Proctor Teneriffe Lace Wheel Co.
   Loom Type:  Perpendicular
   Loom Mode:  Removable Pins

The Proctor Teneriffe Lace Wheels were invented and distributed by Augusta Proctor of Viroqua, Wisconsin in the first decade of the 1900's. It came in a round and square version. They are one of the simplist and most elegant of all the Sol lace looms. The ad shown below gives prices for the two looms and the instruction book.

The original patent states that the loom can be made of any sturdy material - celluloid, metal, wood, ivory, papier-mâché. It appears black round examples shown below are gutta-percha, which is an inelastic natural latex produced from the Southeast Asia genus Palaquium tree sap. The black gutta-percha seems to be the most common of surviving examples. I am again much indebted to California artist, author and collector Marty Jonas (http://www.marty jonas.com) for providing the photos of the square loom, original box and instruction sheet examples in her collection. It is unclear what the brown material is, but does serve to show the loom was actually produced in different materials. Click here to see the instruction sheets.
The instruction book gives examaples of how the square loom can be used to make square-meshed 'filet guipure' embroidered net. A little bit like solving the problem with a sledgehammer, but interesting.

The rounded dome is an improvement in such devices, and the patent says that this feature makes it superior to the 1901 Dixon (Briggs) tool (click 'Back' above to see examples of the Briggs looms). The proctor again was meant to be used with a cushion. I have not been able to find any cushions made by Proctor, but I do illustrate a homemade one.

Click here for Proctor Patent Note that the writing on the both round and square looms says that they were patented May 14, 1903, which is inconsistent with the dates on the patents that I have been able to find (submitted January 13, 1903, issued November 17, 1903, and reissued May 8, 1906).

Questions
1. More biographic information on August Proctor is needed.
2. Long shot- any connection with Proctor & Gamble who has a plant in Augusta?
3. Verify the gutta-percha composition of the black looms. What other materials were made?
4. Investigate the advertising campaign for this product. How many were sold and where? Do any business records survive, perhaps somewhere in Viroqua?
5. Exactly how long were the looms produced, and where were they made?

first posted 3/14/2009

References

Title:          Proctor Teneriffe Lace Author:      Augusta Proctor Date:         December, 1903 Publisher:   The Proctor Teneriffe Lace Wheel Co. Printer:      The Henry O. Shepard Company, Chicago Format:      paperback, 7" x 4-1/2" Pages:       47 numbered, 1 back un-numbered Copyright:  December 1903 by Proctor Teneriffe Lace Wheel Co.   This is the instruction book sold for 25 cents, one of the three Proctor products. Click here for a complete scan of this work.