At the recent Adams, Mass. estate sale time capsule, I found some samples of this beautiful Waverly drapery fabric upstairs. The pattern is called “Spring Frolic” and the stash included all six colorways. The fabric is so gorgeous — and I would have trouble choosing one color over the other. I’ve scanned the samples in high-resolution (below) so that if you click on the images in the Gallery you can see all the slubbing — and the metallic gold.
This is Medium Grey.
French Grey.
Natural.
Peat Moss. This one may indeed be my favorite.
Sand.
Willow. This one’s easy on the eyes, too. Hey, my scanner seems to be doing better today. These colors are pretty true.
Here’s the tag on the back. So — this stuff is really called “rhino cloth,” not barkcloth. Oh, and this particular design is “Golden Glo Rhino Cloth,” ooh la la. I am deducing that ‘rhino cloth’ comes from the fact that this fabric has little slubby bumps all over it. I will have to go compare it to what I call my ‘barkcloth’ drapes upstairs. This rhino cloth is what I would describe as medium weight – more suitable to draperies than to upholstery.
The tag indicates that Waverly also made Bonded Rhino Cloth, and Bonded Las Vegas Cloth. I am presuming the terms “rhino cloth” and “Las Vegas cloth” are general to the period, rather than proprietary to Waverly. Tomorrow: I will show you my sample of Las Vegas Cloth! We will all be so smart, we will be able to impress (errr?) our friends, family and cocktail party acquaintances (or, each other) by being able to distinguish among vintage barkcloth, rhino cloth and Las Vegas cloth! 🙂
Here is the Gallery. Click on any image a few times to get it to enlarge quite substantially. Use your back button to return to the main post.
Elissa says
I love these! Rhino Cloth and Las Vegas Cloth are the names that Waverly gave to their production of barkcloth. Las Vegas Cloth was just Rhino Cloth with the gold lurex woven in.
Becky from Iiwa says
I have curtains and pillows out of some glorious cloth I got on Ebay–a man found it unused since the late ’50s in his mother’s sewing supplies–sort of like this. Mine is a fairly bold pattern of leaves and trees, but also has lots of slubs and wonderful metallic tracings; in this case, in copper. I’ll just start calling it Rhino Cloth from now on!
Brandi Bosworth says
is this cloth for sale?
pam kueber says
No, Brandi, it’s a bit of vintage that I found at an estate sale…
JAVA says
I never heard those other terms before! WOW! I too want to learn more about these different types of 50s fabric! Awesome! And too, these samples are a great find, just great!
SaraTinkelman says
ARGH! To see these utterly gorgeous things and know that they will never, ever be mine is painful indeed. We have a large patio sliding glass door which opens onto…a swimming pool! Argh again! I want my patio, thanks! Anyway, my fantasy of pinch pleats on one rail/rod/whatever that, when fully pulled back, is on one side of the door, and which, when pulled closed, shows yards and yards of this stuff, would be (cliche alert!) absolutely stunning.
Cindy says
Pam…….so you bought this fabric for the retro renovation museum? You’re going to need a bigger house soon!
I’ll weigh in for the peat moss…beautiful!
georgiapeachez says
Peat moss is my fav, but French Grey is pretty sweet too. Can’t wait to find out what Las Vegas cloth is. xo, suzy
Caryn says
I love them all–the willow is my favorite. It’s funny, I love slubbing for the oomph it adds to fabric, but here it doesn’t seem to compete with the delicacy of the gold and the design itself–even better! Can’t wait to learn more about this, thank you, Pam.
gavin hastings says
Gorgeous!
“I’ll take 22 yards of the Medium Grey, please.”
pam kueber says
Yes, Gavin, I want 72 yards to make completely coordinated pinch pleats for my living room / dining room. drats.
MrsErinD says
So pretty! Oh I would have a hard time deciding too, my faves are med. gray and willow, hmm french gray is nice too, oh they all are!
Never heard of rhino cloth, or las vegas cloth, neat to learn! Wow, what a score, love the tags on the back.