A History of Tufted Rugs

Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

Timeline

All 398 dated objects, patents, archives and findings in the research, from Egyptian tapestry to the robot studio. Choose a theme to follow one thread.

Before 1800

Pile by hand, pile by loom

Most ways of making a rug are ancient: felt, and tapestry weaving (linen from the tomb of Thutmose IV, Egypt, about 1480 BCE), and knotted pile, whose oldest surviving example, the Pazyryk carpet from the Altai, dates to the 5th–4th century BCE. This era also…

  1. 1483 BCE

    Earliest tapestry weave: linen fragments from the tomb of Thutmose IV, Egypt (c. 1483–1400 BCE)

    Egyptian Museum, Cairo (CG 46526, per V&A) · Thebes (Valley of the Kings) · Chapter 1
  2. 500 BCE

    Felt: fibres matted together with heat, moisture and friction rather than woven

    Central Asia (origin unknown) · Chapter 1
  3. 500 BCE

    Knot types: symmetric (Turkish/Ghiordes) and asymmetric (Persian/Senneh)

    Anatolia, Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia · Chapter 1
  4. 500 BCE

    Pazyryk felt appliqué hangings and furnishings (Altai burial mounds)

    State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg · Pazyryk valley, Altai Mountains · Chapter 1
  5. 500 BCE

    The Pazyryk carpet: oldest known hand-knotted pile carpet (5th–4th century BCE)

    State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg · Barrow 5, Pazyryk valley, Altai Mountains; excavated by Sergei Rudenko, 1949 · Chapter 1
  6. 1415

    Single-warp 'Spanish' knot: armorial carpet, 1415–1458 (Textile Museum R44.4.1)

    The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum · Spain (Alcaraz?) · Chapter 1
  7. 1600

    Kilim in slit tapestry, 17th century (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco 1988.11.561)

    Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Collection) · Anatolia (per collection grouping) · Chapter 1
  8. 1600

    Navajo (Diné) weaving: tapestry on the upright loom, from wearing blankets (1600s–) to floor rugs (1880s–1920)

    Diné (Navajo) weavers; traders J. L. Hubbell (Ganado) and J. B. Moore (Crystal) · Navajo country, Arizona and New Mexico · Chapter 1
  9. 1615–27

    Savonnerie, Paris: Dupont's workshop (1615) and the 1627 royal monopoly with Lourdet for knotted 'Turkish-manner' carpets

    Pierre Dupont; Simon Lourdet · Louvre and Chaillot, Paris · Chapter 3
  10. 1680

    Grande Galerie carpet with landscapes (Savonnerie, after Charles Le Brun), 1680

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Paris · Chapter 3
  11. 1688–04

    Nabeshima dantsu: a domain monopoly banned from public sale

  12. 1699

    1699: Wilton's clothiers and weavers seek a charter to restrict the weaving trade (cloth, not yet carpet)

    Wilton, Wiltshire · Chapter 3
  13. 1700

    18th-century British Floor Coverings

    Heather Tetley
  14. 1700

    Bedcover fragment

    Winterthur Museum · England or United States
  15. 1700

    Swedish rölakan (röllakan): interlocked double-faced tapestry weave, documented from the 18th century

    Skåne and Småland (traditional attribution)
  16. 1700

    Venetian carpet: striped, worsted-warp flat carpet for stairs and passages

    · Chapter 3
  17. 1721–41

    The Earl of Pembroke's French weavers at Wilton: 1721 or 1741? (and the 'wine cask' story)

    9th Earl of Pembroke (Henry Herbert); weavers named as Anthony Defussy/Dufossy/Defosse and Peter Jemaule · Wilton, Wiltshire · Chapter 3
  18. 1725

    From draw-loom and drawboy to Jacquard (1804–05): pattern control on carpet looms, adopted at Kidderminster by 1825

    Joseph-Marie Jacquard; Basile Bouchon (1725) · Lyon; Kidderminster · Chapter 3
  19. 1728

    'Scotch' carpet in Kilmarnock (from 1728?): pileless double cloth, much of it sold to Holland

    Maria Gardiner (per Undiscovered Scotland) · Kilmarnock, Ayrshire · Chapter 3
  20. 1735

    Kidderminster begins weaving flat, double-cloth 'Kidderminster' (ingrain) carpet in 1735

    John Pearsall (credited by local history) · Kidderminster, Worcestershire · Chapter 3
  21. 1740

    Brussels carpet: looped wool pile raised over steel wires on the loom

    Brussels region (origin uncertain); Wilton; Kidderminster · Chapter 1
  22. 1741

    1741 patent to Couran, Barford and Moody for carpet 'Moccadoes', the first written evidence of Wilton carpet

    Ignatius Couran (London merchant), John Barford (Wilton upholder), William Moody (Wilton clothier) · Wilton, Wiltshire · Chapter 3
  23. 1741

    How cutting the loops made Wilton: the bladed or grooved wire and the 'travat' knife

    Wilton, Wiltshire · Chapter 3
  24. 1741

    Wilton: Huguenot weavers (1720s) and the first Wilton loom (1741)

    · Chapter 1
  25. 1749

    1749: Brussels looms reach Kidderminster (John Broom and John Pearsall) and the town makes carpets 'the same as Wilton'

    John Broom; John Pearsall · Kidderminster, Worcestershire · Chapter 3
  26. 1750

    Brussels and Wilton carpet reached America in the 1750s; Americans favoured Wilton

    · Chapter 3
  27. 1750–56

    Peter Parisot's Fulham carpet manufactory (1750/1753–55): Savonnerie weavers in London

    Peter (Pierre) Parisot · Paddington and Fulham, London; then Exeter · Chapter 3
  28. 1753

    Brussels carpet sample woven in 1980 after a design by Anna Maria Garthwaite dated 1753

    Victoria and Albert Museum · England
  29. 1755

    Thomas Whitty finishes his first hand-knotted carpet at Axminster on Midsummer Day 1755

    Thomas Whitty (b. 1716) · Axminster, Devon · Chapter 3
  30. 1756–61

    Claude Passavant's Exeter carpet manufactory (1756–1761): costly knotted carpets, three survivors

    Claude Passavant · Exeter, Devon · Chapter 3
  31. 1757–59

    Society of Arts carpet premiums, 1757–59: Moore and Whitty share 1757; Whitty wins outright in 1759

    Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (now RSA) · London · Chapter 3
  32. 1757

    Thomas Moore's Moorfields manufactory: knotted carpets for Robert Adam (Osterley)

    Thomas Moore · Moorfields, London · Chapter 3
  33. 1760–70

    Axminster carpet attributed to Thomas Whitty, ca. 1765 (Met 2025.725)

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Axminster, Devon · Chapter 1
  34. 1764–70

    Scotch carpets at Stirling: Thomas Gilfillan's cash book and ledger, 1764–1770 (and Axminster manufacture in Edinburgh)

    Vanessa Habib · Stirling and Edinburgh · Chapter 3
  35. 1775–90

    By the late 18th century most middle-class American houses had cheap 'Scotch' carpeting (Lear letter, 1790)

    Philadelphia and New York · Chapter 3
  36. 1778

    Bed rug (bedcover) inscribed "Mary Foot AD 1778"

    Winterthur Museum · Connecticut (probably) · Chapter 2
  37. 1778

    Bed rug marked "E.F."

