Rugs of 19 century

In 1860, Halcyon Skinner at the Alexander Smith mill in Yonkers, New York, produced the first power loom for machine-made Axminster carpet.

It was developed from the French moquette loom. This "machine with a thousand fingers" made it possible to use an unlimited number of colors.

And now in modern times, electric power has replaced steam.

With lowered labor costs, more and more people could afford coverings for their floors, and as the nation grew, the industry grew with it. In 1810, 9,984 yards of "carpet and coverlid" were produced in the United States.

In 1941, according to figures com­piled by the U.S. Department of Commerce, 70 million yards of machine-made wool pile carpet came from American mills.