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Woollen Mill
Older classes:
Workers:
Interest Story:
Jr. Turner told this wartime story.
Junior was at a dog trial and a Mr. Mike McLachlan asked him if he was from Magrath. Junior told him he was and Mr. McLachlan told him that he had been stationed in Italy as a young Canadian soldier and was issued a gray army blanket with a black stripe down one side and it was made in Magrath, Alberta, Canada.
That blanket kept him warm during that cold Italian winter. When Spring cam he got some Italian girls to make a coat out of the blanket.
Several months later, he was transferred to Scandinavia to be a part of the army ski patrol. He was issued another gray woollen blanket with the black stripe down one side and made in Magrath at the Golden Fleece Woollen Mill.
- Gray blankets with the black stripes were sent all over Europe during the war.
- Blessing to the Town of Magrath, as jobs were created for town citizens.
- In full operation, the Golden Fleece Woollen Mill ran three 8 hour shifts, 24 hours a day.
- Twenty-five men and women were on each shift making seventy-five individuals in total.
- 225 blankets were made each day.
- Used over a million pounds of wool each year.
- Helped put Magrath on the map.
- Tried to produce mattresses, wool batts, cloth, yarn, socks and jackets.
- A Canadian Government contract for the war effort gave the mill the stability it needed.
- Blankets were gray with its unique black stripe down one side.
- After war produced a variety of colours: peach, pale blue, pink and white BUT best known for the gray army blanket.
Older classes:
- Wool came to Mill as it was sheared from sheep’s back.
- Was sorted into classes.
- Then scoured according to grade. In water @ 120 degrees F.
- Used a suitable cleansing medium to preserve the natural luster and strength of wool fibre.
- White blankets was the wool in its natural state.
- Those dyed required one to three hours at boiling point.
- They were fast and durable.
Workers:
- Proud to be there and doing their part in the war effort.
- When they heard the war had ended , Charles Johnson, the day foreman pushed the “Kill button switch” and the factory came to a halt and he made the announcement.
- The workers yelled and leaped into the air and poured out into the street singing and dancing for several minutes.
- When the hoop-la died down, they looked at each other and wondered what do? If the war was over, would they still have a job? Would the mill still operate?
- Mr. Johnson called them back inside and they finished their shift.
Interest Story:
Jr. Turner told this wartime story.
Junior was at a dog trial and a Mr. Mike McLachlan asked him if he was from Magrath. Junior told him he was and Mr. McLachlan told him that he had been stationed in Italy as a young Canadian soldier and was issued a gray army blanket with a black stripe down one side and it was made in Magrath, Alberta, Canada.
That blanket kept him warm during that cold Italian winter. When Spring cam he got some Italian girls to make a coat out of the blanket.
Several months later, he was transferred to Scandinavia to be a part of the army ski patrol. He was issued another gray woollen blanket with the black stripe down one side and made in Magrath at the Golden Fleece Woollen Mill.
Golden Fleece Woollen Mill workers Thelma Turner, Thelma Mai, Gladys Coleman, Thelma Miller at back, and Mary Clifton standing in front of the Woollen Mill building. (originally the Royal Bank) It was located where the Town Hall is today.
The windows are filled with gray army blankets, which the woollen mill was famous for producing during World War II. These blankets had a distinct black line woven in the blanket.
The windows are filled with gray army blankets, which the woollen mill was famous for producing during World War II. These blankets had a distinct black line woven in the blanket.
