Fragile clothing: textiles and paper fabrics

The war increased not only the demand for metals but also for clothing, as uniforms had to be found for hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Production of plant and animal fibres in the Habsburg monarchy had been declining, however. The cultivation of flax had dwindled since 1875 by around 40 per cent, and two thirds of the flax had to be imported. Since the 1850s the sheep population had also shrunk by a third, and wool was obtained from Argentina, Australia and other countries. Cotton was also imported from the USA and India.

Industry started by using blended fabrics and various types of synthetic wool obtained from old rags and spun clothing. The cultivation of hitherto rarely used textile fibres like nettles was encouraged. The processing of nettles into fabric in fact had something of a tradition, but it was not followed up in practice to any significant extent. The best substitute was paper textiles. The raw material, wood pulp, was abundantly available in domestic forests and could also be used for other purposes. Most companies made sulphite pulp, however, and few supplied the stronger and more robust soda pulp, which was better suited for the manufacture of paper for spinning. One company making this pulp was the gräflich Henckel von Donnersmarck’sche Papierfabrik AG in Frantschach, Carinthia. Because of the shortage of capacities, paper for spinning was imported at high price from Sweden and Norway. The increasing scarcity of textile fibres forced linen manufacturers and later makers of cotton and wool products to turn to paper yarn. The paper cutting machines came from Maschinenfabrik Jagenberg in Düsseldorf, Germany.

The manufacture of paper and blended paper textiles was something of a challenge. The marketing and distribution under wartime conditions was also anything but easy. Although paper yarn products were not new – they had been known in the Far East for centuries and were also used to a limited extent in Europe and the USA – they were not popular. They were difficult to wash and look after and people feared that they would disintegrate in the rain. In the last two years of the war, however, they were on sale in the large department stores in Vienna such as Herzmansky in Mariahilferstrasse. To encourage sales, clothes made of paper were put on display in 1918 at the surrogate exhibition in the Prater, with artistic contributions by members of the renowned Wiener Werkstätte. Most of these goods rapidly disappeared after the war, however.

Translation: Nick Somers