Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0307Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a large crowd gathered to watch a group of people spin and weave on a loom. Above the image "T525 (Star)" is printed, below the image "12565 Spinning and Weaving Woolen Shawls, Srinagar, Kashmir, India." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company COPYRIGHTED Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
506 -(12565)
MANUFACTURING WOOLEN SHAWLS, SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA
Lat. 34 (Degrees) N.; Long. 75 (Degrees) E.
In this view you behold an ancient civilization. Some of our famous cholars believe that the cradle of the human race was somewhere in the valleys of the souther slopes of the Tibetan Platea. Some even place it along the Indus River, which is in the province of Kashmir, in the very section of the country here shown. At any rate, the trade in which these people are engaged is one of the ancient crafts.
On the mountain slopes of the province of Kashmir feed great herds of goats which are named after the country. They have long, silky hair, which, when woven into cloth, makes a soft garment extremely rich, very warm, and of unusually fine quality. The woman in the foreground is weaving goat hair into yarn. The spinning wheel she is usuing is simple and crude. You will note its likeness to the spinning wheels that our great-grandmothers used.
The processes by which these machines work are simple, but they are essentially the same as those used in all spinning. A layer of the cashmere threads, as you see, extend lengthwise up and down thorugh the loom. The crosswixe threads are beaten together by the suspended part of the loom directly in front of them. Most beautiful cloth is woven in these simple machines. The designs are very complex, and many of the pieces of cloth are elaborately colored.
The province of Kashmir is about the size of Kansas, and has a population of over 3,000,000. Its capital is the city of Srinagar. This was once a great shawl-weaving center, since a large part of cashmere hari was made inot shawls. The people are now largely engaged in weaving carpet and manufacturing leather and paper.
To what race do these people belong?
Copyright by The Keystone View Company.Collection
Photograph Collection