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This is a scarce piece of mid-century American industrial, textile, and chemical history: the 1940 first edition of The Spotting Department by Clyde H. Covington, Instructor in Spotting at the National Association Institute of Dyeing and Cleaning.
Published exclusively for members and certified industry insiders in Silver Spring, Maryland, this highly advanced textbook served as the definitive master manual for industrial textile care, chemical applications, and technical stain removal methodologies at the dawn of the synthetic fiber era.
Because these manuals were built for active, hands-on use in chemical-laden plants, very few surviving copies escaped severe damage or disposal.
PROVENANCE:
Adding incredible historical depth is the crisp, contemporary ownership stamp of master cleaner William Petrillose, showcasing his meticulous workspace registry notation: 'SEC. K. Grp. III' (Section K, Group III) and his address at 719 Whittier St., Washington, D.C.
The Petrillose family were nationally recognized, pioneering figures in the commercial American laundry and dry-cleaning industry, establishing the massive, multi-generational Petrillose Cleaners and Laundry empire in Ithaca, New York. This manual beautifully tracks William Petrillose’s journey: acquiring this highly restrictive trade text in 1940 while near the National Association Institute in the D.C. area, and bringing it back home to Ithaca, where it was recently acquired.
Condition:
Exterior: Bound in the original publisher's black textured cloth featuring clear, bright gilt lettering stamped across the spine. The boards exhibit light, honest shelf wear along the edges, typical minor corner bumping, light creasing on the flexible front board, and light surface scuffing to the faces, entirely consistent with a well-preserved industrial reference book. The structure remains sturdy.
Interior: The binding is structurally tight, flat, and sound with a firm text block. The pages exhibit uniform, clean age-toning characteristic of 1940 war-era paper stock, but remain remarkably crisp, entirely complete, and free of modern highlighting, tears, or water damage. A few stains/spots, however, can be seen but are very minor (see images for pages viii & ix). The rear end pages have a corner crease. The historic, original William Petrillose ownership stamp is neatly and clearly positioned on the flyleaf.
