780,000,000 Pairs of Stockings
This mis Hu* a |)|»ro\inuif <* output of Imslory
mills in North Carolina (luring
Пи*
past
year. Thr industry lias liad a remarkable
growth since its beginning in this state
about 60 years ago.
North Carolina’s production in 1950
of approximately 780.000.000 pairs of
all types of hosiery — forty per cent of
the nation’s entire output — would fur¬
nish one pair each to just about a
third of the world’s population of more
than 2,000.000,000 persons.
That almost astronomical figure of
sixty-five million dozen pairs probably
included enough sufficiently sheer
stockings to supply the glamour-gal de¬
mand for a long time. And that’s say¬
ing nothing about a sizable surplus to
sheathe the gams of millions of just
ordinary feminine wearers.
This outstanding achievement by an
industry which has become one of
North Carolina’s principal economic
bulwarks, reflects almost unbelievable
progress since the issuance in 1890 of
the first United States Census Bureau
report covering hosiery production in
this state.
Modest Beginning
That report showed only five Tar
Heel hosiery mills in operation. Those
plants were capitalized at $73,-
000, employed less than 200
workers, and their produc¬
tion was valued at only $127,-
000.
Available records indicate
that in 1950 about 53.000
workers were employed by
more than 430 hosiery mills
in the state, these operatives
earning between $75,000,-
000 and SI 00,000,000 annu¬
ally.
Authentic monetary valua¬
tions of North Carolina's hosi¬
ery production last year have
not been compiled. However,
unofficial estimates place the
figures at close to half a billion
dollars. In 1949. the entire tex¬
tile production of the state was
valued at ncarlv $2,000,000.-
000.
By IV. J. SAIM-l lt
The knitting of hosiery by ma¬
chinery is believed to be one of the
oldest mechanized manufacturing pro¬
cesses. Historical accounts say that the
first crude machine for that purpose
was invented in 1589, almost four cen¬
turies ago. by William Lee, a minister
of the Established Church of England.
It is related that Queen Elizabeth,
the “Good Queen Bess," refused to
allow the granting of a patent for the
machine. Although said to have "mar¬
velled at the perfection" of Lee's brain¬
child, she based her adverse decision
on the assumption that it would deprive
"so many hand-knitters of a means of
making a living."
Lee, however, was not easily dis¬
couraged at first, and added a
number of improvements to his inven¬
tion which, an authority asserts, re¬
sulted in one of his later knitters
"producing silk stockings almost as
fine as those made today."
France Welcomes Ins enter
King James, who succeeded Queen
Elizabeth upon her death, also con¬
tinued the ban against Lee's machines,
and the inventor finally moved to
France, where he was granted a pat¬
ent. and allowed to erect a small fac¬
tory.
But misfortune continued to follow
Lee. France's King Henry IV, who had
encouraged the inventor, was mur¬
dered. and the ruler's widow, who suc¬
ceeded to the throne, issued a
revocation order against the patent.
Embittered and disillusioned after
more than twenty-five years of disap¬
pointment and failure, Lee died short¬
ly afterwards. He was denied even the
privilege of being interred in his na¬
tive land, and now lies in an unmarked
French grave.
Following his death, Lee’s small
group of associates continued experi¬
mental efforts and added a number of
improvements to the original ideas of
the inventor. Within a few years, the
superior machines turned out by Lee's
successors revolutionized the English
knitting processes, and England be¬
came the world’s leading ma¬
chine-made hosiery producer.
Although authorities banned
exportation of the machines,
quantities of them were
smuggled out of Great Britain
and into other European coun¬
tries and America.
First Knitting Center
Germantown, Pennsylvania,
settled in 1689. is believed to
have been the original hosiery
knitting center in the United
States. It is not clearly indi¬
cated whether the product was
knitted by hand or machine,
but the first machine for that
purpose is thought to have
been used there in 1723.
That claim is denied by
other accounts, which assert
( Continued on page 29)
THC STATE. May 26. 1951
7
