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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



March, 1907 



some native helpers) sit day by day producing a great variety 

 of art fabrics in cotton, wool, and linen. Their flax is spun 

 for them in Ireland, as is their cotton and wool here, and all 

 are dyed at a neighboring town by a man who has had the 

 secrets of certain colors handed down to him from his grand- 

 parents. 



Interesting, indeed, is it to see the looms in operation, to 

 watch the shuttles passed back, and forth and see the pattern 

 forming and the fabric growing; interesting to see the warp 

 wound on the great, gaunt, upright, revolving frame, then 

 braided and made ready; or even to see the skeins of bright 

 colored yarns awaiting in separate rows and boxes transferred 

 to the busy shuttles. But more interesting still is it, with this 

 in mind, to examine the finished product, note its variety, its 

 perfect workmanship and intrinsic charm. There are rugs 

 made after the manner of rag carpets, bedspreads and cur- 

 tains made in the fashion of those of our great-grandparents' 



" Hearthside " Products 

 1 Double Bow-knot Bedspread. 2 Linen Table Cover 

 3 " Governor's Garden " Table Cover 



time, pillow and table covers of cotton and silk, linen for 

 dress patterns and for towels, scarfs for bureaus and pianos, 

 all woven simply and yet exquisitely. Silk and wool have 

 been combined, mercerized cotton much employed, and differ- 

 ent effects produced by a changing of the warp as well as the 

 woof. Many of the designs, such as the "Governor's Gar- 

 den," "Sun, Moon, and Stars," "Solomon's Delight," "New 

 Hampshire Beauty," "Orange Peel," and "Double Bow- 

 knot," ha\e been copied accurately from old samples, but 

 others have been originated and applied. All are produced 

 by a mere variation of lines and spaces, and are entirely 



Cotton Rugs From the " Hearthside " Looms 



conventional. Their color arrangements are exceedingly 

 pleasing, and their decorati\e feeling most pronounced. 



Both Mr. and Mrs. Talbot had a certain amount of artistic 

 training before they turned to this industry, which with 

 inborn taste and natural inclination undoubtedly furthered 

 their success; but they brought to it besides, perennial inter- 

 est and unflagging enthusiasm and these manifest themselves 

 in the spontaneity of their work, and infect, most happily, 

 their helpers. They are not the only workers in this field; 

 what they have done others can do and are doing, but there is 

 something peculiarly delightful about the environment in 

 which their industry is carried on — something notably attrac- 

 tive in the art of their producions. The spirit of such work 

 is that which animates the arts and crafts movement — a re- 

 turn to the day when the workman took pride in his product 

 and good taste prevailed. The old house, its antique furni- 

 ture, its quaint attic and busy looms together with its hos- 

 pitable and contented indwellers seem closely akin, and while 

 harking back to the past point to a better way for the future. 



