Introduction
Fabric is an often overlooked but essential part of human history. While we commonly refer to historical periods by the metals used, like the Bronze Age or Iron Age, textiles have played an equally important role in shaping civilization. In "The Golden Thread," Kassia St Clair explores how fabric has enabled human technological advancement and cultural expression throughout history.
This book takes readers on a journey through time, examining how different textiles have impacted various cultures and historical periods. From ancient Egyptian linen to modern synthetic fabrics, St Clair reveals the surprising ways in which fabric has influenced human progress, economics, and even space exploration.
Linen: The Fabric of Ancient Egypt
The Preservation of Textile History
Egypt's arid climate has been a boon for historians and archaeologists studying ancient textiles. While fabric typically deteriorates quickly in most environments, Egyptian conditions have preserved textiles dating back seven thousand years. This unique preservation allows us to gain insights into the role of fabric in one of the world's oldest civilizations.
Linen's Economic Importance
Linen was the dominant fabric in ancient Egypt, with archaeological evidence showing that it made up 85 percent of textile remnants found at sites like Amarna. Beyond its practical uses, linen held significant economic value. It was used as a form of currency, traded for goods and services, and collected as a store of wealth. This made linen a cornerstone of the Egyptian economy.
Practical Applications of Linen
The popularity of linen in Egypt was due in part to its practical benefits. As an excellent conductor of heat, linen feels cool against the skin – a highly desirable quality in Egypt's hot climate. It was commonly used to make clothing, bandages, and wrappings for various purposes.
Linen in Religious Practices
Linen played a crucial role in Egyptian religious rituals, particularly those involving secrecy and concealment. In temple shrines, priests would wrap cult statues in linen daily as part of their worship. This practice highlights the spiritual significance attributed to the fabric.
The Mummification Process
One of the most famous uses of linen in ancient Egypt was in the mummification process. Contrary to popular belief, the linen wrappings were not merely a covering for the body but an integral part of the ritual that gave mummies their sacred status.
The wrapping of mummies was a highly ritualized and secretive process. Priests, known as "masters of secrets," would purify themselves before beginning the intricate wrapping procedure. The process took place in a special room, emphasizing its importance and mystical nature.
Symbolic Layering
The wrapping process itself was imbued with symbolism. Priests would often try to layer the fabric in multiples of three and four, numbers that held special significance in Egyptian culture. They would also incorporate important objects like amulets between the layers of linen.
Personal Connection to Linen
Interestingly, people in ancient Egypt would often collect linen throughout their lives for use in their own burial. They preferred textiles that held personal significance, such as pieces woven by important individuals. For example, one of the linens used to wrap Ramses III was identified as having been woven by a high priest's daughter, likely chosen for its prestigious origin.
Transformation Through Wrapping
The process of embalming and wrapping a body was seen as a transformative act. It changed a deceased person into an object of spiritual significance, demonstrating the power of fabric to convey meaning beyond its practical uses.
Silk: The Fabric of Power in Ancient China
Economic Significance
In ancient Chinese culture, silk was more than just a luxurious fabric – it was a symbol of power and wealth. The silk industry was vast, with production facilities even found in royal palaces. Silk's value was so great that it was used as a form of currency. Historical records mention transactions where silk, along with other valuable items, was used to purchase slaves.
Silk as a Diplomatic Tool
The Chinese government recognized silk's potential as a strategic asset in international relations. In 198 BC, they established a trade agreement with the Xiongnu tribesmen, with whom they had been in conflict. By introducing silk and other luxury goods to the Xiongnu, the Chinese aimed to create economic and cultural dependence, thereby gaining a diplomatic advantage.
The Legend of Silk's Discovery
Chinese mythology attributes the discovery of silk production to Xiling, the wife of the legendary Yellow Emperor. According to the tale, a silkworm cocoon fell from a mulberry tree into Xiling's tea, dissolving to reveal the shimmering silk thread inside. This story highlights the association between silk production and women in Chinese culture.
The Silkworm Goddess
The connection between women and silk production was so strong that it gave rise to a silkworm goddess. This deity, often personified as Xiling, emerged during the Shang dynasty (1500-1050 BC) or earlier. The goddess's enduring importance is evidenced by the fact that she was still being worshipped by Shanghai factory workers in the nineteenth century.
