posted on November 4, 2000 02:45:43 PM
A three part question:
1) Is there a way to tell if something is silk? I have a peice that "feels" like silk, but I am no expert.
2) I have a bolt of red naugahyde upholstery fabric. It is stamped on the back with the word nuagahyde inside of a shield with the numbers 9-68. Could this refer to the date of manufacture?
3) This fabric (pictured) is sheer. It has almost irredescent embridered looking areas, also some areas with silver thread embridered. Is this fabric for curtains or dressmaking? Can you date it?
posted on November 4, 2000 04:15:42 PMSilk:: Burn a piece. If it's silk, it'llsmell like burning hair (silk = protein, as is hair) and leave ash. If it's synthetic, it'll leave a hard blob instead of ash (the fibers melt).
I'm no naugahyde expert, but I'm guessing you're probably right about the date, since I remember the "Nauga" ads from my childhood (1960s). Genuine Naugahyde? Cool! (Not exactly the going thing for drapes, but you never know.)
Your fancy piece of stuff is a pretty wild piece of brocaded chiffon. I'd date it most likely late '60s-early '70s (1967-1975). When you take pix for auction purposes, put a sheet of white paper behind ONE layer of the fabric so the viewer can get a good idea of the print without the other layers showing through. Your closeups are great!
posted on November 4, 2000 06:04:23 PM
upinthehills -- thank you for fixing my boo-boo.
hartcottagequilts -- thank you very much for the info... Hopefully there are some folks in desperate search for a bolt of genuine naugahyde.
The great close-ups are courtesy of Sony Mavica (thanks for the compliment!)
--Brought to you by MHO Productions--
posted on November 5, 2000 07:32:51 AM
Here's a rare picture of the elusive Nauga:
Site says that, when the stuff first came out, there was a flurry of environmental activism to Save the Nauga. The cause actually made its way onto Johnny Carson.
