Sally Fox was born in Palo Alto, California on December 30th, 1955. As a young girl, her mother brought her to stores for fabric. Then at the age of 12, she became interested in spinning fabric. Young Sally bought a spindle with her babysitting money and created thread with everything she could. It wasn't until she was in high school that she discovered her passion for entomology. By the time she was in her early 20's, the Peace Corps sent Fox to Gambia in West Africa where she studied the constant misuse of pesticides. During her studies she became very concerned about the environment and was encouraged to develop safer methods to pest management.
Upon her return, she registered in a graduate program at the University of California. In 1982, Fox then received her Masters Degree in Integrated Pest Management. The interest in cotton continued to when she was 27 and worked for a man who had cotton seeds whose lint was brown. His main focus was developing pest resistant strains of cotton. At the time, the Industrial Revolution had replaced the short-fibered, colored cotton for long-fibered, all white cotton. They had to make the change because it processed better in the industrial looms.
This was Sally's opportunity to finally improve the environment the way she had always hoped. She asked the man she worked for why they weren't using the pest resistant brown cotton seeds and he said "Why don't you use them?" So that's where it all began. Sally picked out the seeds and hand spun each one. Once she decided which were the easiest to spin, she planted them. After seven years, (even when she stopped working for the man,) she continued to plant the cotton, carefully plucking the seeds from the plants with the best fiber once the bolls opened up. Sally also cross bred her cotton with white cotton to produce a longer fiber. She applied for and won Plant Variety Protection Certificates for them. The certificates are the equivalent to a patent. In 1989 she sold her first crop. She was running a 10 million dollar business.
But the road wasn't a smooth one. Powerful cotton growers in California were afraid that colored varieties would spread to their crops. They created strict laws against her, forcing her to move to Arizona in 1993. Six years later, Arizona cotton growers repeated the same action, relocating her to Northern California. To make things more difficult, spinning mills in the U.S, Japan, and Europe started closing. But until the spinning industries moved to less developed countries, Fox's cotton had an advantage. It cost 2 more dollars per pound to get rid of and treat the toxic waste coming from other cotton dyeing processes.
Although things were getting rough, Sally managed to create a variety of colors for the cotton. The process takes about 10 years of careful selection to create a useable variety of cotton from an initial cross-bred seed. She now sells to smaller mills and customers. She hopes to rebuild her business and network of growers. Fox hopes to set an example for mills that it is possible to create textiles without harming the environment. With her determination and dedication, her dreams are beginning to unfold.
The colored cotton didn't cost anything to invent because it was naturally colored. Although it didn' t cost anything, it takes almost 10 years to come up with new colors. Sally also wove each piece of cotton to see which ones were the easiest to weave. Not only did she do that, she also had to tend to her crop out in the field. There was no cost, but it did take a lot of time and dedication.
Sally Fox's experiments started with pots on her back porch and eventually grew to being planted in her backyard. From there she started her business. Starting out, she did all of the finances on her own. She never imagined it would grow into the striving company it is today. Eventually she attained an increasing amount of money and started to expand her cotton empire.
The natural colored cotton was good for the economy of the time. During the 1980's, the U.S was going through a recession. Farmers were especially effected because all of the farm products were imported from India, China, and other countries. This did not help Fox's company but she kept moving forward regardless. People in the long run were spending less money because it was inside the country. The companies using toxic dies also have to pay 2 more dollars per pound to pick up toxic waste which is costing people more money and costing our Earth more damage.
Fox Fibre's sliver is now $3 an ounce and $48 a pound. Fox Fibre's yarn is $5 per ounce and $60 per pound which is about 1100 yards. Other companies charge $198 for a 1200 yard yarn cone, while Sally charges $60 per pound. The average person made about $50,221 per year in 2009. In 1989, the average income was $21,564 per year.
While reading these numbers, you also have to remember how prices have risen in the past 23 years. When the prices rose, the income had to rise as well to keep up. Compared to other companies selling cotton, Sally's cotton is fairly cheap. Especially with the economy the way it is now. The average person would have no problem buying Sally's cotton because of the great deals she gives. With all of the hard work put in, the price is very reasonable.
