CHAD'S FACTORY VISIT - PENDLETON WOOLEN MILLS

For several years I had on my wish list a visit to the Pendleton Woolen Mills and this spring I finally had the change to see how those beautiful blankets are made in Pendleton, Oregon. 

The blankets are still made on the same location since 1909. During the factory tour you see all the different stages, from spinning the wool to making the blankets by the computorized weaving machines. And when the final check is done (as you see in one of the last pics) the blankets are ready to be cut in the right sizes.

The company’s roots began in 1863 when Thomas L. Kay made a transcontinental trek to the west coast and began working in Oregon's woolen mills. He went on to open his own woolen mill, the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill in Salem, Oregon. Kay was an immigrant from England and a weaver by trade. He had worked in various textile mills on the east coast of the United States. In 1909 the family moved to Pendleton in northeastern Oregon and took over the defunct Pendleton Woolen Mills. The town of Pendleton backed the family in their new business venture and the Bishops’ company also took over the name Pendleton Woolen Mills.

THE INDIAN TRADE BLANKET

Let’s begin at the beginning – what is an Indian trade blanket? Indian trade blankets are commercially woven wool blankets with striking geometric patterns. Trade blankets have long been an integral part of Native American culture. They’re used for clothing, bedding, warmth, ceremonial dances and gifts for important occasions.

The original Indian trade blankets were the multi-striped point blankets imported by the Hudson’s Bay Company from English woolen mills. From 1780 to 1890 the point blanket was a staple in every fur trader’s inventory and thousands upon thousands found their way into indigenous hands.

However, another weaving tradition began in the 18th century. The Navajo tribe of the American Southwest wove sheep’s wool into classic wearing blankets that became coveted trade items.

When the Indian Wars ended in 1890 the reservation system began. With all the tribes now wards of the United States government, federally licensed Indian trading posts were established. The Indian traders promptly invented a new textile – the Navajo rug. It was a much heavier textile than the traditional Navajo wearing blanket and designed specifically for the floors of non-Indian homes. The designs were based on the Oriental rugs popular in the eastern United States. From that time forward the Navajo ceased making wearing blankets and wove only rugs for sale through the white traders.

With the Navajos now exclusively weaving rugs, commercial woolen mill operators saw an opportunity to sell their machine-made blankets to the Indians and the result was Indians selling rugs to whites and whites selling Indian blankets to Native Americans – a practice that continues to this day. For over a hundred and ten years Indian blankets have been made for Indians, not by them!

Indian trade blankets are often referred to generically as Pendleton blankets. While Pendleton is the only pioneer Indian blanket manufacturer still in existence, there were many companies that made Indian blankets.

 If you want to know more about these beautiful blankets Barry Friedman (who wrote the above mentioned text) published 2 great books about these wool blankets called Chasing Rainbows and Still Chasing Rainbows another great book is called Language of the Robe written by Kapoun & Lohrmann.

WOOLRICH FLAGSHIP STORE NEW YORK

Woolrich opened it's first North American flagship store in New York, located at 125 Wooster Street in the Soho neighborhood. The two-level flagship carries men’s and women’s clothing and accessories but also the men’s collection of Woolrich Woolen Mills.

The Soho flagship is designed as a contemporary retrospective of the company’s 184-year history. Vintage items from the original Pennsylvania mill, including wool-production tools, swatch cards, catalogues and various garments from the historical Woolrich archive, decorate the space.

The 1,400-square foot ground floor features antique windows and furniture, recovered from an old hardware store, while the 500-square-foot basement level is designed as a contemporary “Woolrich Men’s Club” which will double as an event space.

The ground floor highlights the Woolrich John Rich & Bros. collection―notably, the full range of iconic Arctic Parkas which is finally available in the U.S., the basement level will house the brands’ made-in-America product, including blankets and bags and the Mark McNairy-designed Woolrich Woolen Mills collection.

ENGINEERED GARMENTS X WITH FARIBAULT WOOLEN MILLS

Since 1897, Faribault Woolen Mills has been making blankets for the military. The current iteration of their Foot Soldier Military Wool Blanket has been in use since about 1917, and was originally made to accommodate fluctuating temperatures in often-spartan cadet sleeping quarters. In addition to being permanently moth proofed, the fabric has the advantage of being machine washable and dryable, because anything good enough for the military should be tough, not precious.

Engineered Garments uses the Medic Green and U.S. Navy Gray Foot Soldier Military Wool Blankets as the base for their CPO shirts, which feature a Faribault Woolen Mills patch at the bottom and the corresponding blanket symbol behind the right pocket. Leather elbow patches and tonal buttons finish off the details.

CHAD GOES OUTDOORS IN AMSTERDAM

Recently, I paid a visit to the showrooms of Pendleton & Filson in Amsterdam. Tobias of Tobi's Agency welcomed me with some coffee and soon we talked about our passion, Americana. In the eighties he get this Americana virus, working in a (vintage) clothing store in Amsterdam and finally started in the 90's his import/agency with true American products like Pendleton, Filson and Dickies. As a passionate fly-fisher he knows what he can expect from a Filson product and this knowledge he transfer to his dealers. The showroom houses in an old warehouse of a former Amsterdam shipyard and still you can see the dry dock in front of the building. The main floor is reserved for the collections of Dickies, Armor Lux and Pendleton blankets and the mezzanine is filled with all kind of Filson bags, tin cloth pants, cruiser jackets, tin cloth hats and even fly fishing cases. Tobias, I'm looking forward to another cup of coffee.