    Connecticut Historical Society · Chapter 2
  38. 1778

    Blue-and-white bed rug (unmarked)

    Historic Deerfield · Chapter 2
  39. 1780–90

    Axminster carpet, probably Thomas Whitty, c. 1780–90

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Axminster, Devon · Chapter 3
  40. 1791

    American carpet weaving: Sprague's knotted carpets (1791), then ingrain mills at Tariffville (1825) and Thompsonville (1828)

    Philadelphia; Simsbury and Enfield, Connecticut · Chapter 3
1800–1879

Candlewick, hooked rugs and the power loom

Candlewick bedspreads (cotton roving tufted into cotton cloth, many dated 1800s–1820s) are the direct ancestor of the Dalton bedspread, and hooked rugs spread through American homes (from the 1840s, on cheap burlap from the 1850s), alongside braided, rag,…

  1. 1800

    Christie's sale catalogue of 150 lots of Brussels, Wilton, Venetian and Kidderminster carpets, 30 May 1800

    New York Public Library (microfilm) · London · Chapter 3
  2. 1800

    Concentric Circles Candlewick Spread

    American Folk Art Museum
  3. 1800

    Navajo First Phase chief's-style blanket, c. 1800–1850 (Arizona State Museum E-1200)

    Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona · Navajo country
  4. 1800

    Rug

    Winterthur Museum
  5. 1800–20

    Yarn-sewn hearth rug, 1800–1820 (Connecticut Historical Society 2010.409.0)

    Connecticut Historical Society · Wethersfield, Connecticut (family tradition) · Chapter 2
  6. 1801

    Bed rug marked "Esther Packard 1801"

    Historic Deerfield · Cummington, Massachusetts (possibly) · Chapter 2
  7. 1803–17

    Early nineteenth-century British carpet patterns (46 'Brussels' drafts by I. Arbuthnot, 1803–06 and 1813–17)

    University of Delaware (UDSpace) · England · Chapter 3
  8. 1809

    Bed rug

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Connecticut (probably) · Chapter 2
  9. 1810–20

    Eagle Candlewick Spread

    American Folk Art Museum · Chapter 2
  10. 1814

    Finnish ryijy (rya) with long knotted pile, dated 1814 (V&A T.123-1924)

    Victoria and Albert Museum · Finland · Chapter 1
  11. 1815

    E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company records, 1815–1975

    Hagley Museum and Library
  12. 1819

    Bed rug marked "C/1819"

    Winterthur Museum · Connecticut River Valley (possibly) · Chapter 2
  13. 1820–30

    Candlewick bedspread with vase and vine motif

    Historic New England · Hamilton House, South Berwick, Maine · Chapter 2
  14. 1820–25

    Dated candlewick bed coverings (Peck 1824, Courtney 1825, Stanton 1820)

    Connecticut Historical Society · Chapter 2
  15. 1820–30

    Shirred rug 'Apple Tree Farm', 1820–1830 (Historic New England 1991.1525)

    Historic New England · Cogswell's Grant, Essex, Massachusetts (original to the house) · Chapter 1
  16. 1821

    Candlewick Bedspread

    Los Angeles County Museum of Art · Chapter 2
  17. 1825

    Rug

    Winterthur Museum
  18. 1830–40

    Carpet, Scotch (ingrain), large diamond-medallion pattern

    Colonial Williamsburg Foundation · Probably Britain or United States
  19. 1830

    Hooked rug

    Winterthur Museum
  20. 1830

    Woven rag runner, ca. 1930 (Shaker Museum 1984.5.1); rag rugs popular in the US from the 1830s

    Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon · Hancock, Massachusetts
  21. 1831

    Sakai dantsu (1831), and the "dantsu king" who went to America

    · Chapter 7
  22. 1832–50

    'Tapestry' carpet: pile from warp yarns printed before weaving (Richard Whytock, Edinburgh, patented 1832); V&A sample c. 1850

    Victoria and Albert Museum · Edinburgh; Kidderminster · Chapter 1
  23. 1832–35

    Embroidered Carpet (the "Caswell carpet")

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Castleton, Vermont · Chapter 2
  24. 1835–45

    Tariff Manufacturing Company, Brussels colours dyed at Tariffville, Conn., c. 1840 (two dye-recipe notebooks)

    Winterthur Library · Tariffville, Connecticut · Chapter 3
  25. 1838

    Bigelow's patent model of a loom (1838)

    Smithsonian, National Museum of American History · Chapter 3
  26. 1839

    Chenille Axminster: James Templeton and William Quiglay's chenille patent (Glasgow, 1839); V&A Templeton sample

    Victoria and Albert Museum · Glasgow (Bridgeton; later King Street) · Chapter 1
  27. 1839–51

    Erastus Bigelow's power looms: ingrain (c. 1839–41), then Brussels and Wilton (1845–51)

    · Chapter 3
  28. 1840–60

    Rug hooking's origin debate: Yorkshire (Kent), or several centres at once (Québec, Maritimes, New England); burlap from the 1850s

    William Winthrop Kent, The Hooked Rug (Dodd, Mead, 1930) · New England; Maritime Canada; Québec; Yorkshire (theory) · Chapter 1
  29. 1840–60

    Sample of Kidderminster carpeting, double cloth (Dove & Co., Leeds, mid-19th century)

    Victoria and Albert Museum · Leeds, England · Chapter 3
  30. 1848

    Bigelow Carpet Mill, Clinton, Massachusetts

    · Chapter 3
  31. 1850

    Hooked rug

    Winterthur Museum
  32. 1851–75

    Ingrain carpet fragment, floral design on striped green ground (Parson Smith House, Maine)

    Historic New England · United States (found in Maine) · Chapter 3
  33. 1852

    Groz-Beckert (tufting needles)

    Groz-Beckert (tufting needles) · Ebingen (Albstadt), Baden-Württemberg · Chapter 5
  34. 1860

    Circular braided wool rug, 1860–1890 (Historic New England 1998.1344)

    Historic New England · Castle Tucker, Wiscasset, Maine · Chapter 1
  35. 1860

    The Beijing carpet trade begins in 1860 with a Tibetan lama, not Persia

    · Chapter 8
  36. 1865

    Godfrey Hirst

    Godfrey Hirst · Geelong, Victoria · Chapter 11
  37. 1865–85

    Hooked rug on burlap, ca. 1875 (Colonial Williamsburg 1983.611.1)

    Colonial Williamsburg Foundation · New England or south-east Canada (not specified in snippet) · Chapter 1
  38. 1866

    Torrington, Connecticut was a needle town: Excelsior Needle Co., founded 1866

  39. 1867

    Pinton (Ateliers Pinton)

    Pinton (Ateliers Pinton) · Felletin / Croze, Creuse (near Aubusson) · Chapter 11
  40. 1870–99

    Cotton dhurrie, North India, late 19th century (Penn Museum 29-96-81)

    Penn Museum (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) · North India · Chapter 1
  41. 1870

    Hooked rug

    Winterthur Museum
  42. 1870

    Hooked rug

    Winterthur Museum
  43. 1875

    Soumak (weft-wrapped) flatweave from the Caucasus, 1875–1925 (Textile Museum 1989.10.92)

    The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum · Dagestan area, south-eastern Caucasus (general attribution)
  44. 1876

    Halcyon Skinner perfected the power loom for Royal Axminster (1876)

    · Chapter 1
  45. 1876

    Spool Axminster power loom (identified from photograph)

    Shaw Industries, Dalton, Georgia · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 1
  46. 1877

    "Bigelow introduced the first broadloom carpet in 1877"

    · Chapter 3
  47. 1878

    Mohawk Industries

    Mohawk Industries · Calhoun, Georgia · Chapter 11
1880–1919

Hooks, patterns and a bedspread in Dalton

The hand tool is patented and sold by mail. Ebenezer Ross's "Embroidery Machine" (1881) and "Turfing Implement" (1891) and his printed rug patterns put a needle-and-gauge tool into homes. Its descendants include the Susan Burr and the shuttle needle. In 1895…

  1. 1880

    Bhadohi's "traditional" hand-knotted industry was built by Europeans in the late 19th century

    · Chapter 10
  2. 1880–00

    Crocheted rug, 1880–1900 (American Folk Art Museum 1985.21.1)

    American Folk Art Museum · Watervliet, New York, or Maine (possible origins) · Chapter 1
  3. 1880

    Needle-punch (needlefelt): barbed needles mat a fibre web into a non-woven floor covering (padding from late 1800s; synthetics late 1950s)

    William Bywater Ltd (early commercial development, per Duckett) · England; later US, Europe, Japan · Chapter 1
  4. 1881

    Ebenezer Ross, "Embroidery Machine" (US251381A)

    Ebenezer Ross · Wauseon, Ohio · Chapter 9
  5. 1881

    Hands (Hands Carpets / Patodia Exports)

    Hands (Hands Carpets / Patodia Exports) · Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh · Chapter 10
  6. 1883

    Suminoe (Suminoe Textile Co.)

