Huxley, Charles A.

The company traces its founding to 1838 when the Northampton Silk Co. was established in Northampton, Mass. (Florence is a suburb of Northampton and was named in honor of the Italian city). The Nonotuck Steam Mills, a descendant of these previous efforts, was established in the late 1840's and in 1852 developed a machine twist silk suitable for use on the new sewing machine. After moving to several locations, it finally reorganized as the Nonotuck Silk Co. in 1855 and was incorporated in 1866. Original stockholders included E.W. Eaton, J.D. Atkins, Lucius Dimock, A.T. Lilly, S.L. Hill, S.L. Hinckley and Ira Dimock. By the 1870's, it was the largest company of its kind. In 1921, the company merged with Brainerd and Armstrong, and the next year the name was changed to the Corticelli Silk Co. At one time the company had mills in Florence, Leeds and Haydenville, Mass., and in Hartford, New London and Norwich, Conn., with offices in Boston and New York. This company then merged with Belding Heminway in 1932. The Belding Heminway Corticelli Co. and Belding Corticelli (Belding Heminway Co., Inc.) continued manufacturing with plants throughout the country, and with a decreasing emphasis on silk and a more diversified line including man-made fibers.

The word "Corticelli" ("corticelli" being an Italian word for high quality silk) was used for many of its products as well as one of its mills. "Nonotuck" and "Florence" were also used to describe a variety of manufactures. The company also developed a trademark kitten which was featured on its advertising. In addition to machine twist, Nonotuck/Corticelli manufactured sewing and spool silk, crochet, embroidery (filoselle), rope, etching and knitting silks, purse twist, and knit goods such as silk underwear, hosiery and mittens.

From the description of [Letter] 1912 January 24, Nonotuck Silk Company, Florence, Mass. / [from] Chas. A. Huxley. (American Textile History Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 50739053

The company traces its founding to 1838 when the Northampton Silk Co. was established in Northampton, Mass. (Florence is a suburb of Northampton and was named in honor of the Italian city). The Nonotuck Steam Mills, a descendant of these previous efforts, was established in the late 1840's and in 1852 developed a machine twist silk suitable for use on the new sewing machine. After moving to several locations, it finally reorganized as the Nonotuck Silk Co. in 1855 and was incorporated in 1866. Original stockholders included E.W. Eaton, J.D. Atkins, Lucius Dimock, A.T. Lilly, S.L. Hill, S.L. Hinckley and Ira Dimock. By the 1870's, it was the largest company of its kind. In 1921, the company merged with Brainerd and Armstrong, and the next year the name was changed to the Corticelli Silk Co. At one time the company had mills in Florence, Leeds and Haydenville, Mass., and in Hartford, New London and Norwich, Conn., with offices in Boston and New York. This company then merged with Belding Heminway in 1932. The Belding Heminway Corticelli Co. and Belding Corticelli (Belding Heminway Co., Inc.) continued manufacturing with plants throughout the country, and with a decreasing emphasis on silk and a more diversified line including man-made fibers.

The word "Corticelli" ("corticelli" being an Italian word for high quality silk) was used for many of its products as well as one of its mills. "Nonotuck" and "Florence" were also used to describe a variety of manufactures. The company also developed a trademark kitten which was featured on its advertising. In addition to machine twist, Nonotuck/Corticelli manufactured sewing and spool silk, crochet, embroidery (filoselle), rope, etching and knitting silks, purse twist, and knit goods such as silk underwear, hosiery and mittens.

From the description of [Letter] 1907 March 16, Nonotuck Silk Company, Florence, Mass. / [from] Chas. A. Huxley. (American Textile History Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 50739054