Author Topic: Inside the forgotten mill which helped clothe America: Amazing pictures of silk mill untouched since it last worked in 1957  (Read 1657 times)

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Offline Rapunzel

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2556717/Inside-forgotten-helped-clothe-America-Amazing-pictures-silk-untouched-worked-1957.html#ixzz2t2LrWyNF

Inside the forgotten mill which helped clothe America: Amazing pictures of silk mill untouched since it last worked in 1957

    Eerie photographs show the abandoned belongings left behind by workers when Lonaconing Silk Mill closed

    The crumbling factory in Maryland, USA opened in 1905 but by the 1950s was considered clunky and outdated

    It finally closed its doors in summer 1957 after seeing its 300-strong staff dwindle to just a few dozen workers

    Drink cartons, old shoes and calenders dated July 1957 were all left behind by workers on their final shift

By John Hall

PUBLISHED: 08:46 EST, 11 February 2014 | UPDATED: 12:36 EST, 11 February 2014

Dusty machines and forgotten belongings fill this abandoned silk mill, frozen in time since the last workers walked out more than 50 years ago.

They are the only signs of life at the once-successful mill and have remained untouched since the workforce downed tools for the final time back in 1957.

Photographer Darryl Moran paid the factory's current owner $75 to step back in time to give the world a rare glimpse inside the forgotten mill.

Business looked promising when Lonaconing Silk Mill, in Maryland opened in 1905 and its workforce grew to 300.

But by the 1950s, the small town enterprise's outdated machinery could not compete with larger facilities across the country. Its employee base dwindled and now serves only as a reminder of a lost era of manufacturing in the so-called Rustbelt.





Forgotten: An Underwood Sundstrand adding machine sits alongside an old lamp and a notice advising staff to enquire about the company's insurance benefits



Another calender showing July 1957 sits on the factory floor surrounded a discarded Camel cigarette packet. The factory closed its doors for the final time that month



It is clear that much of the paperwork in the abandoned factory has yellowed with age when contrasted with a modern day brochure advertising the historic site

 
Quote
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/11/article-0-1B61CB9300000578-340_470x704.jpg

Eerie: The image on the left shows a wooden trolley sitting in a lift, giving the impression it was left there by a worker only moments before. The reality, as the calender and dated objects in the picture on the right show, is the factory was abandoned back at the end of the summer in 1957



Make do and mend: This battered Pepsi drinks carton was clearly being used as a storage container when the factory shut its doors for the final time in 1957



An empty multipack carton for Coca-Cola bottles sits on a radiator alongside two bells and a forgotten pair of women's brogues in the Maryland factory



Health and safety: An old bucket containing sand hangs from the factory ceiling. The bucket was one of the only fire defences in the factory, despite rows of wooden machinery and workers being allowed to smoke on site



Needle and thread: Boxes of Rayon thread rest on an old Acme loom in the abandoned Maryland factory. It was once run by The Klotz Throwing Mill Company



A place of work: Rows and rows of empty looms dominate the factory floor. The mill was once a highly successful business, but by the time it closed in the 1950s this equipment was considered clunky and outdated



Out of time: Business looked promising when Lonaconing Silk Mill in Maryland opened in 1905 and its workforce grew to 300. But by the 1950s, the small town enterprise's outdated machinery could not compete with larger facilities across the country



A can of Esso motor oil sits on a homemade portable tool box. The rickety look of many of the items on the site make them seem even older than they actually are



Hygiene: A bottle sits on a sink in one of the factory's toilets. 50 years ago the mill would have been full of activity, with employees going about their daily tasks



The way they were: The archaic equipment on display provides a fascinating insight into the way the local clothing industry worked in the 1950s



The way it was: inside a similar silk mill in Buffalo, upstate New York, before World War One. Its mostly female workforce are shown in front of silk looms which they operated
�The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves.� G Washington July 2, 1776

Offline Chieftain

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ya wanna know what one of the big uses for silk was back in those days??  Here's a hint....it wasn't ladies' underwear....

No, silk was the material of choice to make powder bags for artillery and naval rifles, because silk bags burned completely and did not foul the bore of the gun or leave a lot of burning residue behind that could ignite the next charge.

 :patriot:

Offline PzLdr

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In the photo with the radiator and the lady's shoe, those aren't bells. They're oil cans.
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Offline EC

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Fascinating, thank you! I love old factories.
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Offline Bigun

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Fascinating, thank you! I love old factories.

A place time past by!
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline EC

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A place time past by!

I grew up near a mill town. There was one mill, been abandoned for decades. Only thing left of it was the power room - a massive steam engine on a small stream so it had constant water. Dad got involved in restoring it, so I spent a lot of time there!  :laugh:

I just love industrial archeology, especially places that were just shut down and left.
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Offline Bigun

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I grew up near a mill town. There was one mill, been abandoned for decades. Only thing left of it was the power room - a massive steam engine on a small stream so it had constant water. Dad got involved in restoring it, so I spent a lot of time there!  :laugh:

I just love industrial archeology, especially places that were just shut down and left.

I certainly understand! There are very few places on Earth where one can walk through a door back into 1957. This photo essay is of such a place!

I was fortunate enough to find such a place once myself way up in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southern Arizona. Mining claim monuments with the original filer's information still right there in the sealed Prince Albert tobacco cans!
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien