INVENTOR OF THE COLLAR

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 48, 25 August 1923, Page 14

INVENTOR OF THE COLLAR

{A INGENUITY.-

JThe eyoln<ion of tha collar through-the Stages oL r 'AufM"r l Xandt'-cravats" .is^an interesimg iista^iSk P^tf a4pxicallyi":''"too, ■we. owe* It£e^inlarbd'aoTOn"' oJ"tB«™ separate' Hrien collar not';to—anyone with the textile industry. Juei as' we owe the linen spinning frame! to' iTmaker ! ol£ spectacles, the .shuttle to a watohnpiker, and. t tliß Vjoni to a barber^ the ■firifc linen collar"wa«--made>by the-wife of.^a blaoEsmlth in Troy, New. York from.inventing, .-:thiß -;^oman did- - the, family -washing" (says t'linen"). She" foun& itKifc -*tne' collar-*ablled" much' ihor e" quickly than the rest of the shirt; so she? devised a -removable collax^'Khich"! could be replaced by anc^er^attached I to the same ehtrt. At'finrt; eheTsa.de collars only for her.°husb¥nd's shirjt!3. Thei she began^inaking^ttiem to'/sell 1 outside of Her .home^^ ;;The/ionpvation attracted the attention of "ffie^Eev. Ebe-' nez'er Brown,, a 'retSfed mlniStrer,;anilie;; with the aid %t tthevw^ikienfeUi of hisfamily, went about "seying^-collars. This was in 1329. Att'therWork on these early collars waa done by hanc£ for the sewingmafihine hTad;.iiot,yet been^inventedr In those days not more than a dozen collars a day were sold: Their name, "string .colfi-rsj"-'' was 'especially appropriate, for they were': tied ■ around-the; neck with a string of tape attached'to each end of the-i collar. Except. for the. bands,, the first' separate. ..collars were 'generally-, al} linen,' and\",of iwp ,'thicknessea. As' a matter... of; fact, the T linen was actually | woven"'lif*■tfie'" tym£ed*"S'tates''in"*those' days^-^hen.j-almqsb-every;^farmer grew I iis_ own fiefl of : _flax and prepared the fibref'"which~-the-family; spun and woveinto the household linens. Even in dress fabrics, the celebrated,,"linsey-woolsey," niade from flax and wool, was the stylish, material before cotton came into use, about 1830. These primitive collars ,v?ere ' highly starched, :and'^had*"high points,.- extending.,. abqve the chin on either side;*; spmewhat' akin to ti^e col--lars whicfi have-b'eeh so long associated, .with all portraits..-of,- T W._E i ...Gladstone itf! more recent yjßarsri^;;;;^.";:^.;;;:' - ■•' jSo much for the evolution of the linen collar; and so: .greatly did the wearing extend that, it was estimated, a few years ago that.there..were in Ireland atout 60' sljirt arid collar factories in Londonderry, Coleraine, Belfast, "and other towns, engaging .an aggregate of between 10,000 and 15,000, workers.-.' [' "