This page is currently in progress.

We are still conducting research for this community’s textile history and are looking forward to updating it soon!

If you have any stories, research, or photographs relating to the textile industry in Tunnel Hill, please email us at wgtht@westga.edu or visit our Contact Us page!

We currently have limited information on this community from Davison Blue Book textile directories, general research, and Southern Tufts: The Regional Origins and National Craze for Chenille Fashion by Ashley Callahan.

Businesses listed in Davison Blue Books:

  • Colonial Crafts — 1947 – 1980
  • Roslyn Products — 1947 – 1964
  • Green Mountain Chenille Company — 1954 – 1954
  • Lone Star Chenille Company — 1957 – 1964
  • Edgewood Chenille Company — 1978 – 1995
  • Broadacre Cotton Mills — 1988 – 2008
  • Shasta Carpets, Inc. — 1988 – 1998
  • Tuft Craft, Inc. — 1988 – 1998

General Information:

  • Colonial Crafts
    • Billed themselves as the largest bedspread dealer in the South during the 1950s.
  • Edgewood Chenille Company
    • Recall from the company on August 29, 1979 for thousands of highly flammable women’s garments.

Information from Callahan’s Book:

  • Colonial Crafts
    • This company was founded by Georgia Lee Putnam and Robert “Elbert” Putnam along US Highway 41 in 1950.
    • They sold housecoats, pillows, bath sets, spreads, children’s robes, scuffies, dolls, and short jackets.
    • The Putnams probably closed this company in the mid-1960s to open Dalton Carpet Jobbers.
  • Ann-Lee Chenilles
    • Opened by Arthur Richman sometime prior to January 1945, which is when he opened a second mill in Dalton.
  • Edgewood Chenilles
    • This company was founded by Retha Quinton, who first made spreads in her home starting in 1945. She moved to US Highway 41 in 1948 to display goods along the highway.
    • Sue Quinton Gordon, Retha’s daughter, joined the company in 1951, and her son-in-law, Harry Gordon, joined in 1959.
    • By 1970, the company moved into a 14,000 square foot building and produced spreads, bath mats, scatter rugs, and housecoats. Their housecoats became popular and appeared on a few television shows.
    • Retha retired in 1981 and sold the business to the Gordons, who changed the name to Soft Goods, Inc.
  • Morgan Manufacturing Company
    • This company was founded by Willene and Jack Morgan on US Highway 41 and operated from 1952 to 1992.
    • They not only produced their own products but sold some produced by other companies.
  • Put’s Chenille Center
    • This company was founded by Georgia and Robert Putnam around 1943-1945 before they opened Colonial Craft.
    • They initially made their own tufted textiles and then retailed spreads and garments.
  • Soft Goods, Inc.
    • This company was purchased by Sue and Harry Gordon from Sue’s mother in 1981 and continued producing chenille goods.
    • They developed a chenille jacket that appeared in leading department stores.
    • They initially sold yardage and spreads to DMZ of California, and then sold the entire company to Jody and Don Chapman of DMZ in 1991. The Chapmans closed the company a few years later when they moved all production to California.