Harold J. Walter, born in Colorado 1901, died in 1962 in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, was an American textile manufacturer.
Harold John Walter was born and raised in Colorado. He grew up in Colorado and graduated from the University of Colorado in 1923, at the age of 21. He went to work in the textile industry and rose to become a well known industrialist and entrepreneur, known for research in the manufacturing of textiles. He rose to be the CEO of the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, headquartered in the town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
Walter modestly credited his success in an article in Time Magazine to "marrying the boss's daughter". Charles Arthur Root, a local industrialized who had founded the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company was his father-in-law. Harold later became the President of the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company. At its peak it was one of the most successful textile companies in America. The company had thirteen plants nationwide, with 6000 workers, and in four states, and was written up in Time Magazine in August 1953 in an article entitled "the Pride of Uxbridge". The Bachman Uxbridge Worsted company was a pioneer in blending synthetics with woolen manufacturing. The company boasted 75% percent increases in productivity with a variety of processes including air conditioned plants. Their proprietary processes produced material that led the U.S. in women's wear in the 1950s. The company had a long history of producing military uniforms, and produced the dress uniforms for the U.S. Army and "the first U.S. Air Force Uniform". They developed highly productive processes for making yarn. See also the articles on Colonel John Capron, Bernat Mill, and Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
The mill was featured in the August 24, 1953 edition of Time Magazine, in an article entitled, "The Pride of Uxbridge" [1] as the site of the Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, which was then one of the most successful textile mills in New England. [1] Research into textiles at Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company produced a range of blended fabrics, including the "wool-nylon serge" used for army uniforms. The original U.S. Air Force Uniform produced at the factory was dubbed and patented "Uxbridge Blue" or "Uxbridge 1683", after blue dye color selected at Bachman Uxbridge. This dye was used in the manufacture of uniforms from 1947. [2]
Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located 36 mi (58 km) southwest of Boston and 15 mi (24 km) south-southeast of Worcester, at the midpoint of the Blackstone Valley National Historic Park. Uxbridge was a prominent Textile center in the American Industrial Revolution. Two local Quakers served as national leaders in the American anti-slavery movement. Uxbridge "weaves a tapestry of early America".
Worsted is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, formed a manufacturing centre for yarn and cloth in the 12th century, when pasture enclosure and liming rendered the East Anglian soil too rich for the older agrarian sheep breeds. In the same period, many weavers from the County of Flanders moved to Norfolk. "Worsted" yarns/fabrics are distinct from woollens : the former is considered stronger, finer, smoother, and harder than the latter.
Service dress uniform is the informal type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday office, barracks and non-field duty purposes. It frequently consists of a jacket, trousers, white dress shirt, and neck tie, sometimes for ceremonial occasions along with orders and medals insignia. Design may depend on regiment or service branch, e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc. In Western dress codes, service dress uniform is a permitted supplementary alternative equivalent to the civilian suit - sometimes collectively called undress or "dress clothes". As such, service dress uniform is considered less formal than both full dress uniform and mess dress uniform, but more formal than casual wear combat uniform.
International Textile Group (ITG) is a diversified American fabric maker based in Beverly Hills, California. The company was founded in Greensboro, North Carolina by Wilbur Ross and was sold to Platinum Equity in 2016, leading to its move from Greensboro to Beverly Hills.
The American Woolen Company is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of men’s and women’s worsted and woolen fabrics. Based in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, the company operates from the 160-year-old Warren Mills, which it acquired from Loro Piana SpA in June 2014.
The Bernat Mill, also known as Capron Mill, and later Bachman Uxbridge Worsted Company, was an American yarn mill in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, that was for the most part destroyed by fire on July 21, 2007.
Daniel Day was an American pioneer in woolen manufacturing.
John Willard Capron was an American military officer in the infantry, state legislator, and textile manufacturer.
Luke Taft was an industrial pioneer in the manufacture of woolens in 19th century New England.
Moses Taft 2nd was born at Uxbridge, Massachusetts. He was significant as an early American Industrialist and financier in the historic Blackstone Valley, and a member of the famous Taft family.
Linwood is a village with its own post office in the towns of Northbridge and Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
Wheelockville is a village in the town (township) of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the village centering on Mendon and Henry streets is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wheelockville Historic District. Wheelockville appears on the Blackstone U.S. Geological Survey Map. The Village receives municipal services from Uxbridge, for fire, police, EMS, School district, public works, and other services. Worcester's Judicial District includes Uxbridge District Court. The geography of Wheelockville includes several other distinct mill villages, including: Hecla and Elmdale.
Ironstone is an historic village,, in the township of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, United States. It derived its name from plentiful bog iron found here which helped Uxbridge to become a center for three iron forges in the town's earliest settlement. South Uxbridge has historic sites, picturesque weddings, hospitality, industrial and distribution centers, and the new Uxbridge High School. This community borders North Smithfield, and Burrillville, Rhode Island, and Millville, Massachusetts. South Uxbridge receives municipal services from Uxbridge, for fire, police, EMS, School district, public works, and other services. There is a South Uxbridge fire station of the Uxbridge fire department. Worcester's Judicial District includes Uxbridge District Court. Ironstone appears on the Blackstone U.S. Geological Survey Map. Worcester County is in the Eastern time zone and observes DST.
The Waucantuck Mill Complex was a mill complex in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Despite its 2010 demolition, it is still listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The original Luke Taft Mill, built in 1824, on the West River was very close to the present site of the Waucatuck Mill complex. The Waucantuck complex was planned for a condominium and retail complex, underway in 2009. Both are very close to and virtually part of the Wheelockville District, where the Stanley Woolen Mill was built in 1852. Wash and wear fabrics were first developed at this mill in the 20th century. Products were produced under the name of "Indian Head". In the 1960s the former holdings of American Woolen Company were eventually acquired by a company by that name in Uxbridge, MA. Originally the Uxbridge Worsted Company had proposed a buyout of American Woolen to become America's largest woolen conglomerate. The Town of Uxbridge was synonymous with the textile industry and its earliest and later developments.
The history of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1727, may be divided into its prehistory, its colonial history and its modern industrial history. Uxbridge is located on the Massachusetts-Rhode Island state line, and became a center of the earliest industrialized region in the United States.
Stanley Woolen Mill is the common historic name applied to a defunct company based in southeastern Massachusetts and to the company's buildings which stand at the southern entrance to the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. The mill is an important footnote in the history of the textile industry in America. Stanley Woolen Mill is the centerpiece of the Central Woolen Mills District which is part of the National Historic Register.
Pranker Mills, also known as the Iroquois Mills, is a former American textile mill located in Saugus, Massachusetts that was in operation from 1822 to 1915.
Kraemer Textiles Inc. is a privately held American yarn manufacturing company founded in 1887, based in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. It produces its own handicraft yarns under the Kraemer Yarns brand, and spins natural and manmade fibers for carpets, industrial use, and home furnishings. It was one of the companies partnered with the Ralph Lauren Corporation to produce the distinctive outerwear for the 2014 Winter Olympics team representing the United States.
Scouring is a preparatory treatment of certain textile materials. Scouring removes soluble and insoluble impurities found in textiles as natural, added and adventitious impurities, for example, oils, waxes, fats, vegetable matter, as well as dirt. Removing these contaminants through scouring prepares the textiles for subsequent processes such as bleaching and dyeing. Though a general term, "scouring" is most often used for wool. In cotton, it is synonymously called "boiling out," and in silk, and "boiling off."