    Suminoe (Suminoe Textile Co.) · Osaka · Chapter 7
  7. 1883

    Vorwerk Teppichwerke (now Hamelner Teppichwerke)

    Vorwerk Teppichwerke (now Hamelner Teppichwerke) · Barmen (Wuppertal); Hameln, Lower Saxony · Chapter 11
  8. 1884–86

    Samuel W. Bailey & Harry P. Vigars (US340189A)

    Samuel W. Bailey & Harry P. Vigars · Marquette, Michigan
  9. 1886

    “Jewel” rug-hooking tool, patented 1886 (Auckland Museum 1932.212.1)

    Auckland War Memorial Museum (via Wikimedia Commons) · USA (patent); found in Auckland, New Zealand · Chapter 13
  10. 1886–91

    Ebenezer Ross of Toledo: a mechanical punch hook (1886) and mail-order rug patterns

    · Chapter 9
  11. 1889

    Kasthall

    Kasthall · Kinna, Västra Götaland · Chapter 11
  12. 1889

    Wilton Royal Carpet Factory (Grace's Guide)

  13. 1890–00

    Lion with Palms Rug, after a pattern by Ebenezer Ross

    Art Institute of Chicago · Chapter 9
  14. 1891

    [Catalog of rug patterns], E. Ross & Co., Toledo, Ohio, 1891

    Winterthur Library · Toledo, Ohio · Chapter 9
  15. 1891

    Ebenezer Ross, "Turfing Implement" (US463548A)

    Ebenezer Ross · Chapter 4
  16. 1895–00

    Catherine Evans made her first spread in 1895 at 15; the first sale ($2.50) came in 1900

    · Chapter 4
  17. 1895–00

    Catherine Evans Whitener revives hand tufting near Dalton

    Catherine Evans Whitener · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 2
  18. 1895

    Japan's tufting association descends from an 1895 hand-knotting guild

    · Chapter 7
  19. 1895

    Victoria PLC (Victoria Carpets)

    Victoria PLC (Victoria Carpets) · Kirkcaldy, Scotland; Kidderminster (from 1900); now Worcester · Chapter 11
  20. 1899

    Diamond Dye rug book (1899)

    Wells & Richardson Co.
  21. 1899

    E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Textile Fibers Department records

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  22. 1900

    "John Gay's Sons carpet mill in Philadelphia, Pa."

    Hagley Museum and Library
  23. 1901

    DuPont Advertising Department records

    Hagley Museum and Library
  24. 1906

    Grenfell mats: a mission cottage industry of hooked mats in Newfoundland and Labrador (1906/1909/1913 to late 1960s)

    Grenfell Mission (Dr Wilfred Grenfell), Industrial Department · Northern Newfoundland and Labrador · Chapter 1
  25. 1907–08

    Samuel Henry Perrier, "Turfing Needle" (US897200A)

    Samuel Henry Perrier · Troy, Oregon · Chapter 9
  26. 1909–10

    Bigelow Carpet Company sample book

    UC Santa Barbara Library
  27. 1911–29

    Laura M. Allen collection (Col. 979): "Hooked Rugs" scrapbook of articles, pictures and advertisements, 1920s

    Winterthur Library · Rochester, New York
  28. 1912–26

    Beijing's 1920s export boom was run by American merchants

    · Chapter 8
  29. 1912

    Tianjin carried most of China's carpet exports (over 80% in 1912–27), then declined after the 1990s

    · Chapter 8
  30. 1915

    Illustrated Catalogue: Household Furnishing Goods

    Winterthur Library
1920–1949

From sewing machine to tufting machine

The decisive invention period. From Carter's 1922 tufting attachment for sewing machines through Gladish, Looper, Cobble and others, Dalton-area mechanics turned hand tufting into machine work, and by 1941 all but about 1% of tufted bedspreads were…

  1. 1920–39

    All Steel Shuttle Needle

    Tuft the World (own collection) · Chicago, Illinois · Chapter 9
  2. 1920

    Obeetee

    Obeetee · Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh · Chapter 10
  3. 1920

    Olson Velvety Rugs

    Winterthur Library
  4. 1920

    The Dixie Group

    The Dixie Group · Chattanooga, Tennessee / Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 11
  5. 1920

    V'Soske

    V'Soske · Grand Rapids, Michigan (later New York) · Chapter 9
  6. 1920–23

    William H. Barnett, "Sewing Machine" (US1452632A)

    William H. Barnett · Knoxville, Tennessee · Chapter 5
  7. 1920–39

    Ye "Susan Burr" Hooked Rug Machine

    Tuft the World (own collection) · Torrington, Connecticut · Chapter 13
  8. 1922–24

    August J. Carter, "Tufting-Attachment Mechanism for Sewing Machines" (US1485213A)

    August J. Carter · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 5
  9. 1922

    Carter Brothers, Chattanooga, 1922: first patent claiming needle + loop former + separate cutting knife

    · Chapter 9
  10. 1922

    Olson Velvety Rugs for Modern Homes

    Winterthur Library
  11. 1924–39

    Mid-1920s: carpet sales fell and woven firms like Bigelow and Mohawk struggled; then the Depression

    · Chapter 3
  12. 1925

    A Century of Carpet and Rug Making in America

    Bigelow-Hartford Carpet Company · Chapter 3
  13. 1926

    John E. Garrett, "Rug Hooker" (US1605711A)

    John E. Garrett · New Glasgow, Nova Scotia · Chapter 9
  14. 1927–31

    John M. Gladish, "Tufting Attachment Mechanism for Sewing Machines" (US1800522A)

    Carter Brothers Inc. (assignee) · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 5
  15. 1928–31

    Harry E. Dykeman, "Rug Tufting Machine" (US1831485A)

    Union Special Machine Co. (assignee) · Chicago, Illinois · Chapter 5
  16. 1928–33

    John M. Gladish, "Loop and Pile Forming Machine" (US1907292A)

    Valway Rug Mills (assignee) · LaGrange, Georgia · Chapter 5
  17. 1928

    Moench carpet tufting apparatus

    Shaw Industries · Displayed at Shaw Industries, Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 5
  18. 1929–33

    John M. Gladish, "Tufting Machine Looper and Cutter" (US1909530A)

    Valway Rug Mills (assignee) · LaGrange, Georgia · Chapter 5
  19. 1930

    Chenille bedspreads: line-tufted tulips, dot-tufted florals and diamond lattice

    Shaw Floors / Bandy art center, Dalton, Georgia · 305 S Depot St, Dalton, GA 30720 · Chapter 4
  20. 1930

    Cobble (Cobble Brothers / Singer-Cobble / Vandewiele)

    Cobble (Cobble Brothers / Singer-Cobble / Vandewiele) · Chattanooga, Tennessee; Blackburn, England; Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 7
  21. 1930

    Desso (Tarkett)

    Desso (Tarkett) · Oss (origin); now Waalwijk, Netherlands and Dendermonde, Belgium · Chapter 11
  22. 1930–39

    First mechanized tufting machine (Glenn Looper Foundry, Dalton)

    Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 4
  23. 1930

    Grenfell hooked mat 'Polar Bear on Ice Floe', c. 1930 (Baltimore Museum of Art 1996.165)

    Baltimore Museum of Art · Newfoundland and Labrador · Chapter 1
  24. 1930–33

    John M. Gladish, "Tufting Machine" (US1909531A)

    Valway Rug Mills (assignee) · LaGrange, Georgia · Chapter 5
  25. 1930–59

    Two peacock chenille bedspreads (yellow ground; white ground with pink peacock)

