Yarn Sample Color Cabinet

Maker A. and M. Karagheusian

PeriodCirca 1920 - 1940

Place MadeFreehold, New Jersey, U.S.A.

MediumPine, steel, cardboard, wool yarn tufts

Dimensions40.75 × 28.25 × 8.88 in. (103.5 × 71.8 × 22.5 cm)

ClassificationsA. & M. Karagheusian Rug Mill Collection

Credit LineGift of Miss Marian Curley, 1987

Object number1987.9.1

DescriptionA yarn color sample cabinet of dark reddish-stained pine, with a pair of simple panel doors with a central steel spring knob latch. A decorative cornice runs along the top front and sides of the cabinet, with narrow cove molding along the bottom front and sides. A pair of steel straps are screwed into the cabinet back along the top edge allowing the cabinet to be wall-hung. The interior of the cabinet is fitted with 1/4" thick pegboard. Each hole holds a narrow cardboard tube (each approximately 1/4" diameter and 4 1/4" long) wrapped around various colored tufts of wool yarn. Colors range through the entire spectrum: yellows, red, oranges, pinks, blues, greens, browns and tans, purples, and so on. A total of 1,305 samples are displayed. Virtually all of the cardboard tubes have handwritten notations regarding color dye lots, types of yarn, and other distinguishing properties. For example, one tube bears the notations "3649 new standard / Mar. 1927."
Curatorial RemarksArmenian brothers Arshag and Miran Karahgeusian purchased the old Rothschild Shirt Factory on Jackson Street in Freehold, Monmouth County, N.J. in 1904 and by 1906 had opened a carpet weaving business. By the late 1920s, with the introduction of their "Gulistan" carpet line, A. & M. Karagheusian, Inc. was the second largest privately-held carpet company in the world. At its peak, the company employed 1,700 men and women. During World War II, the factory converted to wartime production, weaving a type of cotton canvas known as duck cloth, used for tank covers, bags, tents, and other military needs. After the war, new technology, union troubles, and an obsolete factory complex resulted in the company closing its Freehold factory in 1961 and moving south to Georgia and North Carolina.NotesThis color board sample cabinet was made and used in the Dye Department of the A. & M. Karagheusian Rug Mill located on Jackson Street in Freehold, N.J. Donor Marion Curley and her extended family were all part of the close-knit Rug Mill employee network. Her father, John J. Curley (1856 - 1936) was a lifelong Freehold resident. He worked in the Dye Department of the Rug Mill for many years up until a week before his death at the age of 80. Marion Curley's sister, Florence Curley, married Everett Woolfenden (1895 - 1961). Several Woolfenden family members also worked in the rug mill. Both Everett and his father Jesse B. Woolfenden (1866 - 1957) worked in the Dye Department and, both serving as Department superintendents. Many of the Rug Mill's employees worked there for decades, and it was not uncommon for fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, and extended family members to work side-by-side daily in the Freehold mill complex. The Mill's newsletter often featured articles on these family connections.

Collections