Craftex Mills, Inc., 1923
1806 Venango Street, Philadelphia PA 19134
(southeast corner of Ruth Street)
© Carmen A. Weber, Irving Kosmin, and
Muriel Kirkpatrick, Workshop of the World (Oliver Evans
Press, 1990).
In 1923 Herman Blum purchased an old
mill in Kensington and began a textile company.
1
The Craftex firm made rayon
upholstery fabric. Produced as a specialty item on a
Jacquard loom, the bright polychrome brocade was designed
to reflect a "renaissance" style and had the appearance
of silk. The fabric required skilled burlers in the final
inspection and repair of small flaws.
The firm has continued to operate throughout the
twentieth century under the control of the Blum and Seder
families, adapting its production to demand. The complex,
now composed of one, two, and three story brick
buildings, employed 93 people in 1943.
2
In the 1950s, a contract
with General Motors led to the production of durable
automobile seat upholstery. Similar fabrics were then
produced for commercial airline seats and office
furniture upholstery. With a branch plant in
Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the Kensington location still
operates as the administrative headquarters.
Approximately 100 people are employed here in the design
and finishing, including burling, of Craftex
products. 3
1
Jean Seder,
Voices of Kensington:
Vanishing Mills, Vanishing
Neighborhoods,
(Ardmore, 1982)
2
Chamber of Commerce
and Board of Trade, Philadelphia, p. 37
3
Interview with
Robert Blum, (1989).
Update May
2007 (by Torben
Jenk):
Mostly vacant. An auto repair shop and commercial laundry
operate on the first floor along Ruth Street. The water
tower remains, with white lettering on green proclaiming
"CRAFTEX MILLS."