Scranton Lace Co. Factory

[justiceischeap]

In 2002, the supervisors went onto the floor in the middle of a shift and told everyone that the factory was closing and they were losing all their jobs. At the time, everything was left as is. Lace still on the looms, some personal belongings left behind because people were in shock. Ten years is a long time in abandonment land, so by the time I got to visit yesterday, there wasn't much left of the original items. The new owner has gutted/demolished quite a bit for his future condo/mixed use plans. I don't know how Scranton will support what he plans on doing, it's very upscale for the area the factory is actually in but I wish him luck.

Original bowling shoes from the bowling alley


Pro-Tek Invisible Glove Jar


Thread


More thread


Bobbins (owner was kind enough to send us home with some)


Rolling baskets


Scale (still works--off to the left is a very old freight elevator)


Path between buildings


Hand-drawn lace pattern


And many more on flickr. I didn't upload all the keepers today (only 32 out of 54)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/justice_is_cheap/sets/72157633239938621/

[NV Whino]

1. Beautiful pics.

Last edited Sun Apr 14, 2013, 04:26 PM - Edit history (1)

Glad you got there to document that little bit of history. I hope there are plans to save the clock tower.

[justiceischeap]

4. Yeah, the new owner is intending to keep several of the original

items from the factory, including the clock tower. There is one 30 foot loom left and the room that it sits in will be turned into a museum of items from the factory.

[NV Whino]

7. Great!

[Callalily]

2. To be perfectly honest, I scrolled up and

down several times just marveling at your photos! You absolutely did a great job capturing the soul of the lace factory!

[justiceischeap]

5. Thanks Callalilly!

To be honest, I felt my Eastern State photos last week were better but then when I initially saw them, I thought they were crap too, so maybe they need to grow on me (or maybe I'm just my own worst critic).

[Callalily]

9. Ohhhhh . . . we are ALL our own worst critic.

I took some photos for work today, viewed them on my camera and thought I had some good shots. Sent them to the department that was to use them with the caveat "if you don't like them, if they are not what you need I can go shoot again!" Oy vey . . . I did have a few nice shots, but everyone (me included) is a critic! LOL!

But I guess that's good. As photographers, we are always striving for that "perfect" shot - for that "money" shot! *sigh*

[alfredo]

3. Beautiful work. The invisible glove jar reminds me of my mechanic days. I used a different

brand, but it worked the same. Mine was made from sugar beets.

[justiceischeap]

6. Thanks Alfredo! I didn't inspect the jar closely

I'm guessing you put this stuff on your hands to help keep them clean?

[Solly Mack]

8. Excellent!

Truly outstanding photos.