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Carder

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Le Cardeur | The Carder 

The old occupation of "cardeur" or carder in New France

A cardeur, or carder, detangled textile fibres and combed them with a card.

Cards were typically square or rectangular paddles manufactured in a variety of sizes. The working face of each paddle could be flat or cylindrically curved and wore the card cloth. Card cloth was made from a sturdy flexible backing in which closely spaced wire pins were embedded.  Small cards, called flick cards, were used to flick the ends of a lock of fibre, or to tease out some strands for spinning off. A pair of cards was used to brush the wool between them until the fibres were more or less aligned in the same direction. The aligned fibre was then peeled from the card as a “rolag”.

Starting in the spring, the carder spent most of their time unpicking mattresses, carding the textile fibres and sewing the mattresses back up. The craftsman, or craftswoman, would travel with their card to the customer's home and normally worked outside because of the dust that was generated. 

Carding was also undertaken by housewives. Especially during long winter nights, neighbouring women would often get together to card. This work was only undertaken by mothers and grandmothers, as the task required attention to detail and experience. Children could not participate, as they often did with other household tasks.

Known persons that had this occupation: François Chagnon, Alexandre Dukin, Siméon Gautron dit Larochelle, Joseph Maillet, Joseph Victor Méthot, François Roujas, Charles Willard Smith. 

"The Carder", c. 1854 drawing by Jean-François Millet, Wikimedia Commons.

"The Carder", c. 1854 drawing by Jean-François Millet, Wikimedia Commons.

 

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