A Jacquard of All Trades

Pull up a towel, listen to me talk about towels.

You may have thought we’re all Marxist chair-building, cement pigment, and lumber yards around here—but no! We have a softer side at Treehouse as well. To wit: we can be quite fanatical and opinionated about towels, and more specifically, the beach variety.

Some, but not all, of my favorite towels (L-R), from All Roads Design, Peace Towel, BAGGU and LL Bean.

Here’s what we don’t like in a beach towel: low pile and thin, graphic printed on the flat side, textured side sad and anemic. In my family, these towels are relegated to a life as “Dog Towel”—this is just how low our opinion of these towels can be.

What we like in a towel is high pile and damask—meaning that the threads are pre-dyed and woven so that the design is visible on both sides. No printing, no humiliating “white side” to hide in the sand.

Fabric! Long and complicated histories, most. Here’s the rough and ready version: Damask is one of the five major weaving techniques of the Middle Ages. It originated in China, but gets its name from Damascus, Syria, big stop on the Silk Road, which is where it was popularized. That’s why a lot of the “damask” patterns you see have a sort of vaguely ~boho~ Anthropologie vibe to them, however, the technique can be applied to any design or pattern. “True damask” was woven in silk, but as the technique spread (likely because of movement by the Crusaders), the type of fiber shifted as well. For example, damask was taken up in France sometimes using linen.

Damask is woven using a single warp and weft to create that reversible pattern. The weaver would have had to keep this pattern in mind, while lifting individual threads to create the effect. Painstaking and highly skilled work, and as such, really only used for the finest of textiles. But! In 1801, the French inventor Jacques Marie Jacquard invented a loom attachment that mechanize the process using a system of punch cards. These Jacquard looms revolutionized weaving—suddenly, complicated techniques, like brocade and damask, could be more easily and therefore more affordably made. And these days, damask textiles, produced on computerized Jacquard looms, use all kinds of fibers, including, excitingly, cotton for beach towels.

Side note, but exceptionally interesting: The Jacquard punch card technique had a big influence on the work of mechanical engineer Charles Babbage, who used this idea in his work on early mechanical computing.

Coupl’a links and some further reading:
What is Damask? A Guide to This Famous Fabric
2,000 Years of Elegance: The Story of Damask
Everything to Know About Damask Fabric: History, Characteristics, Uses, and Care for Damask
How was it Made? Jacquard weaving
Jacquard Machine
Jacquard Loom

A few more of my favorite towels, now with the addition of Dusen Dusen, Carleen and Peace Cloth x Judaica Standard Time

As the personal photos that I’ve popped into this post clearly reveal: I have a mild (not mild) obsession (compulsion) when it comes to these damask/jacquard towels. And so! To round out the history lesson, let’s have a little round-up of some favorite towel-suppliers and a few that I am doing everything in my power not to add to my collection.

1. Peace Towel | Lena Corwin’s towels are the cornerstone to any good collection. :)

2. Baggu | Always solid! They call them bath towels, but I think they are large enough for the beach, too.

3. Dusen Dusen | Is Ellen Van Dusen the high priestess of bright and fun beach towels?

4. Carleen | With a hearty nod to classic quilt patterns, Carleen’s collaboration with Daydream Surf Shop is a favorite.

5. LL Bean | This is a space that requires repeat visits. Bean towels are almost always jacquard, but the patterns aren’t always so great (except when they are!).

6. Brooklinen | Brooklinen has a surprising towel game. I have one, but I covet others.

7. Sounds | Each towel in this collection is a limited artist collaboration. These are a nice smaller size, which is good if you’re a dunk-and-leave type who's not as interested in lolling around on the beach.

8. Mare | A friend came to stay last year, learned about my towel habit and then sent me one of these, kinda ~fancy~ ones.

9. Some towels that I don’t own, but that seem like good options: Outerknown | Quiet Town | Lateral Objects | House No 3 | Business and Pleasure | Baina | Bathing Culture

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Listings

Well, I completely lost myself in the Schumacher blog while reading about damask! (LINK) Especially excited about this new-to-me design collective, Folly Cove. (LINK)

In honor of my greatest and bestest friend’s birthday TODAY, here are a bunch of free pallets. (LINK)

Car parking stops in Rhode Island. Feels like there could be a fun use for these…? (LINK)

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Note

I don’t know what it is or what it means yet, but Substack has added a new “Referral” feature and I said, OK Substack, why not? I think, essentially, if you refer this “Publication” to a friend or several and they sign up, you get a free month of a paid subscription ( = the print zine and monthly playlist from someone interesting). There’s a Leaderboard tab now, where I guess we can all compete for my affection via referrals. I don’t know! Let’s try it, I guess? Thanks, as ever, for your support here.