Stockings, Cap Braids and Bomber Turrets: Wyomissing Industries Mobilizes for World War II

Posted by Robert Hill on Dec 1, 2019 in | Comments Off on Stockings, Cap Braids and Bomber Turrets: Wyomissing Industries Mobilizes for World War II   “Textile Machine Works suspends production of knitting machines for the duration.” – The Yarn Carrier, October 1942 The Textile Machine Works was one of a handful of companies with common ownership that became known as Wyomissing Industries, located just west of Reading in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The 13,430th and last knitting machine, a “Reading” model, was the embodiment of 40 years...
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Two Gentlemen of Vision

Posted by Alan Tabachnick on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Two Gentlemen of Vision Henry Janssen and Ferdinand Thun, whose small textile company grew mto the multi-million dollar Wyomissing Industries, were not only prominent industrial­ists, but also visionaries and idealists. With their unique, progressive approach, the two were largely responsible for the development of Wyomiss­ing, Berks County, one of the first planned industrial com­munities in Pennsylvania. Although...
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Letters to the Editor

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor A Culinary Crisis In the article “Larger Than Life Along the Lincoln Highway” in the summer 1995 issue of your magazine, author Brian A. Butko described shoofly pie as “a traditional ‘Pennsylvania Dutch’ dessert made with molasses, raisins, and brown sugar.” My ethnic background is Pennsylvania Dutch (without the quotation marks) and, happily, I grew up eating...
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Letters

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters Energized! Your most recent issue [Spring 2009] has left me “energized”! The articles and the interviews are all top notch – stunningly written and beautifully laid out. This one is a keeper. Thank you for making history so relevant to what we are experiencing today. We need to understand history in order to make critical decisions that will affect not only us but our...
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