Silk in Art and Literature
Silk's cultural significance extended beyond economics and religion into the realm of art and literature. The story of Sui Hui, a woman living in fourth-century AD China, illustrates this beautifully. Separated from her exiled husband and angered by his taking of a concubine, Sui Hui channeled her emotions into creating a remarkable work of art called Star Gauge.
Star Gauge was a reversible poem known as a hui-wen shih, embroidered onto a silk panel in a grid format. The arrangement allowed for multiple readings in various directions, yielding over three thousand distinct poems. This intricate and emotionally charged work demonstrates how silk could be used as a medium for complex artistic and literary expression.
Wool: The Secret Behind Viking Success
The Importance of Sails
While the Vikings are often remembered for their longships and violent raids, their success as traders and explorers was largely due to their mastery of sail technology. With sails, Vikings were able to travel vast distances, settling in new lands like Iceland and Greenland, and even reaching America centuries before Columbus.
The Unique Choice of Wool
Surprisingly, Viking sails were made from wool rather than the more common linen. At first glance, this seems counterintuitive. Wool is known for its warmth and ability to trap air, which would seem to make it a poor choice for catching wind. It's also highly water-absorbent and slow to dry – characteristics that appear ill-suited for ocean sailing.
Advantages of Old Norse Sheep Wool
The Vikings' choice of wool wasn't arbitrary. The wool from their Old Norse sheep had a high lanolin content, making it naturally water-repellent. This was just the starting point, however, for an extensive manufacturing process that turned this wool into highly effective sails.
The Labor-Intensive Production Process
Creating a woolen sail was a time-consuming endeavor that involved the entire community:
In midsummer, wool was carefully pulled (or "rooed") from sheep by hand, a process that took several people about 10 minutes per sheep.
In autumn and winter, families would work together to sort the wool for different types of yarn.
Women would then spin the wool and weave it into cloth.
Individual pieces of cloth were processed and sewn together to form the sail.
Finally, the sail underwent a two-stage treatment called smörring. First, it was brushed with a mixture of water, earth, and either horse fat or fish oil. Then, hot tallow or fir tar was rubbed in to smooth gaps between individual pieces.
The Result: Superior Sails
The end product of this lengthy process was a sail that was nearly impermeable to wind and could last 40 to 50 years. While each sail took about two and a half years of labor to produce, the investment paid off in the Vikings' ability to travel farther and faster than their contemporaries.
The Challenge of Extreme Cold: Clothing for Polar Exploration
The Perils of Cold for the Human Body
The tragic fate of Robert Falcon Scott and his team during their 1912 Antarctic expedition highlights the critical importance of proper clothing in extreme environments. The human body is poorly equipped to handle severe cold, and even small drops in internal temperature can have dire consequences.
As the body tries to maintain its core temperature, circulation to the extremities slows, leading to numbness in fingers and toes. Hypothermia sets in, causing fatigue, confusion, and impaired decision-making – all potentially fatal in a hostile environment like Antarctica. Frostbite occurs when body parts drop below freezing, forming ice crystals in skin and flesh.
Scott's Preparation
Scott wasn't ignorant of the need for adaptation to cold environments. He conducted experiments with his team's diets and clothing, regularly weighing them to monitor weight loss during short trips. Both Scott's British team and their Norwegian competitors wore cutting-edge Burberry gabardine suits, made from treated cotton fabric designed to be wind- and water-resistant.
The Critical Difference in Outer Layers
Where the British and Norwegian teams differed significantly was in their choice of outer layers. The Norwegians, drawing on knowledge gained from the Netsilik Inuits, added parkas and trousers made from reindeer or seal skin over their gabardine suits. This extra insulation was ideal for their mode of travel by dog sled, where they often sat still and didn't generate much body heat.
The British team, on the other hand, relied on man-hauling their sleds, which risked generating sweat and rapid breathing. In the extreme cold, this moisture could quickly turn to ice, making their clothing dangerously rigid and restrictive.
The Overlooked Solution: Down Insulation
Tragically, a potentially life-saving solution was available but overlooked. Both duck and goose down were known to be effective insulators. Australian mountaineer George Finch had even had an eiderdown suit made for himself. However, he was mocked by his peers in Alpine exploration, not for the suit's functionality, but for its appearance.
It seems that Scott rejected the use of down insulation, possibly due to its perceived "unheroic" appearance, opting instead for more familiar but less effective fabrics. This decision may have contributed to the fatal outcome of the expedition.
