Antique Carriage Robe
Manufacture Date Estimated 1888
In 1866 Thomas Goodall sold the Blanket Mill he owned in Troy N.H. where he made his horse blankets. Because of the Civil War, the Union army became his best customer and bought every blanket he had in storage. Thomas retired a millionaire and moved to England. While there he tried to visit a factory making mohair plush but was denied entry because he was considered an "industrial spy". Up until 1881 the production of mohair plush was limited to Germany and England and its production considered a trade secret. After a year in England he got restless and came back to the U.S. looking for a new business opportunity. He bought a 1 1/2 story felt mill and lumber mill in Sanford, ME., and in 1867 he began expanding and started making wool horse blankets and other wool products again.
During 1869-1870 Thomas' son George Goodall went on a painting tour of Europe with several of Maine's best artist at the time. His tour ended in England where he had the opportunity to visit a mohair plush factory. Bad move to let an artist with a trained eye for detail scope out the production facility. In 1871, he and his twin brother Ernest started to work on building a loom that was perfected by 1881. The Goodall Co. was the only factory in the U.S. weaving the very fine Angora goat hair into mohair plush.
Carriage robes were manufactured from 1881 and into the 1920-30s. It was reported that at one time there were over 450 different designs of carriage robes, each one designed by George Goodall, whose real aspiration was to be a painter but was not allowed to pursue that career path. He was needed at the factory.
There you have in a nut shell the story of your carriage robe and why the 1888 manufacturing date, found on an auction house website, could be accurate.
Carriage Robe Size - 44" x 56"
*Some wear on binding