Cultural Impact
Flying Shuttle
In 1733, John Kay invented the flying shuttle. On earlier weavers, people had to push the bobbin from one side to the other by hand. When you had a large loom, you needed two weavers to throw the shuttle. The flying shuttle made it possible to be operated by one weaver by throwing the shuttle with a leaver. Although it was making weaving easier, later on in time textile workers started attacking his home because they were afraid he might take their work away from them.
Spinning Jenny
The spinning Jenny was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves. His original creation used eight spindles instead of one. All of the spindles were controlled by one wheel. Later models had up to 120 spindles. Hargreaves' invention was the first invention to improve the spinning wheel. Although it reduced the need for labor, a group of spinners broke into his house and destroyed his machines because they were in fear the machines would take away their jobs.
Richard Arkwright invented the spinning frame in 1768. The spinning frame produced stronger threads for yarns. The first models were powered by waterwheels so was environmentally better just like Sally Fox's innovation. In fact, it was the first automatic textile machine drifting away from usual manufacturing and moving towards factory production. The first textile mill was built in Cromord, England in 1774.
Power Loom - Circa 1833
Edmand Cartwright invented the powered loom in 1785. The loom was powered by steam and mechanically operated. The invention combined threads to make cloth. He patented the loom and set up a factory in Doncaster, England. But it needed to be improved and several inventors were happy to do it.
In 1793 the famous cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin was a machine that pulled seeds and other items from the fibers of the cotton bolls. Before his invention, cleaning cotton had been a very tedious and difficult process. With the cotton gin, you simply inserted the cotton into the top of the machine and turn the handle. When you turn the handle, wire teeth comb out the seeds. It is then pulled out of the teeth and out of the cotton gin. Simple, but it was revolutionary throughout the country.
The Jacquard Loom was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804. The loom was invented to create complex designs. Jacquard thought of a way to automatically control the weft and warp threads on a silk loom by recording patterns of hole on a string of cards. It was the first machine to use punched cards. It not only decreased manual labor, but allowed the same pattern to be used again and again and stored on cards.
In 1872 Sally Fox started her research with natural colored cotton that is better for the environment.
Each of these inventions has led to creating the other in a domino effect of better effiency in weaving. They were all an important part in the Industrial Revolution that has made America's technology the way it is now. Without these inventions there wouldn't be a way to weave Sally's invention/innovation. Weaving was also a part of Sally's inspiration for her invention. Fox's invention was just another innovation to the cotton technology by making it environmentally safe and efficient.
In 1989 Sally Fox patented her cross bred cotton seeds. She actually received what is called a Plant Variety Protection Certificate for her cotton which is the equivalent to a patent. You must first apply for the certificate and then win it. Since it was not too long ago that it was patented the process is still almost the same. But that was only the start of her business in the cotton industry. She had come up with a way to have naturally colored cotton to help the environment.
Cotton dyeing processes create toxic waste that costs extra money to have to treat. Sounds great right? Well it is, but at first people didn't want to except it. The state of california imposed strict laws on her in fear of their crops being "contaminated," forcing her to move to Arizona. But they acted just the same and soon she was back to Northern California. But spinning mills around the world and in the U.S started closing. Then a dye plant in Hong Kong dumped its waste and killed 300 acres of crops just as harvesting began.
So Sally now caters to smaller businesses and hopes it will start to grow larger. She even met two regular men who's grandfather used to own a mill. But once they got older, the dyes had contaminated the water supply and the mill had to be shut down. But with Fox's cotton, they hope to open it up again and set an example to people around the world that they can still be environmentally safe while being efficient. This is just one example of how Sally Fox's invention has helped regular people in a community.
With cotton dyeing plants, our water supply could be contaminated at anytime and effect us drastically. It already has after the harvest was destroyed when the dye plant spilled. So something as simple as changing the type of cotton we use can help the environment and ourselves. Sally Fox's dreams of making a difference have already come true and hopefully continue throughout time.
Sally FoxSally Fox was born in Palo Alto, California on December 30th, 1955. As a young girl, her mother brought her to stores for fabric. Then at the age of 12, she became interested in spinning fabric. Young Sally bought a spindle with her babysitting money and created thread with everything she could. It wasn't until she was in high school that she discovered her passion for entomology. By the time she was in her early 20's, the Peace Corps sent Fox to Gambia in West Africa where she studied the constant misuse of pesticides. During her studies she became very concerned about the environment and was encouraged to develop safer methods to pest management.
