COLOR FABRIC DYEING INFORMATION

COLOR FABRIC DYEING
INFORMATION

FABRIC DYEING SERVICE
Regional craft has been an integral part of a
city's culture and New York is no different. From
iconic food to exquisite jewelry, fashion to
finance, New York is a powerhouse of an
American city, dominating global markets and
setting the standard in style and design. Because
of its enormous influence on international fashion,
it's not surprising that New York also has a long
history of producing a wide spectrum of clothing
dyes.
Colors often taken for granted in the 21st century
were considered wonders a hundred years ago. In
fact, for most of civilization, clothing colors were
limited to plant-based colors such as drab
browns and watery grays. Only aristocrats were
able to afford bold colors such as carmine red
and royal purple, colors so expensive to import
from faraway lands that they immediately marked
the wearer as being of high station (hence the
reason royal purple really indicated the wearer as
being royalty). Dye was such a coveted
commodity that one of the principle assets Marco
Polo planned on exporting from his travels in
India was indigo, a deep blue color. Scientists,
eager to capitalize on peoples' desire for vivid
wardrobe colors, started developing synthetic
equivalents for animal and plant-based dyes,
allowing the beauty of color to be accessed by
everyone.
In 1857, a German chemist named Dr. August F.
W. Partz applied for two US patents for machines
used in his attempt to create magenta dye at his
Brooklyn plant. His efforts were unsuccessful, but
paved the way for the Holliday Chemical and
Color Company which produced magenta in three
shades: Empire Red, Keystone, and Bay State.
The Holliday business was located in Brooklyn,
NY, and was considered to set the standard for
the other major dye houses in the area. Some of
the largest dye houses located in New York City
included: The 12th Street Plant in South Brooklyn
had its own dock and rail system and produced a
bluish-green water-soluble indigo; The Beckers
Aniline and Chemical Works was the largest dye
manufacturing company in the United States and
was located in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Its owner was
one of the wealthiest industrialists in the era;
Zobel Color Works produced a wide range of
colors from methyl violet to sulfur black and was
located at 2nd Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn;
H. Kohnstamm and Company was located near
the lower tip of Manhattan and speciliazed in
high-class colors for automobiles; Williamsburg
Chemical Company located at 250 Morgan Ave,
Brooklyn, specialized in rich, sulfur black;
Commonwealth Color and Chemical Company
specialized in direct dyes for other fibers beside
cotton and was located on Nevins Street in
Brooklyn.
New York has a rich history of textile trade and
fabric dyeing which continues to this day. Among
the skyscrapers and throngs of pedestrians are
dye houses and fabric centers that provide
designers, manufacturers and hobbyists with a
constant supply of high-quality, vibrantly colored
textiles.