The 105-Year-Old Carding Machine Inside Embarrass Carding Mill is a Link to the Past

The 105-year-old carding machine inside Embarrass Carding Mill is a link to the past, but it's also a way forward for a young business owner.

Its iron parts make up the heart of the mill — a business owned by a proprietor 83 years younger than the hulking piece of equipment.

"I love it," said owner Andrea Olson, a 22-year-old quilter who bought the business late last summer. "To own my own  and to be doing something as different as this; there are only a couple left in the state of Wisconsin."

Carding is a specialized operation; an Internet search turns up about a half dozen active carding businesses in .For some, the history and unique nature of the business is part of the lure.

Tom Courtney, who runs Courtney Woolen Mill in Appleton, carries on a business that has been in the family since 1904.

"It's a niche business, and a lot of people don't realize (carding) is around here anymore," he said.

Although most of Courtney's customers come from a 100-mile radius of Appleton, he does business around the nation.

Courtney Woolen Mill has been on the national register of historic places since the early 1990s.

"It's a working museum … and it's just nice to see the old machine still running," he said.

Georgia Mommaerts, a former Green Bay-area resident, ran Quail Hill Carding Co. in Hillsboro for 20 years before selling her business in fall 2009 to a longtime customer.

The business now operates in South Dakota as Dakota Carding & Wool Co.

Prior to running Quail Hill, Mommaerts had been raising sheep and sending the fleece to Iowa for carding.

She eventually bought the carding machine when the owners opted to retire and ran her own business — "quite successfully," she said — for two decades.

"I saw that big old machine, and I just fell in love with it," Mommaerts said. "There is a whole big market out there (for fiber) that people don't even know about."

Nate Michonski, Olson's fiancée, said customers are happy to see a younger couple involved in the business.

"They know it's going to be around for a long time," he said. "Older people that come in say they remember coming in here when they were little kids and their parents would bring them in. They love the fact we're going to keep it going."

A mechanic by trade, Michonski, 31, looks at the carding machine with respect.

"There's a lot of engineering involved in it. Each wheel has to spin at a certain RPM, you have chain and belt upkeep and the gears have to stay clean," he said. "The basic maintenance is still there, like anything else."

Olson — who also sells cell phones for Cellcom in Shawano — said the machine in her shop was taken by train from New York and put on a sled from Clintonville to Embarrass in the early 1900s.

 

Despite the age of Courtney's machine — 1880s vintage — the equipment is reliable.

Michonski said the previous owners, Wayne and Peggy Rindt, explained the business well, and there haven't been many surprises — although it's been busier then expected.

The mill has picked up additional business from the Wausau area after a similar operation there closed, he said.

Word-of-mouth is the main source of advertising for Embarrass Carding Mill .

Olson said there's a regional and national market for her services. A California resident called her about getting a wool quilt refurbished.

"They heard about us at a (Houston, Texas) wool festival," she said.