANKEEN: a sturdy brownish-yellow cloth produced in Nanking;
imitations of that cloth.
OSNABURG (osnabrig): a coarse heavy linen made originally in
Osnaburg, Germany, and used most often for sacking and bagging.
PADUASOY (paduasways, padersoy): a strong, corded or gros-grain
silk worn by both sexes; made originally in Padua.
PATNA: an Indian chintz produced at the city of Patua
PEELING (pealong): a thin skin of fabric used as dress material.
PENCIL CALICO: that to which dye has been applied with an artists
pencil (a brush designed for fine, delicate work).
PENISTONE (pennystone): a coarse woolen named for a town in
Yorkshire, used for garments, linings.
PERSIAN: a thin soft silk used most often for linings
PILLOWS (pilloes): a kind of coarse fustian.
POPLIN: a ribbed dress fabric made of wool, silk and wool, cotton
and wool, or other combinations; it is distinguished by fine warp
yarns which cover completely the coarser yarns of the woof which
form the ribs; the highly regarded Irish poplin was made of silk
and wool.
PRINCES: a corded linen cloth.
PRUNELLA (prunellos): a strong fabric made from silk but later of
worsted and used for men's gowns or later for the upper portions
of women's shoes.
RATTEEN: a thick twilled woolen usually friezed or with a curled
nap, but sometimes dressed similar to frieze.
SAGATHY: a light woolen stuff, a kind or serge or ratteen,
sometimes mixed with a little silk.
SARSENET: a very fine and soft silk material made both plain and
twilled in various colors and used especially for linings and
ribbons.
SATIN: a silk fabric with a glossy surface, imitations of that
cloth.
SATEEN: a cotton imitation of satin.
SERGE: a woolen fabric, a durable twilled cloth of wool or silk
and wool.
SHAG: a worsted or silk cloth with a velvet nap, same as duffel.
SHALLOON: a closely woven woolen used chiefly for linings.
SHEETING: strong linen or cotton cloth used for bed linen.
SILESIAS: thin but coarse linen from Silesia, used for the backs
of vests and for other clothing, also a cotton imitation.
SKEIN: a quantity of thread or yarn wound to a certain length on
a reel; a skein of cotton is eighty turns of the thread on a reel
54 inches in circumference; the definition varies with other
fibers.
STUFF: any woven textile, but especially woollen cloths without a
nap.
SWANSKIN: a fine thick kind of flannel.
TABBY: a thick silk usually watered and stronger than taffeta
TAFFETA: a light thin silk of high luster used especially as a
dress fabric.
TAMMY: a fine worsted cloth often glazed and usually highly
colored.
THICKSET: a strong twilled cotton cloth with a very close nap, a
kind of fustian.
TICK: a strong linen or cotton fabric woven in stripes and often
in herringbone weave; it was used for upholstery and bedding.
VELVERET: a variety of fustian with a velvet surface.
VELVET: a silk fabric with a thick soft pile of short erect
threads; sometimes a similar woolen cloth.
VELVETEEN: cotton imitation of velvet.
WILDBORE: a strong, closely woven, unglazed tammy.
WORSTED: a woolen fabric made from well-twisted yarn spun of long
staple wool combed to lay the fibers parallel; also the yarn of
which such cloth was made.
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