Wednesday, April 24, 2024

PULLING THE WOOL OVER AMERICA

 Next  to  LIttle  Darwin's  pet headless bulldog  is another  recently added oddity - a flag-waving  seemingly headless   wooden  sheep   bearing  the  name  of   the    American  Wool.  Co. 

The  critter was  found  tucked away  in a  Townsville  garage  sale  by  our  Shipping Reporter  who  discovered the American Woolen Company was established in  l899 ,which by l920 owned 60 mills ,  one the largest in the world. 

One  mill had  a  four-sided clocktower  which  was  a foot shorter than London's  Big  Ben  tower .

The  company- like Australian wool growers  -  thrived  during  the  cold   Korean War   which  created  a  big  demand  for warm   woollen clothing . However,  at  the end of the  war  and the loss of government   contracts , the  company was  taken  over.