The Rise and Dangers of Synthetic Fabrics
The Development of Artificial Silk
In the late 19th century, scientists developed a new type of fabric from cellulose, which they called artificial or imitation silk. This material, later known as rayon, was typically made from wood pulp. The production process involved turning the wood pulp into a thick liquid called viscose using carbon disulfide (CS2), then treating it with acid to form rayon filaments.
Commercial Promise and Rapid Growth
Rayon quickly became popular due to its low cost and versatility. It could be woven with natural fibers to create affordable fabric blends. The highly mechanized and efficient production process, relying on strong chemicals, made it attractive to large multinational corporations. Between 1931 and 1936, rayon production in America increased by an astounding 80 percent.
The Nylon Revolution
Another synthetic fabric, nylon, developed by DuPont, revolutionized the women's hosiery market. In the 1930s, as hemlines rose, so did the demand for stockings. Silk stockings were expensive and high-maintenance, but nylon provided an affordable and practical alternative. When DuPont released four million pairs of nylon stockings in 1940, they sold out within 48 hours.
The Dominance of Synthetics
By 1970, synthetic fibers made up 58 percent of the fiber used in American textile mills. Today, synthetics comprise 60 percent of the global fabric market, with much of it going toward mass-market, disposable fast fashion.
The Dark Side of Synthetic Production
Despite their commercial success, the production of synthetic fabrics came with severe drawbacks:
Worker Safety: The production of rayon required absolute focus in harsh factory conditions. Workers were exposed to highly toxic carbon disulfide, which could cause irreversible damage even with limited exposure.
Forced Labor: As demand increased during wartime, some factories resorted to forced labor. Agnès Humbert, a Parisian art historian forced to work in a German factory, described horrific working conditions where chemicals ate through clothing and caused severe burns on workers' skin.
Environmental Impact: Synthetic fabric production is environmentally destructive. Polyester, for example, is derived from oil and releases microplastics into the environment. The wood pulp used for rayon production contributes to massive deforestation.
Clothing for Space: From Underwear to the Moon
The Need for Specialized Clothing in Space
When Neil Armstrong took his historic first step on the moon in 1969, few people considered the critical role his clothing played in making that moment possible. As humans venture beyond Earth's atmosphere, they require increasingly specialized clothing to protect them from the harsh conditions of space.
The Evolution of Space Suits
The development of space suits built upon earlier innovations in high-altitude flight suits. American girdle-maker David Clark's anti-g suits, for example, used pressurized vinyl-coated nylon bladders to protect pilots during high acceleration. However, the unique environment of space demanded even more advanced designs.
NASA's Collaboration with Playtex
For the Apollo 11 mission, NASA turned to an unexpected source for their space suits: the International Latex Company (ILC), better known as Playtex, a women's underwear company. This collaboration was initially met with reluctance from NASA due to the stark contrast in organizational cultures. NASA's scientific approach clashed with ILC's reliance on the craft and knowledge of experienced seamstresses.
The Advantages of Underwear Expertise
Despite the cultural differences, Playtex's experience in molding latex for bras and girdles proved invaluable in creating superior space suit prototypes. In the summer of 1965, ILC was given the responsibility of creating the Apollo 11 spacesuits.
Craftsmanship Meets Space Technology
The production of these suits resembled the making of girdles more than high-tech engineering. An all-female team of seamstresses, pattern-cutters, and makers used Singer sewing machines to hand-make each suit. Each suit comprised 4,000 different fabric pieces and 21 layers of material, requiring incredible precision to assemble. Some materials, like a mesh used to prevent the pressurized rubber from ballooning, were commonly used in Playtex bras.
Bridging the Cultural Divide
To satisfy NASA's desire for technical documentation, ILC had to hire a team of engineers to translate between their craftswomen and NASA's scientists. This resulted in extensive technical documents that the seamstresses never needed to reference, as their expertise was in the practical creation of the suits themselves.
The Final Product
The resulting spacesuits were marvels of engineering and craftsmanship, weighing 56 pounds and costing between $100,000 and $250,000 each. These suits, born from the unlikely marriage of underwear manufacturing and space technology, enabled humans to take their first steps on another world.
