These antique fabric samples from the turn of the century are bright & colorful

1900s, Vintage beauty & fashion, Vintage clothing

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Here are samples of 37 different antique fabrics that were in production in 1902. These all come from the industry manual, “The mordant dyestuffs of the farbenfabriken vorm. Friedr. Bayer & Co., Elberfeld, and their application to printing and dyeing.”

The samples were from a German chemical manufacturer of dyes, etc. that soon thereafter became best known for one of their very different commercial chemicals: Aspirin.

The company is Bayer, known around the globe still today. (As an interesting side note, “Heroin” was a Bayer invention, and they held the trademark until World War I. It was marketed as a cough suppressant.)

Assorted vintage prints and patterns

Cotton prints — chrome mordant colors, slop padded and discharged with oxidizing agents

Vertical patterned fabric with dots

Cotton printing — chrome mordant dyestuffs, slop padded, printed and discharged with oxidizing agents

Multicolored floral patterns

Cotton printed fabric — alizarine red and aniline black ground, slop padded with benzidine colors

Small patterns & stripes

Mordant colors and benzidine colors on cotton fabric

Vintage fabric patterns

Cotton printing on fabric — alumina mordant dyestuffs discharged with oxidizing agents or with citric acid

Thanks to the NY Public Library archive

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