Olmstead loom on display in the Brome County Historical Society’s Children Museum
Winter has arrived whether we like it or not. To highlight the changing of the seasons, we feature an object particularly suited to keeping the historic residents of Brome County warm during the winter: the Olmstead loom. The impressive loom, dated to the mid-nineteenth century and currently on display in the Brome County Historical Society’s Children Museum, belonged to the Olmstead family of Sutton. The Olmsteads would have used the loom to make clothes, prohibitively expensive if tailor-made, and bed coverings that were considered luxury items.
The history of the Eastern Townships is intricately linked to that of textile manufacturing. Indeed, American, English, and Scottish settlers all brought with them their own weaving traditions and fashions. Throughout the nineteenth century, men used looms as commercial weavers while women used looms kept at home to weave products for the family. Despite its impressive size, the Olmstead loom was not for commercial use and would have been used by the women in the family. Although their activities lacked the backing of commercial capital, the women of the Townships still wove a staggering amount of fabric every year. According to an estimate calculated by three historians of the Eastern Townships, domestic production of flannel, wool, and linen fabrics in the region amounted to over 280,000 meters a year.
The Olmstead family is of tremendous importance to the history of the Eastern Townships and to Brome County. They were among the first families to settle the territory that would become the Township of Sutton around the turn of the nineteenth century. Of particular importance to the BCHS was Frederick Albyn Olmstead Sr. (1862-1942) who, in addition to being the first mayor of the newly incorporated Village of Sutton as of 1896, was a founding member of the Society.
The loom is no longer being used to make textiles and warm bed coverings. But to help you fight off the cold, come and join us for warm company at the BCHS’S “Bring and Bid” evening on Saturday, December 1, 2018 in the Old County Courthouse in Knowlton. Please contact Arlene Royea at (450)-2436782 to find out more about the event and purchase tickets.