Creation Date

1800s

Description

This loom was used by Emily Westberg Danielson of Cyrus, MN. It was hand made in the early 1880s. Emily was born in Sweden in 1865 and came to America in 1881. She settled in Sauk Center, where she met and married Peter M. Danielson. They moved to Cyrus in 1884 where Peter opened a blacksmith shop. They had 13 children. She passed away in 1935.The loom is a machine for weaving cloth. It consists of a wooden frame, various horizontal bars, and foot treadles which will alternately raise every other warp thread at the operators will for a shuttle to carry a yarn through. String - or "Warp" is wound around the warp beam at the back of the loom. Then it is threaded through the "Heddles" - the parallel guides at the center of the loom. The heddles are alternately raised and lowered by the foot treadles. Pressing one treadle raises alternate warp threads, while lowering the other threads. The other treadle does the opposite. When the warp threads are thus separated, the weaver can pass a shuttle between them. The shuttle carries the weft material that is woven into the warp threads. The reeds in the front of the loom keep the warp evenly spaced. This loom comes with a built in, removable bench. It is 23'" high x 33.25" wide. It was hand made in the early 1880s. There are no nails or screws in the original parts, but some repairs have been made over the years. It is held together by pegs and can be disassembled to take it through doorways.