Past & Present: The Spinning-Machine (colour litho)

The Spinning-Machine. Spinning-Wheel. The distaff was the earliest appliance for twisting fibres into a thread which was then wound on a bobbin. Both operations were performed simultaneously by means of the spinning-wheel, introduced in the 16th century from the Continent. Modern Spinning Machinery. The spinning or "bobbing-wheel" remained in general use until the end of the 18th century. The inventions of Paul (1738), Hargreaves (1764-67), Arkwright (1769-75) and Crompton (1774-79), and the improvements of their successors produced the elaborate and efficient spinning machinery with which the mills of Lancashire are now equipped. Illustration for one of a set of cigarette cards on the subject of Past & Present issued by Wills in 1929.