Continental Mills Slasher Room, photograph by Henri Larocque, Lewiston, Maine, 1885-1889. MHPC.S.3405
Continental Mills Slasher Room, photograph by Henri Larocque, Lewiston, Maine, 1885-1889. MHPC.S.3405
These young mill workers pose in front of the slashing machinery at the Continental Mills in Lewiston. Workers dipped cotton thread in hot starch to strengthen them for weaving. Most of the heavy work in the slashing room was done by men, but girls prepared the thread for the slasher. Workers in the slasher room had the hottest and stickiest jobs in a textile mill.