Silk Industry
South Manchester, Connecticut was dominated by the Cheney Brothers company during the late 19th and early 20th century with there silk factories. The site of such inventions as the Rixford Roller, a revolution in silk spinning which produced stronger strands, and spinning waste silk, the Cheney Brothers silk factory would produce the bulk of silk used for parachutes in World War I. At the time their factory was the only one in the world carrying silk from its raw product into finished forms. The Cheney Brothers factory was also outpacing European manufacturers in their consumption of raw silk, which enabled them to dominate the American market in silk goods.
The production of silk relies on cocoons created by silkworms, native to China. And the silkworms relied on the mulberry tree as its food source. During the 1770s, Connecticut farmers tried to cultivate the mulberry tree in attempts to produce raw silk. The harsh Connecticut climate, along with blight, would cause investors to avoid mulberry farms and Connecticut silk producers started to disappear. The Cheney Brothers, who had started in raw silk production, realized that a better investment would be in processing the raw silk. It would only be through their hard work and continued innovations in the industry that they would thrive to the point where they dominated the American silk market.
The process of producing the silk is shown in short through these three photos taken at the Cheney Brothers silk factory in South Manchester, Connecticut. First the silk is brought in still in its cocoon form. It is unraveled and washed before being spun into small threads. Once spun the silk is washed again and twisted into the proper size for their intended use (thicker for such things as parachutes). Once twisted onto their spools they would be fed through dressing machines where they would be manufactured into their final products.