Glass cloth
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Glass cloth is a textile material, the name of which indicates the use for which it was originally intended. The cloths are in general woven with the plain weave, and the fabric may be all white, striped or checked with red, blue or other colored threads; the checked cloths are the most common. The real article should be all linen, but a large quantity is made with cotton warp and tow weft, and in some cases they arc composed entirely of cotton. The short fibres of the cheaper kind are easily detached from the cloth, and hence they are not so satisfactory for the purpose for which they are intended.
Glass cloth was originally developed as a substance to be used in greenhouses which allowed sunlight's ultraviolent rays to be filtered out, yet allowing light through to plants. It was also commonly used in place of glass windows in chicken coops. Glass cloth was invented and first manufactured in 1916 by Alfred Turner in Bladen, Nebraska. After the invention of plexiglass, the need and usefulness of glass cloth faded, though during its popularity it was sold nationwide by many national retailers. During the Great Depression, Bladen's post office would have likely closed were it not due to the mail traffic caused by glass cloth.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
