Cotton Singer

Tends machine that singes nap or lint from cloth: Sews end of cloth to leader, using portable sewing machine, or threads end through machine rollers. Observes cloth to detect burning as cloth passes over heated plates, rollers, or gas flame, and through wetting-down equipment.

The history of cotton manufacturing in Britain begins in the early 1600s when British merchants began direct trade with India. Among the articles they brought home were printed cottons. These prints were works of art, dyed by a complex process which involved hand painting and several dye baths for each piece. They had colorful floral patterns and could stand any amount of washing. The English called them "chints," from the Hindu word chint, meaning "color."

Indian chintzes became all the rage. People used them for bed hangings, dresses, and furniture covers. Finally a law banned their importation because they cut into the woollen industry. Then English clothmakers produced imitations, using woodblocks for the printing.

The English spinners found it difficult to spin cotton on spinning wheels designed for wool or flax. On their handlooms, the weavers could not make cloth as wide as the Indian chintzes. Block printing seemed slow work to men who knew they could sell all the printed cloth they could make. English artisans, therefore, concentrated on devising faster ways to make cotton cloth and to print it. From their efforts came the inventions that started the Industrial Revolution.