    Shaw Floors / Bandy art center, Dalton, Georgia · 305 S Depot St, Dalton, GA 30720 · Chapter 4
  26. 1931–33

    E. J. Gearhart, "Semiautomatic Turfing Device" (US1912977A)

    E. J. Gearhart · Chapter 9
  27. 1932–33

    Lawrence P. Smith, "Motor Operated Tufting Machine" (US1917162A)

    Cabin Crafts (assignee) · Chapter 9
  28. 1932–34

    Walter Loos, "Machine for Making Rugs, Carpets, and the Like" (US1970703A)

    Walter Loos · Chapter 5
  29. 1933–36

    August J. Carter, "Tufted Rug" (US2042503A)

    Carter Brothers Inc. (assignee) · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 5
  30. 1933

    John E. Garrett, "Rug Hooker" (US1941346A)

    John E. Garrett · New Glasgow, Nova Scotia · Chapter 9
  31. 1933

    L. A. Smith, "Tufting machine" (US1903946A)

    Truline (assignee) · LaGrange, Georgia · Chapter 5
  32. 1933

    Mrs. J. A. Green and son Allen Burton making tufted bedspreads on U.S. Highway 41

    Georgia Archives (Vanishing Georgia) · Bartow County, Georgia · Chapter 4
  33. 1934–40

    John M. Gladish, "Tufting Machine" (US2224866A)

    half to Robert Blair Cannon (assignee) · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 5
  34. 1934

    Maples, "Tufting machine" (US1963441A)

    Maples & Weaver · Scottsboro, Alabama · Chapter 5
  35. 1935

    Edward Fields

    Edward Fields · New York, New York · Chapter 9
  36. 1935–37

    Foster K. Solliday, "Hooked Rug Making Device" (US2077719A)

    Foster K. Solliday · Grand Rapids, Michigan · Chapter 9
  37. 1935–37

    Walter Loos, "Tufting Machine" (US2070287A)

    Walter Loos · Chapter 5
  38. 1935

    Yamagata Dantsu (Oriental Carpet Mills)

    Yamagata Dantsu (Oriental Carpet Mills) · Yamanobe, Yamagata Prefecture · Chapter 7
  39. 1936

    "Magee Carpet Company", aerial view

    Hagley Museum and Library
  40. 1936

    Chenille Rug, Gift to Henry Ford, 1936

    The Henry Ford · Chapter 4
  41. 1936–38

    Glenn Looper, "Tufting Machine" (US2123114A)

    Glenn Looper · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 5
  42. 1936

    Warren, "Tufting machine" (US2058047A)

    Warren · Chapter 5
  43. 1937

    "Mrs. Whitener Recalls Beginning of Bedspread Industry"

    Catherine Evans Whitener · Chapter 4
  44. 1937

    Hagley Vault: "February 16, 1937: E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. was granted U.S. patent…"

    · Chapter 6
  45. 1937

    Sunshine Yarns sample book, 1937

    Winterthur Library
  46. 1937

    Wallace H. Carothers, "Linear condensation polymers" (US2071250A)

    E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (assignee) · Chapter 6
  47. 1938

    Ege Carpets (Egetæpper)

    Ege Carpets (Egetæpper) · Herning · Chapter 11
  48. 1938

    Ernst Thomsen Christian, "Apparatus for Hand Sewing Carpets" (CH214147A)

    Ernst Thomsen Christian (inventor and original assignee) · Switzerland (Danish inventor) · Chapter 9
  49. 1938

    Orville A. Carroll, Shaker Tufted Wool Rug, c. 1938 (Index of American Design)

    National Gallery of Art, Index of American Design (via Wikimedia Commons) · Kentucky · Chapter 2
  50. 1938

    Wallace H. Carothers, "Synthetic fiber" (US2130948A)

    E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (assignee) · Chapter 6
  51. 1938

    Windham et al., "Tufting machine" (US2112512A)

    Polly Prentiss (assignee) · Chapter 5
  52. 1939–45

    Jess Spencer Kile, "Machine and Method for Making Tufted Articles" (US2389914A)

    Cabin Crafts (assignee) · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 4
  53. 1939–43

    Roy H. Windham, "Tufting Machine and Method" (US2311802A)

    Burl J. Bandy, Dalton (assignee) · Rome, Georgia · Chapter 5
  54. 1939

    Seaford Plant nylon collection (photographs, pamphlets, film)

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  55. 1941

    "Bedspread Bonanza"

    R. E. Hamilton · Chapter 4
  56. 1941–66

    BBDO records: "DuPont – Nylon, 1941–1966"

    Hagley Museum and Library
  57. 1941

    By 1941, all but about 1% of tufted bedspreads were machine-made

    · Chapter 4
  58. 1941–43

    Joe C. Cobble, "Multiple Needle Tufting Machine" (US2335487A)

    Joe C. Cobble & George B. Muse · Chattanooga, Tennessee / Sugar Valley, Georgia · Chapter 5
  59. 1941

    The Tufting Machine: A Practical Text of Instruction for Machine Fixers (3rd ed.)

    Roy H. Windham · Chapter 5
  60. 1943

    Joseph W. Lynch papers

    Hagley Museum and Library
  61. 1944

    Bills, "Tufting machine" (US2346467A)

    Bills & Patey · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 5
  62. 1944–46

    Lyman Hamrick, "Multiple Needle Tufting Machine" (US2411267A)

    Lyman Hamrick · Gaffney, South Carolina · Chapter 5
  63. 1945–59

    Sims Textile Co., "The Chenille Center," Dalton, Ga.: Electric Chenille Machine sheet, yarn price list and "Miscellaneous Information"

    Bandy Heritage Center, Dalton State College · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 4
  64. 1945–48

    The Nylon Suite at the Hotel DuPont

    Hagley Museum and Library · Hotel DuPont, Wilmington, Delaware · Chapter 6
  65. 1946–48

    James H. Shay, "Hooked Rug Machine" (US2442906A)

    Shaycraft Inc. (assignee) · Newtown Square, Pennsylvania · Chapter 9
  66. 1946–47

    Samuel P. Parker, "Tufting Device" (US2422126A)

    Callaway Mills (assignee) · LaGrange, Georgia · Chapter 9
  67. 1946

    Shaw Industries Group

    Shaw Industries Group · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 4
  68. 1946

    Sims Textile Company map of Dalton

    Dalton-Whitfield County Historical Society (per Deaton) · Chapter 4
  69. 1946–68

    Textile Fibers Department photograph album

    Hagley Museum and Library
  70. 1947

    "This technique came after India achieved independence"

    · Chapter 10
  71. 1948

    Hotel du Pont Installs Nylon Fabrics for Economy of Wear and Care

    Hagley Museum and Library · Wilmington, Delaware · Chapter 6
  72. 1948

    Luxurious Carpet: A New Use for Nylon

    Hagley Museum and Library · New York · Chapter 6
  73. 1948

    Melvin Sivyer Hurley, "A new or improved hand tool for making rugs, carpets and the like with a cut pile" (GB663196A)

    Melvin Sivyer Hurley · United Kingdom (US inventor) · Chapter 9
  74. 1949

    E. T. Barwick Mills

    E. T. Barwick Mills · Dalton and LaFayette, Georgia · Chapter 4
  75. 1949–52

    Melvin S. Hurley, "Hand Tool for Making Rugs, Carpets and the Like with a Cut Pile" (US2605727A)

    Melvin S. Hurley · Bridgend, England · Chapter 9
  76. 1949–52

    Richard C. Kline, "Carpet Tufting Machine" (US2600993A)

    Richard C. Kline (assignee)
  77. 1949–52

    Walter W. Hamby, "Multiple Needle Tufting Machine" (US2595355A)

    one-fifth to Isaac C. Adams (assignee) · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 5
1950–1969

Broadloom: tufting takes the floor

Wide multi-needle machines moved tufting from bedspreads to wall-to-wall carpet. Tufted carpet was about 10% of US carpet in 1950, and records here put it at roughly half the wholesale price of woven. Carpet nylons followed (bulked continuous filament and…

  1. 1950

    "DuPont commercials circa 1950s–1990s" (includes an Antron Carpet Fiber spot)

    Hagley Museum and Library
  2. 1950

    1950: 10% of US carpet was tufted; today over 90%

    · Chapter 5
  3. 1950

    Felicitas A/S (attrib.), "Improvements in devices for hand-sewing carpets" (GB674501A)

    applicant not shown in snippet; French family member assigned to Felicitas A/S (Denmark) · United Kingdom (Danish priority)
  4. 1950–51

    Joseph A. Bolger, "Hooked Rug Making Device" (US2578038A)

    Joseph A. Bolger
  5. 1950

    Nylon hooked rug made by Nancy du Pont Reynolds Cooch (Mrs. Edward W. Cooch Jr.)

