https://i.maga.host/C5ZG18W.jpg

Now this IS NOT me in the picture, however it is the model and style machines we were still running at the time.

I worked in Marion, NC at Marion Fabrics during the late 80s.

I have done exactly what she is doing. She is running the warp through the heddles.

A warp is like a spool of thread all sliced on one side so the ends all come up together. Each thread, or end, has to run through a heddle which is a thin, flat piece of metal. If a thread breaks, the metal falls and it cuts the machine. The heddles 'float' because of tension on the string so when a string breaks you need to get your ass out there and find it, tie it back taut, and start that loom back up to get into production.

A high speed loom makes yards of cotton per minute, back then these picanol style looms probably put out 2 inches of cloth per minute.

the cloth is wound around a spool underneath and 'doffers' come to remove it when it hits a certain yardage.