Upon her return, she registered in a graduate program at the University of California. In 1982, Fox then received her Masters Degree in Integrated Pest Management. The interest in cotton continued to when she was 27 and worked for a man who had cotton seeds whose lint was brown. His main focus was developing pest resistant strains of cotton. At the time, the Industrial Revolution had replaced the short-fibered, colored cotton for long-fibered, all white cotton. They had to make the change because it processed better in the industrial looms.
This was Sally's opportunity to finally improve the environment the way she had always hoped. She asked the man she worked for why they weren't using the pest resistant brown cotton seeds and he said "Why don't you use them?" So that's where it all began. Sally picked out the seeds and hand spun each one. Once she decided which were the easiest to spin, she planted them. After seven years, (even when she stopped working for the man,) she continued to plant the cotton, carefully plucking the seeds from the plants with the best fiber once the bolls opened up. Sally also cross bred her cotton with white cotton to produce a longer fiber. She applied for and won Plant Variety Protection Certificates for them. The certificates are the equivalent to a patent. In 1989 she sold her first crop. She was running a 10 million dollar business.
But the road wasn't a smooth one. Powerful cotton growers in California were afraid that colored varieties would spread to their crops. They created strict laws against her, forcing her to move to Arizona in 1993. Six years later, Arizona cotton growers repeated the same action, relocating her to Northern California. To make things more difficult, spinning mills in the U.S, Japan, and Europe started closing. But until the spinning industries moved to less developed countries, Fox's cotton had an advantage. It cost 2 more dollars per pound to get rid of and treat the toxic waste coming from other cotton dyeing processes.
Although things were getting rough, Sally managed to create a variety of colors for the cotton. The process takes about 10 years of careful selection to create a useable variety of cotton from an initial cross-bred seed. She now sells to smaller mills and customers. She hopes to rebuild her business and network of growers. Fox hopes to set an example for mills that it is possible to create textiles without harming the environment. With her determination and dedication, her dreams are beginning to unfold.
Information:
Bellis, Mary. "Sally Fox - Natural Cotton." Sally Fox - Natural Cotton. Inventors.About.com. Web. 10 May 2012. <http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfox.htm>.Brown, David. "Sally Fox: Innovation in the Field." Sally Fox: Innovation in the Field. Fox Fibre, 2001. Web. 10 May 2012. <http://www.vreseis.com/sally_fox_story.htm>.
Picture:
Wolinski, Cary. Sally Fox. Photograph. Smithsonian.org. Comp. Fox Fibre.<http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/online_articles_detail.aspx?id=36>
Economic Impact
The colored cotton didn't cost anything to invent because it was naturally colored. Although it didn' t cost anything, it takes almost 10 years to come up with new colors. Sally also wove each piece of cotton to see which ones were the easiest to weave. Not only did she do that, she also had to tend to her crop out in the field. There was no cost, but it did take a lot of time and dedication.
Sally Fox's experiments started with pots on her back porch and eventually grew to being planted in her backyard. From there she started her business. Starting out, she did all of the finances on her own. She never imagined it would grow into the striving company it is today. Eventually she attained an increasing amount of money and started to expand her cotton empire.
The natural colored cotton was good for the economy of the time. During the 1980's, the U.S was going through a recession. Farmers were especially effected because all of the farm products were imported from India, China, and other countries. This did not help Fox's company but she kept moving forward regardless. People in the long run were spending less money because it was inside the country. The companies using toxic dies also have to pay 2 more dollars per pound to pick up toxic waste which is costing people more money and costing our Earth more damage.
Fox Fibre's sliver is now $3 an ounce and $48 a pound. Fox Fibre's yarn is $5 per ounce and $60 per pound which is about 1100 yards. Other companies charge $198 for a 1200 yard yarn cone, while Sally charges $60 per pound. The average person made about $50,221 per year in 2009. In 1989, the average income was $21,564 per year.