The Impact of High-Tech Fabrics on Sports
The LZR Racer Swimsuit Revolution
Just before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Speedo introduced the LZR Racer swimsuit, a full-body suit designed to reduce drag in the water. The suit was made from a blend of smooth, water-repellent synthetics, with seams joined by ultrasonic welding to minimize bulging. Despite feeling strange and paper-like on the skin, the suit's performance was undeniable. In just two months, swimmers wearing the LZR Racer broke 22 world records.
The Polyurethane Era
Following the success of the LZR Racer, the next generation of swimsuits were made entirely of polyurethane. These suits compressed swimmers' bodies even more effectively, preventing extra movement that created drag in the water. They also trapped small air pockets between the suit and skin, adding buoyancy. The impact was dramatic: in 2009 alone, 147 new swimming world records were set.
Controversy and Fairness Concerns
The rapid advancement in swimsuit technology sparked intense debate in the swimming community. Many saw the high-tech suits as equivalent to doping, providing an unfair advantage to those who could afford them. The suits benefited some body types more than others, further complicating the issue of fairness in competition.
The Biedermann vs. Phelps Incident
The controversy came to a head during the 2009 World Aquatics Championships when Germany's Paul Biedermann, not previously a top-ranked swimmer, beat American superstar Michael Phelps in an event. Phelps and others expressed outrage, bringing international attention to the issue.
FINA's Response
In response to the growing controversy, swimming's governing body FINA acted swiftly. Within six months of the Biedermann-Phelps incident, new rules were put into place banning the high-tech suits. However, the records set during the "tech suit era" were allowed to stand.
Lasting Impact and Continued Innovation
While the polyurethane suits were banned, their impact on swimming continued. By early 2018, only 13 of the records set during the tech suit era remained unbroken. The lessons learned from this period led to further innovations in swimwear design, with companies like Speedo developing new all-lycra suits with enhanced compression properties.
The Ongoing Role of Technology in Sports
The swimsuit controversy highlights the ongoing tension between technological advancement and maintaining the integrity of sport. As we've seen throughout history, humans continually strive to push the boundaries of performance, often through innovations in clothing and equipment. The challenge lies in balancing these advancements with the need for fair competition.
Conclusion: The Enduring Importance of Fabric in Human Achievement
As we've explored throughout "The Golden Thread," fabrics have played a crucial and often overlooked role in human history and achievement. From the linen wrappings of ancient Egyptian mummies to the high-tech spacesuits that allowed humans to walk on the moon, textiles have been integral to our ability to survive, thrive, and push the boundaries of what's possible.
Fabrics as Enablers of Human Ingenuity
Time and again, we've seen how innovations in fabric have allowed humans to overcome environmental challenges, express cultural values, and achieve feats previously thought impossible. The Vikings' woolen sails enabled them to explore vast distances, while the development of synthetic fabrics revolutionized both everyday clothing and specialized gear for extreme conditions.
The Intersection of Craft and Technology
The story of fabric is also a story of human skill and ingenuity. From the intricate wrapping techniques of ancient Egyptian priests to the precision sewing of spacesuit seamstresses, the creation of textiles has always required a unique blend of craftsmanship and technological know-how. Even as production methods have become more mechanized and scientifically advanced, the human element remains crucial.
Fabric as a Reflection of Society
Throughout history, fabrics have also served as a mirror of the societies that produced them. The economic importance of linen in ancient Egypt, the cultural significance of silk in China, and the global impact of synthetic fabrics in the modern era all reflect broader social, economic, and technological trends of their times.
Ongoing Challenges and Innovations
As we look to the future, the role of fabrics in human achievement continues to evolve. The development of smart textiles, sustainable materials, and ever more specialized performance fabrics promises to open up new possibilities. At the same time, we must grapple with the environmental and ethical challenges posed by fabric production, particularly in the age of fast fashion and synthetic materials.
The Golden Thread Continues
In conclusion, "The Golden Thread" reminds us that the fabrics we often take for granted are, in fact, a testament to human creativity, resilience, and ambition. From the clothes we wear every day to the specialized gear that allows us to explore the depths of the ocean or the surface of other planets, textiles continue to play a vital role in expanding the limits of human capability.
As we face new challenges and strive for further achievements, we can be certain that innovations in fabric will continue to be an essential part of our journey. The golden thread that connects our past achievements to our future potential is woven from the very fibers that have clothed, protected, and enabled us throughout history.