Durham Hosiery Mill

Durham Hosiery Mill

circa 1953

Looping department on the second floor of Durham Silk Hosiery Mill. The man in the picture is Loftin C. Buchanan (“Buck” Buchanan), a “fixer”—the person who maintained the machines. The loopers pictured, including some Black workers, received one stocking at a time rolled up in a long string. (If it were ironed out, it would be flat, since it had no seams yet). The loopers put the stitches at the toe end on a round wheel of needles, and the machine knit the toe seam, joining it front to back. It then went to seamers to do a seam up the back. Stockings with a seam up the back were called “full-fashioned." The building was located at the corner of Corcoran and Ramseur streets on the former site of the Hotel Carrolina.

Item description, identifier (if applicable), Box and Folder information. Durham historical photograph collection (NCC.0055). North Carolina Collection, Durham County Library, NC.

North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

image

https://repository.durhamcountylibrary.org/islandora/object/durham%3A17495/