While reading these numbers, you also have to remember how prices have risen in the past 23 years. When the prices rose, the income had to rise as well to keep up. Compared to other companies selling cotton, Sally's cotton is fairly cheap. Especially with the economy the way it is now. The average person would have no problem buying Sally's cotton because of the great deals she gives. With all of the hard work put in, the price is very reasonable.
Cultural Impact
In 1733, John Kay invented the flying shuttle. On earlier weavers, people had to push the bobbin from one side to the other by hand. When you had a large loom, you needed two weavers to throw the shuttle. The flying shuttle made it possible to be operated by one weaver by throwing the shuttle with a leaver. Although it was making weaving easier, later on in time textile workers started attacking his home because they were afraid he might take their work away from them.
The spinning Jenny was invented in 1764 by James Hargreaves. His original creation used eight spindles instead of one. All of the spindles were controlled by one wheel. Later models had up to 120 spindles. Hargreaves' invention was the first invention to improve the spinning wheel. Although it reduced the need for labor, a group of spinners broke into his house and destroyed his machines because they were in fear the machines would take away their jobs.
Richard Arkwright invented the spinning frame in 1768. The spinning frame produced stronger threads for yarns. The first models were powered by waterwheels so was environmentally better just like Sally Fox's innovation. In fact, it was the first automatic textile machine drifting away from usual manufacturing and moving towards factory production. The first textile mill was built in Cromord, England in 1774.
Edmand Cartwright invented the powered loom in 1785. The loom was powered by steam and mechanically operated. The invention combined threads to make cloth. He patented the loom and set up a factory in Doncaster, England. But it needed to be improved and several inventors were happy to do it.
In 1793 the famous cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney. The cotton gin was a machine that pulled seeds and other items from the fibers of the cotton bolls. Before his invention, cleaning cotton had been a very tedious and difficult process. With the cotton gin, you simply inserted the cotton into the top of the machine and turn the handle. When you turn the handle, wire teeth comb out the seeds. It is then pulled out of the teeth and out of the cotton gin. Simple, but it was revolutionary throughout the country.
The Jacquard Loom was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804. The loom was invented to create complex designs. Jacquard thought of a way to automatically control the weft and warp threads on a silk loom by recording patterns of hole on a string of cards. It was the first machine to use punched cards. It not only decreased manual labor, but allowed the same pattern to be used again and again and stored on cards.
In 1872 Sally Fox started her research with natural colored cotton that is better for the environment.
Each of these inventions has led to creating the other in a domino effect of better effiency in weaving. They were all an important part in the Industrial Revolution that has made America's technology the way it is now. Without these inventions there wouldn't be a way to weave Sally's invention/innovation. Weaving was also a part of Sally's inspiration for her invention. Fox's invention was just another innovation to the cotton technology by making it environmentally safe and efficient.
In 1989 Sally Fox patented her cross bred cotton seeds. She actually received what is called a Plant Variety Protection Certificate for her cotton which is the equivalent to a patent. You must first apply for the certificate and then win it. Since it was not too long ago that it was patented the process is still almost the same. But that was only the start of her business in the cotton industry. She had come up with a way to have naturally colored cotton to help the environment.
Cotton dyeing processes create toxic waste that costs extra money to have to treat. Sounds great right? Well it is, but at first people didn't want to except it. The state of california imposed strict laws on her in fear of their crops being "contaminated," forcing her to move to Arizona. But they acted just the same and soon she was back to Northern California. But spinning mills around the world and in the U.S started closing. Then a dye plant in Hong Kong dumped its waste and killed 300 acres of crops just as harvesting began.
So Sally now caters to smaller businesses and hopes it will start to grow larger. She even met two regular men who's grandfather used to own a mill. But once they got older, the dyes had contaminated the water supply and the mill had to be shut down. But with Fox's cotton, they hope to open it up again and set an example to people around the world that they can still be environmentally safe while being efficient. This is just one example of how Sally Fox's invention has helped regular people in a community.
With cotton dyeing plants, our water supply could be contaminated at anytime and effect us drastically. It already has after the harvest was destroyed when the dye plant spilled. So something as simple as changing the type of cotton we use can help the environment and ourselves. Sally Fox's dreams of making a difference have already come true and hopefully continue throughout time.
By: Maddie Mallia