singularly powerful but frivolous one, fashion, and that the center of 

 the fashion world around 1800 was Europe. Thus Americans still looked 

 to Europe for the latest fashion colors and, to a great extent, for dye ma- 

 terials that produced them. Elijah Bemiss was keenly aware of this situation 

 when he remarked : 



Europeans apprised of our increasing manufacturies, attempt to baffle our attempts 

 by imposing on us mixed cloth as fashionable; they are sensible that the younger look 

 to the older nations for the patterns of their garments, and for fashionable colours of 

 their cloths; for this reason the Europeans frequently change or mix their colours to 

 retain our adherence to their markets (1815, p. 262). 



Almost all the professional dyers who practiced their trade in America 

 until the mid- 19th century either were trained in Europe or employed by 

 men who had such a background. Evidence of this can be found by studying 

 dye manuals printed in America during this period. It was natural that 

 dyers would prefer ingredients they had learned to use in Europe. Thus 



Figure 2. — The earliest known illustration of the interior of an American dye house (Hazen, 

 1836). Left: A worker lifting a dye bucket from a vat heated by a furnace that encases the 

 vat. Right: Workers bent over various vats. The cloths draped on overhead beams indicate 

 that finished cloth was being piece-dyed here. 



