Thrifty Finds - Vintage Wooden Cotton Reels and Their History

Happy Thursday Friends!

My children had their second Covid vaccine shots today which means we are all now fully vaccinated. I'm happy they are done too before they return to school in just over a weeks time. Did I mention how much I'm going to miss them? So much!

Today I'm sharing some old wooden cotton reels that I recently bought on Ebay. Another bag arrived the other day which aren't included here, but I will be sharing in some upcoming Christmas DIY posts. 😁

I am in love with the old labels. I did research some into the history of some of them and found out a bit of information.

 

 The Dewhurst Cotton company was started by Thomas Dewhurst in the latter part of 1789. In 1819 the brothers John and Isaac Dewhurst, sons of Thomas, also became involved in the business. Cotton thread was produced by John Dewhurst and Sons from the 1820's. Dewhurst’s became famous for their sewing cotton, marketed under the Dewhurst Sylko brand. 

 

The Skipton Mill on the right with the big chimney. 

The Old Mill has now been converted into apartments. 

I found a really cool site called Retrospectro that has a lot of information on dating Dewhurst Sylko cotton reels.  Seems I may have at least one very early one. Good to know that they didn't start making plastic reels till 1973 so the ones I have are at least close to 50 years old!

 

 

Coats and Clarks brand also have a very interesting history.

 

 CLARK

 

 

In 1755 James and Patrick Clark began a loom equipment and silk thread business.

 

In 1806, Patrick Clark invented a way of twisting strands of cotton together to substitute for silk that was unavailable due to the French blockade of Great Britain.

 

 He opened the first plant for manufacturing the cotton thread in 1812.

 

In 1812, brothers James and Patrick Clark, placed their first cotton sewing thread on the market in Scotland.

COATS

In 1802 James Coats set up his own weaving in Paisley. 

 

In 1826 he opened a cotton mill at Ferguslie to produce his own thread.

 

 

When he retired in 1830, his sons, James & Peter, took up the business under the name of J. & P. Coats.

 

COATS AND CLARK

 

While the J & P Coats and The Clark Thread Company remained independent companies, in 1931 a single president for both companies was elected in John B. Clark. 

Then in 1952, the companies merged into Coats & Clark Inc. In 1961 a merger with Patons and Baldwins created Coats Patons. In 1986 a merger with Vantona Viyella created Coats Viyella. 

 

In 2003 Guinness Peat took Coats private and in 2015 the business returned to the market as Coats Group.  To this day, the company continues to grow and evolve.

I hope you learned some history here cause I sure did! 😊

 

My ebay purchase also included some more old wooden dolly pegs to add to my collection. 😃 

I'm looking forward to sharing more fun finds soon!

Take care and stay safe!