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  6. 1950–52

    Torleif K. Holmen, "Carpet Tufting and Pile Cutting Device" (US2591939A)

    Rugcrofters Inc. (assignee) · Brooklyn, New York
  7. 1950–59

    Tufted carpet sold wholesale at about half the price of woven

    · Chapter 6
  8. 1951

    "Handgerät zur Teppichherstellung" (DE854562C)

    applicant not seen (probably Felicitas A/S, Denmark; see GB674501A)
  9. 1952

    153A: The Carpet Institute, Inc. - Proposal for a Psychological Research Study on the Sales and Advertising Problems of the Carpet Institute, Inc., 1952

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  10. 1952–56

    Hans G. Lustig, "Carpet Forming Device" (US2753820A)

    Hans G. Lustig · Lake Placid, New York · Chapter 9
  11. 1952

    REFUTED: "Longlife, Nettetal, first nylon carpet, 1952"

    · Chapter 6
  12. 1953

    Madeleine Jeandupeux, "Pile-knotting needle for making carpets" (DE1074196B)

    Madeleine Jeandupeux, Delémont, Switzerland · Delémont
  13. 1953–58

    Theron F. Gifford, "Portable Tufting Machine" (US2837045A)

    Ten-Tex Corp. (assignee) · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 9
  14. 1954

    1954: Japan imports its first mass-production tufting machine from America (Suminoe)

    · Chapter 7
  15. 1954

    C. M. Jones, "Tufting machine" (US2679218A)

    C. M. Jones · Calhoun, Georgia · Chapter 5
  16. 1954

    France: Louis Balsan brings tufting back from the United States (1954)

    · Chapter 7
  17. 1954

    World Carpets

    World Carpets · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 11
  18. 1955

    Before computers: chain-driven roll and scroll pattern attachments on broadloom tufting machines

    Bandy Heritage Center (Dalton) · Chattanooga / Dalton · Chapter 12
  19. 1955

    Broadlooms and Businessmen: A History of the Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company

    John S. Ewing and Nancy P. Norton · Chapter 3
  20. 1955

    Carpet test strip partly treated with Ludox colloidal silica

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  21. 1955–58

    J. L. Card, "Thread Feed Mechanism and Pattern Control" (US2862465A)

    J. L. Card · Chapter 12
  22. 1955–81

    Japan's established weavers were the last to tuft

    · Chapter 7
  23. 1955

    Kyrgyz shyrdak: felt cut in counterchange, sewn and quilted (British Museum As1995,20.14)

    British Museum · Kyrgyzstan (Naryn and Issyk-Kul today) · Chapter 1
  24. 1955

    Nylon carpeting [Nye-Wait "Splendante" and "Cirque" carpet]

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  25. 1955

    Nylon carpeting [tufted nylon bath mat and lid cover]

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 4
  26. 1955–59

    Russell L. Sterner, "Tufting Machine" (US2887076A)

    Clarence Klug (assignee) · Downey, California · Chapter 9
  27. 1956

    1956: Mohawk merges with Alexander Smith to form Mohasco, as tufting takes over

    · Chapter 6
  28. 1956–58

    Carpet tiles: Heuga's bitumen-backed needlefelt squares (Netherlands, c. 1956–58)

    P. J. van Heugten (Heuga) · Netherlands · Chapter 1
  29. 1956

    Cormar Carpets

    Cormar Carpets · Rossendale Valley; Greenmount, near Bury, Lancashire · Chapter 7
  30. 1956

    Japan's Carpet Day, 1 November, marks the Emperor's 1956 visit to Suminoe

    · Chapter 7
  31. 1956–60

    Joseph L. Card, "Apparatus for Making Patterned Tufted Pile Fabric" (US2935037A)

    Cobble Brothers Machinery Co. (assignee) · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 12
  32. 1956–59

    M. L. Ward, "Tufting Implement for Producing High and Low Pile" (US2879731A)

    Callaway Mills (assignee) · LaGrange, Georgia · Chapter 9
  33. 1956

    Tai Ping Carpets

    Tai Ping Carpets · Hong Kong · Chapter 9
  34. 1957

    1957 Annual Report, Mohasco Industries, Inc.

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  35. 1957

    1957: Suminoe's Tufton brings carpet to the Japanese mass market

    · Chapter 7
  36. 1957

    A Creative Problem Analysis and Proposal for a Motivational Research Study of Nylon Carpeting Acceptance among Distributors, Buyers and Retailers

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  37. 1957

    Cobble Brothers Machinery (attrib.), "Apparatus for making patterned tufted pile fabric" (GB853746A)

    J. L. Card (US inventor); Cobble Brothers Machinery Co. (attrib.) · United Kingdom (US applicant) · Chapter 5
  38. 1958

    DuPont "501" carpet nylon launched in 1958 with a special crimp

  39. 1958

    DuPont introduces bulked continuous filament (BCF) nylon for carpet

    · Chapter 6
  40. 1958–61

    James A. Cobble Sr. & Jr., "Tufting Machine" (US2977905A)

    James A. Cobble Sr. and James A. Cobble Jr. · Chapter 5
  41. 1958–61

    Joseph Lewis Card, "Loop Shedder" (US2975736A)

    Singer-Cobble Inc. (assignee) · Chapter 5
  42. 1959

    "A method of producing plush-like goods such as carpets or the like and a machine for performing the same" (GB821702A)

    applicant not seen
  43. 1959

    "The Opening Door" (The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Episode No. 1-3), with a DuPont Carpet Nylon commercial

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  44. 1959

    1959: German trade press says tufting is used "only by outsiders" and is breaking through

    · Chapter 7
  45. 1959

    Beaulieu International Group

    Beaulieu International Group · Waregem, West Flanders · Chapter 7
  46. 1960

    "The DuPont Show of the Month: The Way Home", with a DuPont Carpet Nylon commercial

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  47. 1960

    "The Trench Coat" (The DuPont Show with June Allyson. Episode No. 1-16), with a DuPont Carpet Nylon commercial

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  48. 1960

    DuPont Carpet Nylon

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  49. 1960

    DuPont Carpet Nylon

    Hagley Museum and Library
  50. 1960–72

    Flocked floor covering (Flotex): short nylon fibres shot upright into adhesive by an electric field (France, 1960s; UK 1971–72)

    Flotex (Château-Renault); Low & Bonar (UK rights 1971); now Forbo · Château-Renault, France; Ripley, Derbyshire · Chapter 1
  51. 1960–81

    Japan Carpet Association study-mission reports on the US and European carpet industries

    · Chapter 7
  52. 1960

    Singer Cobble (attrib.), "Improvements in machines for making tufted fabrics" (GB880860A)

    Singer Cobble (assignee of US counterpart) · Chapter 5
  53. 1960

    Tuftco

    Tuftco · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 5
  54. 1960

    Tufted Textile Manufacturers Association, 1960

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 4
  55. 1961

    "The Old Fashioned Way" (The DuPont Show with June Allyson. Episode No. 2-21), with a DuPont Carpet Nylon commercial

