Weaving loom at St. Mary's Woolen Manufacturing Co.

Reverse reads in type: "IDENTIFICATION Weaving loom St. Mary's Woolen Mfg. Co. (blankets) LOCATION: St. Mary's CREDIT LINE: Mumm Romer Robbins & Pearson, Inc." Photograph shows what appears to be a Northrop power loom in St. Mary's Woolen Manufacturing Company. Ten inverted, cone-shaped spools of white wool sit on the floor in from of the loom. In the foreground stands a large support beam. The first power loom, a mechanized loom powered by a line shaft, was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. It was refined over the next 47 years until a design by Kenworthy and Bullough made the operation completely automatic. This was known as the Lancashire Loom. By 1850 there were 260,000 in operation in England. Fifty years later came the Northrop Loom that would replenish the shuttle when it was empty and this replaced the Lancashire loom. The primary components of the loom are the warp beam, heddles, harnesses, shuttle, reed and takeup roll. In the loom, yarn processing includes shedding, picking, battening and taking-up operations