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Four women and two children processing flax near Lake Sammamish, 1943
Four women and two children processing flax near Lake Sammamish, 1943
TitleFour women and two children processing flax near Lake Sammamish, 1943
PhotographerStaff Photographer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Date1943
CaptionDuring the summer of 1943, Mrs. Ole Pearson, who lived near Lake Sammamish, Washington, learned of an overgrown field of flax which had been rejected by a linen mill in nearby Monroe. She and some of her Swedish-American neighbors harvested part of the crop and processed it in the traditional manner used by their parents and grandparents. They then spun linen thread and wove it into tea towels.

In this photo, Regina Olson, Mrs. Ole Wicklund, Grace Gaudy and Mrs. Ole Pearson process flax in the Pearsons' back yard near Lake Sammamish. They crush the flax stems with wooden flax brakes to help separate the fiber from the rest of the plant material. Skeins of unspun linen fiber lie on the table and on the scale.
NotesWritten on sleeve: FLAX, Industry near Auburn

Caption by MOHAI staff.
< br>Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): 1943
SubjectsFlax--Washington (State)--Sammamish; Linen industry--Washington (State)--Sammamish; Women--Washington (State)--Sammamish
Personal NamesGaudy, Grace S.; Olson, Regina; Pearson, Katherine; Pearson, Mrs. Ole; Wicklund, Mrs. Ole
PlacesSammamish, Lake (Wash.); United States—Washington (State)--Sammamish
Digital CollectionMuseum of History & Industry Photograph Collection
Image Number1986.5.3320.5
Ordering InformationTo order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@mohai.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.
Credit LineSeattle Post-Intelligencer Photograph Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle; All Rights Reserved
RepositoryMuseum of History & Industry, Seattle (MOHAI).
Repository CollectionSeattle Post-Intelligencer Photograph Collection
TypeImage
Physical Description1 acetate negative: b&w; 4 x 5 in.
Digital Reproduction InformationScanned from film positive as 4350 pixel TIFF image in 16-bit grayscale, resized to 700 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop CS4.
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