History of linens...

Red Falcon

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone.

To commemorate the poorly misjudged Towel Day quest-line and event (Which I apologize for my poor misjudgement of), I am starting a discussion about the history of linens, including towels. What is the point of this discussion? Well, it is notably for all people on this forum to contribute solid proof of the history of one type of linen. It can be a towel, a washcloth, a bed sheet, or any other type of linen. I will start things off, just so everybody knows how this discussion is intended to work.

The history of towels...

Quote: The Turkish towel is essentially a bath towel measuring approximately 90cm x 110cm. Made of cotton or linen originally, later and especially in the 18th century, it was constructed with a looped pile section in the center.

It was a very important part of Turkish social life and continues to be so, but originally it was meant for ceremonial bath for a bride before her wedding and for important occasions later in life. The Turkish `hamams` too have an undeniable relationship with these towels. For a complete set of towels were available and is still available which consisted of different towels for the shoulder, hips and head. This elaborate arrangement was made keeping the special Turkish baths in mind.

The towel would still have been the drab piece of bath accessory if the Ottomans did not intercede. They brought style, design and fancy weaving to the towels with the help of their well-honed carpet weaving skills in the 17th century. Their towel was different in the sense that their 2/2-twill weave had extra-warp loop pile. It actually means that apart from the warp and weft of any other woven cloth their towel also had pile or loops of thread standing up from the rudimentary cloth.

The towels that we use all over the world actually were first woven in modern day Bursa in the 18th century. Weavers invented different techniques for these towels and the towels known as `havly` at the beginning are now known as `havlu`, which is actually the Turkish word for towels. The specialty and much of the fame of these towels naturally rest on the fact that these towels were hand woven, which limited their manufacturing to 3-4 towels a day.

Quote...

  • The invention of the towel was associated, at least apocryphally, with the city of Bursa in Turkey. The city is still noted for the production of "Turkish towels."
  • In Middle Ages archeological studies, "... closely held personal items included the ever present knife and a towel."[6]
  • In early 2011, hotels started using towels with washable embedded RFID tags.[7]

Sources...

http://www.turkeyforyou.com/turkey_turkish_towels_history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towel

Note: The reason I started this discussion is because I did not understand the point of introducing towels (And other linens) into a game like The West. But after looking into the history of such fabrics, I now understand their importance in everyday lives.
 

DeletedUser

Note: The reason I started this discussion is because I did not understand the point of introducing towels (And other linens) into a game like The West. But after looking into the history of such fabrics, I now understand their importance in everyday lives.

What, did you not use towels before in your everyday life?

After reading the above post my brain now feels like it's just attended a three day seminar entitled 'The Future Of Plumbing'.
 
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