Part coffee table book, part catalog raisonné, DRY-ME-DRY
is the
essential guide to vintage Martex Dry-Me-Dry dish towels.
“A delight for collectors as well as those interested in mid-century American design and material culture, Dry-Me-Dry: The Untold Story of the “Amazing 3 Fibre Towel”
reintroduces forgotten patterns and brings to light the little-known design contributions of John and Earline Brice.”
—Sarah A. Lichtman, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Design History, Parsons School of Design
About the book
MODERN GRAPHICS ON FABRIC SO REVOLUTIONARY, IT’S PATENTED.
In the 1930s, Alabama textile firm West Point Manufacturing Company came up with a groundbreaking dish towel fabric that combined cotton and linen with rayon, a relatively new fiber. Dubbed “Martex Dry-Me-Dry: The Amazing 3 Fibre Towel,” the patented blend became famous among American homemakers for its lint-free absorption and speedy evaporation.
In the 1950s, Martex Dry-Me-Dry dish towels got a facelift from industrial designers John and Earline Brice. Their bold designs in striking colors were a hit; two were even included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Dry-Me-Dry: The Untold Story of the “Amazing 3 Fibre Towel” reveals the history of these remarkable kitchen textiles and catalogs them for the first time ever. Listings include official pattern names, comprehensive colorways, original sizes, and clean, luscious images by renowned textile photographer Don Tuttle.
In the 1930s, Alabama textile firm West Point Manufacturing Company came up with a groundbreaking dish towel fabric that combined cotton and linen with rayon, a relatively new fiber. Dubbed “Martex Dry-Me-Dry: The Amazing 3 Fibre Towel,” the patented blend became famous among American homemakers for its lint-free absorption and speedy evaporation.
In the 1950s, Martex Dry-Me-Dry dish towels got a facelift from industrial designers John and Earline Brice. Their bold designs in striking colors were a hit; two were even included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Dry-Me-Dry: The Untold Story of the “Amazing 3 Fibre Towel” reveals the history of these remarkable kitchen textiles and catalogs them for the first time ever. Listings include official pattern names, comprehensive colorways, original sizes, and clean, luscious images by renowned textile photographer Don Tuttle.
“Who knew that a biography of a dish towel could reflect so much about how our values, tastes, and desires are expressed in the apparatus of our everyday lives? Certainly that is the case in this impeccably researched and lavishly illustrated profile. With their innovative combination of rayon, cotton, and linen, along with crisp, vibrant patterns, these Martex ‘kitchen originals’ indeed reveal how the mundane and the marvelous can converge with grace and elegance.”
“A book so visually rich and so filled with lost details that it brings Martex Dry-Me-Dry dish towels back into the history of mid-century American textile design … A serious love letter.”
—Akiko Busch, author of Geography of Home
“A book so visually rich and so filled with lost details that it brings Martex Dry-Me-Dry dish towels back into the history of mid-century American textile design … A serious love letter.”
—Steve Cabella, historian and owner of The Modern i