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  56. 1961–62

    General - Image Designs, improved tufting machine (rug weaver), 1962

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 12
  57. 1961

    Singer Cobble Inc., "Photocell controlled pattern attachment for tufting machines" (US3103187A)

    Singer Cobble Inc. · Chapter 12
  58. 1961–75

    William Pahlmann papers: carpet and floor-mat samples

    Hagley Museum and Library
  59. 1962

    "The Beauty of Woman" (The DuPont Show of the Week. Production Number 4036), with a DuPont 501 Carpet Nylon commercial

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  60. 1962–64

    Alfred Schauer, "Device for Forming Cut Pile Fabrics and the Like" (US3142276A)

    Alfred Schauer · Elmhurst, New York · Chapter 9
  61. 1962–64

    Charles D. Elliott, "Portable Machine for Tufting Cut Pile" (US3144844A)

    Cabin Crafts (assignee) · Dalton, Georgia · Chapter 9
  62. 1962

    Chronology of ITP tufting (weaving), 1962 July 3

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 5
  63. 1962–76

    Printed carpet: flat-screen (1962) and rotary-screen (1968) printing of pile carpet, then jet dyeing

    Zimmer (Austria) among others; Milliken Millitron 1973 (already in repo) · Chapter 1
  64. 1962

    William Pahlmann Associates sitting area, 1962 Decoration & Design Show, New York: continuous filament nylon carpet

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  65. 1963

    Nylon: The First 25 Years

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  66. 1964–68

    "Tufting gun" in print: patents of 1964 and 1968

    · Chapter 9
  67. 1964

    Balta (Belysse / Victoria)

    Balta (Belysse / Victoria) · Sint-Baafs-Vijve, West Flanders · Chapter 11
  68. 1964–66

    O. J. Roberts et al., "Portable Tufting Machine" (US3229653A)

    Bigelow-Sanford (assignee) · Chapter 9
  69. 1965

    "Antron nylon… for carpet classics of enduring elegance"

    Hagley Museum and Library
  70. 1965

    A Houseful of Value ... All '501'

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  71. 1965

    Ernest Kenneth Lund / Singer-Cobble Ltd, "Improvements in or relating to tufting machines" (GB1067502A)

    Ernest Kenneth Lund (inventor); Singer-Cobble Ltd (original assignee) · Blackburn · Chapter 5
  72. 1965–68

    Helmut C. Mueller, "Method and Apparatus for Cutting Pile Yarns" (US3389667A)

    Bigelow-Sanford (assignee) · Chapter 9
  73. 1965

    India now exports tufting guns: Sheru Brothers, Meerut (est. 1965)

    Meerut · Chapter 13
  74. 1966

    "Pattern attachment for tufting machines" (US3375797A)

    Assignee not seen · Chapter 12
  75. 1966

    Don 't Let Anyone Mislead You, DuPont 501 Is Not the Name of a Fiber

    Hagley Museum and Library
  76. 1966

    Those Five Tough DuPont Tests

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  77. 1967

    "Meet Antron: The New Carpet Fiber for Enduring Elegance"

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  78. 1967

    Creative Accents

    Creative Accents · California · Chapter 11
  79. 1967

    Netherlands: tufting machines installed at Genemuiden in 1967

    Genemuiden · Chapter 7
  80. 1967

    Royal Thai (Thailand Carpet Manufacturing / TCM Corporation)

    Royal Thai (Thailand Carpet Manufacturing / TCM Corporation) · Bangkok · Chapter 7
  81. 1968

    Innovation in the United States Carpet Industry, 1947–1963

    William A. Reynolds · Chapter 5
  82. 1968

    Milliken & Company (floor covering)

    Milliken & Company (floor covering) · LaGrange, Georgia (carpet); Spartanburg, South Carolina (HQ) · Chapter 11
  83. 1969

    "Antron Is the Luxury Carpet Fiber from DuPont"

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  84. 1969

    "Antron Nylon Is the Luxury Carpet Fiber from DuPont"

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  85. 1969

    Fusion-bonded carpet: cut pile yarn set into a PVC adhesive layer (Debron, Kidderminster; US rights to Milliken 1969)

    Debron division, Carpet Manufacturing Co. (later Carpets International) · Kidderminster, England; LaGrange, Georgia · Chapter 1
  86. 1969

    Scott Group Studio

    Scott Group Studio · Grand Rapids, Michigan · Chapter 11
1970–1999

The gun goes global

Hand-tufting with the gun became an export industry in Asia. Tai Ping's motorised gun is dated 1973 in the research brief, though US motor-driven hand tools were patented from 1932. China imported tufting machines from about 1980 (one trade article) and set a…

  1. 1970–79

    Machine-made carpet in large-scale production in China from the 1970s

    · Chapter 8
  2. 1970

    Merinos (Erdemoğlu)

    Merinos (Erdemoğlu) · Gaziantep · Chapter 11
  3. 1971

    Girmes-Werke AG, "Plush tufting machine" (DE1785451C)

    Girmes-Werke AG, Oedt (near Krefeld); inventor based in Krefeld · Oedt / Krefeld · Chapter 5
  4. 1972

    Bed Ruggs/1722–1833

    Wadsworth Atheneum · Hartford, Conn. · Chapter 2
  5. 1972

    Object Carpet

    Object Carpet · Denkendorf, near Stuttgart (production Krefeld)
  6. 1973

    1973: Tai Ping motorises the tufting gun

    · Chapter 13
  7. 1973

    Hartmut Scholz, "Device for tufting carpets by hand" (DE2356585C2)

    Hartmut Scholz, Allersberg (inventor and assignee) · Allersberg, Bavaria · Chapter 9
  8. 1973

    Hofmann Handtuft-Technik GmbH

    Hofmann Handtuft-Technik GmbH · Nördlingen, Bavaria (founded in Allersberg near Nuremberg) · Chapter 9
  9. 1973

    Interface

    Interface · LaGrange / Atlanta, Georgia · Chapter 11
  10. 1974

    "The Dalton, Georgia, Tufted Textile Concentration"

    John R. McGregor and Robert H. Maxey · Chapter 5
  11. 1974

    Hartmut Scholz, "Arrangement for the Tufting of Carpets" (US3968758A)

    Hartmut Scholz, Allersberg, Germany · Chapter 9
  12. 1975

    Hartmut Scholz, "Device for tufting by hand" (DE2511266C3)

    Hartmut Scholz
  13. 1975–90

    Hooked rug in nylon and cotton, maker unknown

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  14. 1975–76

    John S. Doyel, "Rug-tufting device suitable for home use by hobyists" (US3968757A)

    John S. Doyel · Chapter 13
  15. 1975

    Ronco "Speed-Tufting Kit" (#1500), 1975

    Tuft the World (own collection) · South Britain, Connecticut; Chicago, Illinois · Chapter 13
  16. 1976–77

    George L. Houghton and Fred F. Fredensberg, "Tufting tool for even stitching" (US4011823A)

    Rug Crafters (assignee)
  17. 1976

    Hartmut Scholz, "Device for Providing Rugs and the Like with Tufts" (US4029031A)

    Hartmut Scholz, Allersberg, Germany · Chapter 9
  18. 1976

    Surya

    Surya · Ugapur, India; Calhoun then Cartersville, Georgia · Chapter 10
  19. 1976

    Westpoint Pepperell, "Control apparatus for textile dyeing and tufting machinery" (US4106416A)

    Westpoint Pepperell, Inc. · Chapter 12
  20. 1976

    Wilh. Simon & Co, "Device for producing tufted products" (DE2621360A1)

    Wilh. Simon & Co (as OCR'd by Google Patents)
  21. 1977

    "New York City Marathon 1977": Antron carpet laid on a bridge for runners

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  22. 1977

    Beyond Necessity: Art in the Folk Tradition

    Winterthur
  23. 1978

    Hans Hartleb, "Tufting device, in particular hand tufting device" (DE2815801A1)

