Silk Stocking Mats: Hooked Mats of the Grenfell Mission (review)

Paula Laverty’s twenty-year odyssey has borne rich fruit. Silk Stocking Mats, a deftly told social history, is clearly a labour of love. For textile lovers, the somewhat static appearance of the mats’ northern images belies a richly textured history. Laverty’s thorough research highlights the dedication of a large number of people, in North America and England, who worked tirelessly in the collection of materials vital to production, marketing, and sales of the mats and other products hooked by impoverished women living in Labrador and Newfoundland outports.

Originally begun as a medical mission in 1892 by the intrepid Dr Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, the ‘Industrial,’ a cottage industry, was established in 1906. The Industrial’s aim was to alleviate the grinding poverty caused by merchant capital’s monopoly of an unpredictable industry based on cod fishing. Grenfell’s charisma and drive ensured that his fun-draising efforts garnered wide support and response from members of the medical community; some offered to serve in remote regions for years. Although Grenfell is most closely associated with the Industrial, Laverty introduces readers to a host of other people, such as Jessie Luther, whose selfless dedication sustained the Industrial during its first decade. Trained as an occupational therapist, with a background in many crafts, Luther was as fearless as the doctor. Despite the fact that for several years, the very practice that put the region on the map was not acknowledged as a potential income source, Luther developed a thriving weaving industry in six villages. Initially, lack of access to looms and materials, and the unfamiliarity of the craft created hurdles that Luther managed to overcome. Always mindful of potential income sources, Luther experimented with dyes and fabrics, creating designs for mats based on local wildlife and domesticated animals. Another notable woman was Grenfell’s young wife, Anne McClanahan Grenfell. After Grenfell himself took up designing, his wife pressed for standardization and control that generated irreconcilable differences, ultimately culminating in Luther’s resignation after ten years of selfless service. A host of other qualified and dedicated women followed Luther’s path, making substantial contributions to the regions’ residents for decades. They travelled extensively by dog team or rowboat, under dangerous and unpredictable weather conditions. Like the residents they served, these women endured hardship and deprivation to distribute supplies and collect the finished mats in remote regions. Indeed, many mat hookers took their payment in clothing vouchers. The resultant earnings for mat hookers contributed vitally to covering their household expenses.

Regardless of the materials used in mat creation, a great deal of practice was needed to produce an even texture. However, some materials are better than others. Many of the pre-1920 mats contained dyed cotton, which results in a ‘look’ very different from those hooked with rayon and silk strips. The latter fibres impart a lovely sheen, and the finest hooking (up to two hundred knots per inch) appears like needlepoint and allows for subtleties in shading and colours nonexistent in the more robust visually flattened cotton mats. The Industrial’s apex was reached in 1929, when nine tons of silk and rayon stockings and undergarments were donated, and several shops opened in New England to market the Industrial’s production. Over the years, the mission’s success oscillated, affected by access to suitable materials, and shipping curtailed by wars and the Depression.

Silk Stocking Mats is generously illustrated with historic photographs of key participants, in tandem with beautiful colour illustrations of a variety of mats. The book’s content is divided equally between the historical context and colour plates. Laverty has curated three Grenville mat exhibitions and the catalogue is a beautiful testament to her dogged determination to unearth the history behind the mats and their makers. She was very fortunate to locate a number of elderly women willing to commiserate about an activity that put food on the table of impoverished households. In addition to the photographs and historic...