Browse Items (115 total)

Photograph of Serbian men posing with sacks of wool they had hidden from the Germans during WWI

American Indian woman wearing trade blanket

Soldier and woman in bathing suit walk on the beach. Caption "I'm conserving wool, this bathing suit's painted on."

Photographs (record shots only, not for print publication) of items from group of yarn skeins in Navy grey and Army khaki; and samples of items to be knitted for the armed forces by civilians: balaclava style hat, scarf, mittens, etc.

Photograph of men and women, possibly under guard, packing sacks with wool. German Official Photograph. August 1917. Wool is for delivery to Germany. Note on card: Bufa 4534. Roumania.

Photograph of display set up to instruct in ways to conserve wool and other textiles for the war effort. October 1918, Connecticut.

Photograph of group of men with wool sorting bins in front and mountains of raw wool behind. "Industries of War. Manufacturing woolen cloth for government, Steere Mill, Wansjuck Co. Wool sorting room"

Keystone stereograph of man sorting wool surrounded by baskets and boxes

Photograph of mountainous landscape with sheep scattered in foreground range with trees rising to mountains beyond.

Photograph of sheep's fleece

sample of Saxony superfine merino

Poster for co-operative work on Homefront to support soldiers at the front

Greatcoat button hole created with silk twist thread in a standard buttonhole (or blanket) stitch, over a laid thread, to produce a solid line around the slit opening. Good workmanship meant closely spaced, even stitches that kept the thick, heavy…

Photograph of male and female workers handling and cutting pattern pieces from sheepskins to make mackinaws, jerkins, and coats for the US Government during WWI. Taken at the Wyman Partridge Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota.. Cutting thousands of pelts…

Union infantry overcoat with shoulder cape and stand collar; made of new wool broadcloth, tightly woven in a plain weave, and heavily fulled (washed to prevent shrinkage and increase durability) with collar and brass buttons. This US Army Overcoat…

Standard US Army eagle button.
No letter appears on the shield to indicate a particular branch of service. The nap (brushed surface) of the woolen cloth has worn off with use and abrasion, revealing the warp and weft threads.

The stitching here is so even it almost looks like machine work, but is hand sewn. The double-layer, high standing collar protected a soldier from drafts, just as the elbow length cape added protection from wind and weather.

Bales of wool ready to be transported for manufacturing.
Getting wool to market from all parts of inland Australia where it was produced was never easy, especially before motorized transport

Photograph of tables filled with sheep’s fleeces at a wool show room in Sydney, Australia. Wool sales began to move to Australia from England in the later 19th century, when technology such as steam-powered ships and the telegraph enabled more rapid…

Spinning wool in factory

Classing sheep in yards

The 1926 standards distinguished 12 grades of wool by fiber diameter. By 1968 the U.S. classification had 16 grades, from Finer than grade 80s, down to Coarser than grade 36. This group of three samples shows the coarser, long staple grades. Notice…

The 1926 standards distinguished 12 grades of wool by fiber diameter. By 1968 the U.S. classification had 16 grades, from Finer than grade 80s, down to Coarser than grade 36. This group of three samples shows the medium grades.

Wool sample "Ewe Hogget" 1892
Haddon Rig, Warren NSW.

Samples from the US Quartermasters ‘Official Standards Box’. The 1926 standards distinguished 12 grades of wool by fiber diameter. By 1968 the U.S. classification had 16 grades, from finer than grade 80s, down to coarser than grade 36. This group of…

Folder of sample uniform fabrics: War Department, Office of Quartermaster General, Washington D.C. Whether in peace or war, the world’s military forces required cloth of many different weights (tropical, medium, and heavy), types (flannel for…

Wool Standards Box, 1946: US Department of Agriculture. Notice inside the cover of a large box that included Wool Grades 36&44, 56-60 and 64-80. Box top with signed certificate of standards, verifying samples of raw wool.
A sheep’s fleece could be…

Fragment of officer's tunic collar: 16 Battalion, AIF, Bloody Angle, Gallipoli. Remains of a proper right side Australian officer's tunic collar. Attached to it are a Rising Sun badge and three other badges.