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Mud Silk and the Chinese Laundress: From the South China Silk Industry to Mud Silk Suits in Maine

Abstract In 1921, bride Toy Len Goon (1892–1993), a peasant from Guangdong (Canton) South China, emigrated to Portland, Maine, USA where she and her husband ran a suburban laundry. She became a respected member of the community and, in 1952, American ‘Mother of the Year’. This article follows her biography by investigating a group of four recently rediscovered tunic and trouser suits preserved from her trousseau. The suits are made of Guangdong mud silk, a two-colour fabric distinguished by its black upper surface and brown underside. Mud silk is a little recognised, studied or collected South-East Asian textile. By examining mud silk and its manufacture within the context of Guangdong’s rise and decline as a major silk producer and exporter, this article contributes a new perspective to the present limited body of research on this regional textile.