{"product_id":"reinventing-wool-how-a-natural-fiber-survived-the-synthetic-revolution-9781421455129","title":"Reinventing Wool: How a Natural Fiber Survived the Synthetic Revolution","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow chemistry, culture, and industry remade a natural fiber--and reshaped our closets.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWool once shaped daily life in the United States. The ubiquitous textile clothed soldiers and filled civilian wardrobes; sheep even grazed on the White House lawn. Today, however, wool apparel represents a sliver of the global textile market. In \u003ci\u003eReinventing Wool\u003c\/i\u003e, Melissa M. Littlefield uncovers the surprising story behind this dramatic shift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRather than fading quietly as synthetics rose to prominence, wool became the focus of a sweeping mid-twentieth-century effort to \"modernize\" natural fibers through chemistry, industry, and politics. Littlefield reveals how, between the 1930s and 1960s, wool was recast as a material in need of technological rescue. Industrial chemists coated it with resins, laboratories experimented with moth-killing compounds, and federal agencies promoted new treatments that promised convenience to modern consumers. Detailing stories like Woolite's cold-water campaigns--complete with department-store sheep baths--the invention of washable wool, and the USDA's little-known DDT-based mothproofing agent EQ-53, \u003ci\u003eReinventing Wool \u003c\/i\u003etraces how a once-revered fiber was repeatedly reengineered to fit the ideals and anxieties of an increasingly synthetic age.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWeaving together textile science, advertising archives, governmental reports, and her own experience as a fiber artist, Littlefield highlights the cultural forces that reshaped wool's reputation. She shows how mid-century interventions altered not only the fiber itself but also public understanding of what counts as \"natural,\" \"improved,\" or \"modern.\" The consequences extend well into the present, influencing how we value materials, evaluate environmental claims, and imagine the future of textiles. \u003ci\u003eReinventing Wool\u003c\/i\u003e offers a fresh perspective on the intertwined histories of chemistry, agriculture, fashion, and consumer culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Johns Hopkins University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/08\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781421455129\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.80d","brand":"Melissa M. Littlefield","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52801282310325,"sku":"9781421455129","price":28.01,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/reinventing-wool-how-a-natural-fiber-survived-the-synthetic-revolution-9781421455129","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}