#cone mill

Colloid Mill

A colloid mill is a machine that is used to reduce the particle size of a solid in suspension in a liquid.

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Images by Ebby Amir

History of Cone Mills, Proximity village and White Oak. 

  Cotton and the south

During the American Industrial revolution the southern states started became famous for their cotton production and by the 1860 two thirds of the global cotton production came from that part of the USA.  After the civil war people dreamed of a 'New South' considering the vast possibilities of production in North Carolina.  At that time two young salesmen, named Moses and Caesar Cone, ran their fathers grocery business.  Since money was scarce in those days, the brothers would sometimes get paid in cloth by the store and mill owners which they could sell to other markets.  This is how the Cone brothers got involved in the textile business and how they realised something had to change in their region. At that time over fifty mills were situated in the area and in 1891 the Cone brothers decide these textile plants needed somebody to represent them all as banker and distributor to market the products they were manufacturing to the rest of the world.  This was to be the beginning of their legacy to the North American clothing industry.

Cone Mills

In 1893 Moses and Caesar Cone believed it was time to change their business model due to the lack of quality fabrics.  Secondly, they faced trouble renewing the contracts with the various mills as they argued that if their cloths were really as good as they claimed, then they could earn more profit if they started selling the fabrics again themselves.  This is why the brothers decided they would build two textile mills of their own.  One would make denim fabrics and the other would stick to flannels.  However, due to the 'Panic' in 1893 and again in 1896 they were forced to focus on denim development in conjunction with the production business Cone added a new chapter to the history in the south when they opened a facility to finish cloth.  This allowed the producers in the south to diversify and improve their semi-raw products.

At the end of the nineteenth century denim was a fabric that was only produced in the North-East of the United States.  Cone Mills foresaw that the industrialisation would lead to an exponential growth and demand for denim.  For this reason the company decided to try and evoke the southern mills to focus their business on denim.  However, after only one of the mills dared to take the chance, they decided it was time to take steps on their own.  In 1895 the company gave birth to the Proximity Cotton Mills where they began weaving denim fabric a year later with 7500 spindles and 240 looms.  To keep that many looms supplied with yarn the spinning machines were running night and day.  During its 82 years of existence Proximity produced nothing but denim.  By 1951 the plant had 1500 employees 61.632 spindles and 2085 looms producing 49.000.000 yards of denim per year.  In 1978 the company decided to close the Proximity business and consolidate its denim operations in the White Oak Cliffside plants.

White Oak

During the early 1900's the demand for the denim grew further.  It made the Cone brothers decide to build yet another plant close to proximity.  A huge White Oak tree of nearly 200 years old that measured four feet and two inches across the trunk became the symbol of this new project.  History tells us that the oak was used as a meeting place for people who came to Greensboro from the surrounding areas.  The tree would protect from the sun and rain underneath its spreading branches.  This is where the brothers decided to build the largest denim factory ever.  The White Oak Plant began to exclusively produce denim in 1905, and continues to do so to this day.  The White Oak tree remained a symbol of its excellence long after it came down during a storm in the summer of 1930.

After World War I the focus in the denim production went from military materials to peacetime products.  The entire business subsequently went through an adjustment.  Cone added new fabrics to the portfolio such as chambrays, coverts, ticking and upholstery cloth to the existing list of products.  Although Cone would develop many great new clothes to the business it was another denim breakthrough that would turn the jeans business upside down.  Before 1936 denims dirty and dusty looking qualities were considered to be inherent to the fabric.  Cones's visionaries had a different opinion.  In 1936 they produced Cones Deeptone Denim that was more pleasing in terms of colour, smoother in finish and much more attractive to post-war consumers.  The new fabric modernised marketing as well.  Levi Strauss was one of the first manufactures who established ideas about brand identity and loyalty.  Cone's close relationship with Levi's started in 1915 and continues to the present day.  Cone Produced the legendary XX fabric for Levi's that became the brands most important icon next to the 501 jean.

World War II

During WWII the Cone Mills were quickly converted so they could produce fabrics for the war effort.  Cone was making cloths they had never produced before for tents, camouflage clothing and other much needed fabrics.  According to the estimates seventy percent of the southern clothing business was reserved for WWII support.  Soon after the war the entire business changed again.  During the 50's the invention of television began to influence the youngsters who started to wear jeans as a fashion statement, rather than as functional workwear.  With the emergence of Rock n Roll an entire nations social structure changed and Cone increased their business in dying, printing and finishing fabrics to match the demand.

Post war America and consumer culture

In 1956, for the first time, demand for denim declined.  The company decided to further develop their production of corduroy, twills and poplins.  The interest in the contemporary side of denim would further grow the decades that followed.  Inventions like stretch-denim would take the current denim interpretations further and further away from the fabric that it all started with.  Technological advancements sped up this process even more.  The mills were suddenly able to blend fabrics and continued to develop, in order to serve the growing casual and sportswear markets.

The Cone Mills 20th Century is best described as one of excellence.  This family business with the inspirational Cone brothers as major innovators, have always been ahead of the time.  When no one was thinking about jeans beside the Northern States, Cone was doing it better than anyone.  Although nobody thought of life after raw workwear, Cone Mills developed it.  When they concluded that the enormous denim demand would basically mean that they had to build a 24hr business and they needed motivated people to run it, Cone created an entire village with a private infrastructure and even its own baseball team. They would basically do anything for quality and diligence.

Words by Menno Van Meurs