    Hans Hartleb · Chapter 9
  24. 1978

    Jaipur Living / Jaipur Rugs

    Jaipur Living / Jaipur Rugs · Atlanta, Georgia (US); Jaipur, India · Chapter 10
  25. 1978

    Merida

    Merida · Fall River, Massachusetts
  26. 1979

    Hartmut Scholz (attrib.), "Process and device for tufting carpets or the like" (EP0026492A1)

    Hartmut Scholz (per one Google Patents citation row) · Europe (EP), German priority
  27. 1979

    Oriental Weavers

    Oriental Weavers · 10th of Ramadan City, near Cairo · Chapter 11
  28. 1980

    Japan's carpet industry was hit by a 1980s dust-mite panic

    · Chapter 7
  29. 1981

    Card-Monroe Corp. (CMC)

    Card-Monroe Corp. (CMC) · Chattanooga, Tennessee · Chapter 12
  30. 1981

    Ceadogán Rugmakers

    Ceadogán Rugmakers · Wellingtonbridge, County Wexford · Chapter 11
  31. 1984

    "Localization Economies in the American Carpet Industry"

    Billie J. Walters and James O. Wheeler · Chapter 5
  32. 1984

    Akzo GmbH, "Hand tufting appliance" (DE3410783A1)

    Akzo GmbH, Wuppertal · Wuppertal
  33. 1984

    Trade Catalogues at Winterthur: A Guide to the Literature of Merchandising, 1750 to 1980

    Winterthur Library
  34. 1986

    Designer Rugs

    Designer Rugs · Marrickville, Sydney, New South Wales · Chapter 11
  35. 1986

    Huade Carpet Group

    Huade Carpet Group · Zhengzhou, Henan (also Guangzhou)
  36. 1986

    Tapistron International: computerised yarn placement (CYP) tufting, Ringgold, Georgia

    Tapistron International, Inc. · Ringgold, Georgia · Chapter 12
  37. 1987

    Kramis Teppich Design

    Kramis Teppich Design · Altbüron, Lucerne · Chapter 13
  38. 1987

    丸山孝雄「タフティング・マシンの変遷と今後の開発課題」(Past, Present and Future of Tufting Technology)

    丸山孝雄 (Maruyama Takao) · Chapter 7
  39. 1988

    Brooks E. Taylor, Marshall A. Neely & Roy T. Card, "Computer controlled tufting machine and a process of controlling the parameters of operation of a tufting machine" (US4867080A)

    Brooks E. Taylor; Marshall A. Neely; Roy T. Card · Chapter 12
  40. 1988

    Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R&D, 1902–1980

    David A. Hounshell and John Kenly Smith · Cambridge · Chapter 6
  41. 1989

    China's national standard for tufted carpet: GB/T 11746-1989

    · Chapter 8
  42. 1989

    Gary L. Ingram / Textile Corporation of America (later Tapistron), "Tufting apparatus" (US4991523A)

    Gary L. Ingram; Textile Corporation of America; later Tapistron International, Inc. · Chapter 12
  43. 1989

    Roger Oates Design

    Roger Oates Design · Eastnor, near Ledbury, Herefordshire (tufting workshop in Devon)
  44. 1989

    Roy T. Card & Brooks E. Taylor / Card-Monroe, "Method and apparatus for producing enhanced graphic appearances in a tufted product and a product produced therefrom" (US5058518A)

    Roy T. Card; Brooks E. Taylor; Card-Monroe Corp. · Chapter 12
  45. 1990

    Jamshid Divangahi, "A hand-held tufting machine" (EP0534974A1)

    Jamshid Divangahi, Barnsley, South Yorkshire (applicant and inventor) · Barnsley
  46. 1990–92

    William H. Satterfield, "Hand-held Tufting Mending Gun" (US5090341A)

    Spencer Wright Industries (assignee) · Chapter 9
  47. 1991

    Gary L. Ingram / Tapistron International, "Hollow needle tufting apparatus for producing patterned fabric" (US5165352A)

    Gary L. Ingram; Tapistron International, Inc. · Chapter 12
  48. 1991

    Limited Edition

    Limited Edition · Mouscron, Hainaut · Chapter 11
  49. 1991

    The Making of Carpet Fiber

    Hagley Museum and Library
  50. 1992

    July 1992: Tai Ping moves all carpet production to Nanhai, Guangdong

    · Chapter 8
  51. 1992–17

    The significant tufting-machine patents filed in China are foreign

    · Chapter 8
  52. 1993

    Bedspreads to Broadloom: The Story of the Tufted Carpet Industry

    Thomas M. Deaton · Chapter 4
  53. 1994

    Wilcom AutoTuft (Sydney): robotic single-head tufting machines for custom rugs

    Wilcom Pty Ltd · Sydney · Chapter 12
  54. 1994

    Wilcom Tufting Pty Ltd (Aubourg, Pongrass, Wilson), "Method and system of tufting" (US5503092A)

    Peter L. Aubourg; Robert G. Pongrass; William B. Wilson; Wilcom Tufting Pty Ltd · Chapter 12
  55. 1995–01

    Ōsumi Tadashi, seven-part series on Japanese interiors (1995–2001), part 5: 「タフテッドカーペット／20世紀の軌跡」

    大墨 正 (Ōsumi Tadashi)
  56. 1995–05

    UNSUPPORTED: Hand-tufting overtook hand-knotting in India around 1995–2005 (rests on a mistranslation)

    · Chapter 10
  57. 1996

    Kaleen India

    Kaleen India · Jaipur / Mumbai (plants in Panipat, Mirzapur, Bikaner) · Chapter 10
  58. 1996

    Miller et al., "Apparatus for manufacturing tufted rugs" (US5743200A)

    Miller et al. (assignee not seen)
  59. 1996

    Tuftco Corp. (Morgante, Stanfield, Bishop), "Independent servo motor controlled scroll-type pattern attachment for tufting machine and computerized design system" (US6244203B1)

    Michael R. Morgante; Randall E. Stanfield; Mike Bishop; Tuftco Corporation · Chapter 12
  60. 1999

    Carpet Capital: The Rise of a New South Industry

    Randall L. Patton with David B. Parker · Chapter 4
2000–now

Studios, screens and supply chains

Machine tufting is now the global default, at over 90% of US carpet. China built its first domestic tufting machine in 2004 and became the leading carpet exporter, though it still imports high-end machines. Computers now place individual colours on broadloom…

  1. 2000

    "Barrel cam for driving needle and shear for electrically-operated carpet floc[king tool]" (CN2402698Y)

    applicant not seen
  2. 2000

    Panipat: the world's largest textile-recycling cluster became a rug town

    Panipat, Haryana · Chapter 10
  3. 2001

    The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth

    Laurel Thatcher Ulrich · New York · Chapter 2
  4. 2004

    "A hand-held high-speed electric weaving needle for weaving carpets" (CN2806530Y)

    applicant not seen · Chapter 9
  5. 2004

    "A hand-held horizontal electric weaving needle for weaving carpets" (CN2723478Y)

    applicant not seen · Chapter 8
  6. 2004

    China built its first domestic tufting machine in 2004 (DHT-200)

    · Chapter 8
  7. 2004

    Wilcom Pty Ltd, "Tufting machine" (EP1674605A1)

    Mile (Joz) Jez, William Brian Wilson; Wilcom Pty Ltd (Australia) · Australia (EP filing) · Chapter 12
  8. 2005

    Delos (The Delos Company)

    Delos (The Delos Company) · Calhoun, Georgia · Chapter 11
  9. 2007

    Exhibition: "The Great Cover-Up: American Rugs on Beds, Tables, and Floors"

    American Folk Art Museum · Chapter 2
  10. 2007

    Turkmen rolled felt carpet, Erbent (Cooper Hewitt, made 2007)

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum · Erbent, Karakum desert
  11. 2008

