Drop spindles? Part 1b - where does the term come from? looking further back

In Part 1 of this series, I talked about when the term 'drop spindle' was introduced into the English language. I had managed to trace it back to at least 1957, in an academic context in the USA. However, when I shared this post on The Evangelical Church of Distaff Spinning I got lots of new suggestions for places to look for evidence.

Hence, a Part 1b was required!

Early references that do not use the term 'drop spindle'

1916, April
Mary Lois Kissel, an American anthropologist and pioneer of textile and basketry studies, published the article A New Type of Spinning in North America in the journal American Anthropologist. This describes "a unique manner of spinning ... noted among two of the Salish tribes". The word 'spindle' rather than 'drop spindle' is used throughout. Interestingly, she uses the phrase 'spinning with a free spindle' to mean what we would now call 'suspended spinning' and the phrase 'spinning with a sustained spindle' to mean what we would now call 'supported spinning'.

1918
Mary Lois Kissel published Aboriginal American Weaving. This book briefly describes spinning and the word 'spindle' rather than 'drop spindle' is used throughout.

1918
Mary Lois Kissel published Yarn and Cloth Making: An Economic Study. The word 'spindle' or 'hand spindle' rather than 'drop spindle' is used throughout. Several types of spinning are described. Her terminology has moved on from her 1916 book -- she now refers to 'grasped', 'supported' and 'suspended' hand spindles / spinning. 'Grasped' seems to refer to the specific type of Salish spinning described in her 1916 article. (She also has some odd ideas about differences in drafting between these methods and claims that the suspended method is vastly superior. Coincidentally, that's the method which she presumes to be European/Mediterranean "throughout the ancient and medieval world, even down through modern times to the present day" (p. 10). Racial supremacy in spinning...! O_O).
With thanks to Veerle van Kersen for the reference.

1931
Grace Mary Crowfoot, a British pioneer in the study of archaeological textiles, published Methods of Hand Spinning in Egypt and the Sudan. This book classifies six types of hand-spinning used in these areas of the world. The word 'spindle' rather than 'drop spindle' is used throughout.
With thanks to Veerle van Kersen for the reference.

1977
Patricia Baines, a British author, published Spinning Wheels, Spinners and Spinning. The word 'spindle' rather than 'drop spindle' is used throughout.
With thanks to Jane Hunt for the reference.

Additional early references that do use the term 'drop spindle'

1936
Aldred F. Barker, a British professor of textiles then working at Chiao-tung University, Shanghai, published the article An Historical Introduction to the Third Method of Yarn Spinning in the Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings. This article includes a figure titled "Illustrating the Use of the Spindle and Wharl - termed the "drop spindle."". His use of quotation marks around 'drop spindle' indicate the term may have been new or unfamiliar to his readership. Unfortunately, the actual figure is not available in the limited preview, so it is unclear whether the figure shows suspended spinning, another form of spinning or just a spindle not in use.
With thanks to Angelika Offenwanger for suggesting Google Ngram Viewer as a potential avenue of research, through which I found this reference.

1939
An article within the journal The Popular Editor was published. On page 4513 of the journal refers to "the drop spindle technic" although it also refers to the tools as 'spindles'. It is highly likely that these references are within the article The Archaeological History of Peru, as that article starts on page 4426 and continues until at least page 4613 and the limited preview available around the word 'spindles' is referring to Peruvian textile production.
With thanks to Angelika Offenwanger for suggesting Google Ngram Viewer as a potential avenue of research, through which I found this reference.

1944
Dorothy K. Macdonald of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology published Fibres, Spindles and Spinning-Wheels. Various types of spinning are described and the word 'spindle' rather than 'drop spindle' is used throughout. However, within the section describing "spinning with the spindle suspended in the air" (starting p. 28) the phrase "the drop spindle method" is used. The context makes it clear that this refers to what we would call 'suspended spinning'. Macdonald considered European distaff spinning to be an example of "the drop spindle method".

Conclusions

From this further set of evidence, my previous conclusions are upheld. The term 'drop spindle' appears to have been introduced in an academic context (perhaps American, perhaps British -- it's currently unclear). Initially, it referred not to a type of spindle or to all spindles but to a method or technique that involved "dropping" the spindle -- i.e. what we today call 'suspended spinning'. By the late 1950s, the term had migrated somewhat so that spindles that were used for suspended spinning were referred to as 'drop spindles' (see Part 1). Thereafter, quite possibly during the 1970s craft revolution (where suspended spinning was the primary method of spindle spinning taught), the term may have migrated further to mean 'a spindle'.

That is why we can now get such bunk as Navajo spindles (used solely with a supported spinning method) or Russian spindles (often used with a in-hand spinning method) being described as a type of 'drop spindle'. We also get similar bunk describing how 'drop spindles' have been used throughout history, despite the fact that many of these spindles were in fact used some or all of the time either supported or grasped/in-hand.

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In Part 2 of this series, I shall discuss why the term 'drop spindle' is so problematic, particularly from a historical academic and reproduction perspective. Hope you are enjoying this series. ^_^