Madras Handkerchiefs

MADRAS HANDKERCHIEFS (Imitation, Lancashire make)

Plain weave cotton fabric woven in coloured stripes 36-in. 8 yards, 80 ends and 128 picks per inch, 60's T., 40's W. When indigo or green is used the count is 50's. Other colours most in favour are grey, turkey red, chocolate and yellow. The colours are not fast. The feature of the cloth is that some of the warp yarn bleeds during finishing and tints the grey weft which gives a solid colour effect. ————————

MADRAS HANDKERCHIEFS

There is a certain class of dyed cotton goods hand-woven on native looms in Madras known as " Madras Handkerchiefs." Their principal use is as dress for the native women of several of our Colonies and elsewhere. The real Madras handkerchief has a peculiar smell which never entirely disappears. Lancashire can and does produce a handkerchief at a much lower price than the hand-made article, but Lancashire cannot reproduce the smell. Owing to the absence of this smell Lancashire cannot compete, and today the native will pay twice as much for the real handkerchief, recognised by its smell, as for the Lancashire article. The hand-loom weavers in the Madras Presidency produce a large quantity of these fabrics and the style was invented there. The European variety is an imitation. The native-made fabric is 36-in. wide and 8 yards long, woven ends and 128 picks per inch, warp usually 60's grey, turkey red, yellow, chocolate, and 50's indigo and green. The weft is 40's both grey and coloured, weight about 26-oz. The yarns are generally imported grey and dyed locally with the one exception of turkey red. The colours are loose in the warp so that the grey weft is tinted. These hand-made fabrics are still better in handle and style than the imitations and are preferred in the Indian markets.