    『日本カーペット工業史』 History of the Japanese Carpet Industry (2008)

    日本カーペット工業組合 · Chapter 7
  12. 2008

    Card-Monroe Corp., "Yarn color placement system" (US8141505B2)

    Card-Monroe Corp. · Chapter 12
  13. 2008

    Wilcom Pty Ltd, "An improved tufting machine" (EP2077348B1)

    William Brian Wilson, Mile Jez, Joseph Van Woerkom; Wilcom Pty Ltd · Australia (EP filing) · Chapter 12
  14. 2009

    Card-Monroe ColorPoint and Tuftco ColorTron launched: yarn colour placement in broadloom tufting (2009)

    FloorDaily (FloorTek Expo 2009 preview) · FloorTek Expo, Dalton, Georgia (22–24 Sep 2009) · Chapter 12
  15. 2009

    Engineered Floors

    Engineered Floors · Dalton / Calhoun, Georgia · Chapter 11
  16. 2009

    Mecheels, Vogler & Kurz, Kultur- & Industriegeschichte der Textilien (2009), p. 475

    Stefan Mecheels, Herbert Vogler, Josef Kurz · Chapter 7
  17. 2010

    Donghua team wins 2010 National Science and Technology Progress Award for digital tufting looms

    · Chapter 8
  18. 2010

    Hooked Rugs of Winterthur

    Nancy Parcels
  19. 2011

    Chongqing University: a 'zero-programming' PMAC CNC system for tufting machines (2011)

    Chongqing University · Chongqing University, Institute of Manufacturing Engineering · Chapter 12
  20. 2013

    Delos was robot-tufting custom rugs and aircraft carpet in Georgia by 2013

    AIN (Aviation International News) · Calhoun, Georgia · Chapter 12
  21. 2014

    "All-digital intelligent robot for hand gun-tufted carpets" (CN204058934U)

    applicant not seen
  22. 2014

    "Catherine Evans Whitener (1881–1964)", in Georgia Women: Their Lives and Times, vol. 2

    Ann Short Chirhart and Kathleen Ann Clark (eds.) · Chapter 4
  23. 2014

    Card-Monroe v. Tuftco: the ColorPoint patent suit over computer colour-placement tufting (2014–2017)

    U.S. District Court, E.D. Tenn. · U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee (No. 1:14-cv-292) · Chapter 12
  24. 2014

    FLOOR_STORY (Floor Story)

    FLOOR_STORY · East London: a showroom in Shoreditch, later Cairo Studios, Nile Street, London N1
  25. 2014

    Shenyang Institute of Automation (CAS), Yiwu New Rainbow Craft Carpet Co. et al., "Fully computerised servo 3D gun-tufted carpet machine" (CN104562491A)

    Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 义乌新彩虹工艺地毯有限公司 (Yiwu New Rainbow Craft Carpet Co., Ltd.) and others · Shenyang / Yiwu · Chapter 12
  26. 2014

    Yangxin Ruixin and Donghua University: 'China's first fully digital intelligent robot for hand-tufted carpets'

    China Daily · Yangxin, Shandong · Chapter 12
  27. 2015

    Southern Tufts: The Regional Origins and National Craze for Chenille Fashion

    Ashley Callahan · Athens · Chapter 4
  28. 2016

    EFAB GmbH: eTuft / Robotuft robotic tufting machines (Germany)

    EFAB GmbH · near Düsseldorf (Korschenbroich area)
  29. 2016

    Welspun Flooring

    Welspun Flooring · Hyderabad, Telangana · Chapter 10
  30. 2017

    Carpet Sign (Asten, Netherlands): 3-D tufting robot rugs with Karim Rashid (2017) and Richard Hutten (2019)

    Carpet Sign · Asten · Chapter 12
  31. 2018

    Cobble (Vandewiele) Colortec: individually controlled needles and individual pile delivery (2018–2019)

    Cobble / Vandewiele · Blackburn (UK) / Kortrijk (Belgium); shown at ITMA Asia 2018 and ITMA 2019, Barcelona · Chapter 12
  32. 2018–19

    Exhibition: "Bed Furnishings in Early America: An Intimate Look"

    Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
  33. 2018

    Oral history: Bob Axtell (DuPont carpet market research)

    Hagley Museum and Library
  34. 2018

    Oral history: Tom McAndrews (DuPont Textile Fibers)

    Hagley Museum and Library · Chapter 6
  35. 2018

    Tuft the World

    Tuft the World · West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Chapter 12
  36. 2019

    "Stable yarn-feeding and tensioning equipment for a carpet gun-tufting machine" (CN111441143A)

    applicant not seen · Chapter 12
  37. 2019

    Shaw Industries: A History

    Randall L. Patton · Chapter 11
  38. 2020

    "Fully automatic carpet gun-tufting machine head and its working method" (CN111876919A)

    applicant not seen · Chapter 12
  39. 2020

    Yangxin Ruixin Group, "Pneumatic multifunctional carpet tufting gun for an intelligent gun-tufted carpet robot" (CN111705448A)

    阳信瑞鑫集团有限公司 (Yangxin Ruixin Group Co., Ltd., Shandong) · Chapter 12
  40. 2021

    The tufting gun came back to mainland China as a TikTok trend: 戳戳秀, "poke-poke"

    · Chapter 13
  41. 2022

    DIY and academic robot tufting: CoreXY gantries, 6-axis arms and the gun-orientation problem

    OpenBuilds; Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien · various
  42. 2022

    European design-rug firms add 'robotufting' alongside handmade production: cc-tapis (Milan) and Van Besouw (Netherlands)

    cc-tapis · Milan; Goirle (Netherlands) · Chapter 12
  43. 2022

    Owen Trueblood's robot-arm tufting system: a hacked tufting gun on a UR5 (2022)

    Hackaday.io · New York · Chapter 12
  44. 2023

    Card-Monroe Corp. (Mathews, Christman, Lovelady, Vetter), "Tufting machines and methods of tufting" (US12180632B2): the Hollow Needle machine

    Ricky E. Mathews; William M. Christman Jr.; Brian Lovelady; Jamie Vetter; Card-Monroe Corp. · Chapter 12
  45. 2023–24

    China is the world's #1 carpet exporter; Tianjin-made carpet's biggest market is Iraq

    · Chapter 8
  46. 2023

    Craftphilia (Hong Kong): a crowdfunded 'fully automated' desktop tufting machine for hobbyists

    Craftphilia · Hong Kong
  47. 2023

    Luxury Underfoot

    Sarah Archer · Chapter 6
  48. 2023

    TTW Editions at Paradigm Gallery: rugs made by a large robotic tufting machine (2023)

    Paradigm Gallery + Studio · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Chapter 12
  49. 2023

    Tuft the World's CNC tufting robot: carpal tunnel, a $75,000 machine and the 'handmade' question (2023–2024)

    Tuft the World · West Philadelphia · Chapter 12
  50. 2024

    Tuft the World: An Illustrated Manual to Tufting Gorgeous Rugs, Decor, and More

    Tiernan Alexander and Tim Eads · San Francisco · Chapter 13
  51. 2025

    A 50% US tariff has brought Bhadohi's American business to the brink (2025)

    · Chapter 10
  52. 2025

    China still imports high-end tufting machines

    · Chapter 8
  53. 2025

    Guinness record for the largest hand-tufted carpet (Bhadohi, 2025)

    · Chapter 10
  54. 2026

    Hand tufting guns are still used to mend broadloom at final inspection

    Shaw Industries (design team, in conversation) · Chapter 13
  55. 2026

    TTW Script Bank addendum, rows 110–117 (Susan Burr / hand tool lineage)

    Tuft the World (own work)
  56. 2026

    TTW Script Bank: 109 history scripts (v4)

    Tuft the World (own work)
  57. 2026

    TTW: The History of Tufting (3-minute video script)

    Tuft the World (own work)
  58. 2026

    TTW: Tufting History, The Non-English Record (research brief)

    Tuft the World (own work)