Preindustrial Yarn Winder

Object/Artifact

-

Windham Textile and History Museum

Winder, Front View.: The image depicts an antique yarn winder, placed in a room with wooden flooring and vintage decor. The yarn winder, made of wood, features a central spool with four extending arms, each arm designed to wrap and measure yarn. In the background, a spinning wheel is visible alongside various rustic furniture pieces and decor, including a red curtain filtering soft light into the room. The walls are adorned with warm colors, complementing the rich, dark tones of the wooden floor, creating an atmosphere that reflects a bygone era of craftsmanship and textile production.
Winder, Front View.

The image depicts an antique yarn winder, placed in a room with wooden flooring and vintage decor. The yarn winder, made of wood, features a central spool with four extending arms, each arm designed to wrap and measure yarn. In the background, a spinning wheel is visible alongside various rustic furniture pieces and decor, including a red curtain filtering soft light into the room. The walls are adorned with warm colors, complementing the rich, dark tones of the wooden floor, creating an atmosphere that reflects a bygone era of craftsmanship and textile production.

Name/Title

Preindustrial Yarn Winder

Entry/Object ID

2024.62.01

Description

Preindustrial click reel yarn skein winder. Late 1700s. Internal gearing turns a "pointer" hand on the side of the gear box that counts the number of revolutions, thus keeping track of the number of yards of yarn wound. Once around the reel is two yards. Constructed of hardwood and iron nails. More modern nails on the top of the gear box (along with damage to the gear box lid) indicate that the lid had been removed at some time in the past, most likely to repair or clean the gearing.

Use

Winding yarn into measured skeins.

Context

Before the Industrial Revolution, spinners wound spun yarn onto devices designed to measure it into skeins. There were several types of winders: niddy noddies, swifts, and reels. This winder is a click reel. According to Wikipedia: "A spinner's weasel or clock [or click] reel is a mechanical yarn-measuring device consisting of a spoked wheel with gears attached to a pointer on a marked face (which resembles a clock) and an internal mechanism that makes a "pop" [or "click"] sound after the desired length of yarn is measured (usually a skein). The pointer allows the spinner to see how close they are to reaching a skein. The weasel's gear ratio is typically 40 to 1, and the circumference of the reel is usually two yards, thus producing an 80-yard skein when the weasel pops (after 40 revolutions)." [The device is the origin of the nursery rhyme, "Pop Goes the Weasel."] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinner%27s_weasel.

Collection

General Collection

Made/Created

Time Period

18th Century

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Reel, Clock

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Winder, Yarn

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Textile Manufacturing Equipment

Nomenclature Class

Textileworking T&E

Nomenclature Category

Category 04: Tools & Equipment for Materials

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Height excludes reel (i.e., it is to the top of the gear box). Width is at base. Diameter is length of reel arms from tip to tip.

Height

29 in

Width

15-1/2 in

Diameter

26 in

Material

Wood, Iron

Location

Location

Exhibit Room

Thread Mill Square

* Untyped Location

Main Museum Building

Category

Exhibit

Date

November 21, 2024

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Date Examined

Nov 21, 2024

Examined By

Eves, J.

Cleanliness

Very dusty/dirty at time of delivery. Cleaned by staff with (1) mold remover (although there was no visible mold on the object) and (2) Murphy's Oil Soap and water.

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Belonged to the Davis/Taintor family of Hampton, CT, since it was made. Stored in an attic for the last century.

Created By

historian@millmuseum.org

Create Date

November 21, 2024

Updated By

historian@millmuseum.org

Update Date

November 23, 2024