ABC Wax hand printing block
1908-2007
ABC Wax was first established as F W Ashton by brothers Benjamin and Joseph Ashton when they set up a calico printing firm at Newton Bank, Hyde, Manchester, in 1812. By the 1980s, the company had become known as ABC Wax, after the Swiss trading company A Brunnschweiler & Co that took over in 1970.
F W Ashton, as it was called from 1812 to the 1970s, started manufacturing textiles for sale in Africa in the early 1900s. The history of cotton textiles designed and produced in Manchester for trade in Africa is long, complex, and global. It is tied up in the monopolisation of trade, colonial interests, and industrialisation but also the resistance, identity and agency of the users, wearers, and individual traders.
When the ABC Wax factory closed in 2007, its last Manchester-made product lines, Superwax, Handblock and Premium, transferred to its sister company Akosombo Textiles Ltd in Ghana. The Manchester factory had produced textiles specifically for African markets for 99 years. This collection of objects illustrates some of the company’s production processes and shows a selection of their designs.
Pair of hand blocks, ABC Wax
1908-2007
ABC Wax hand printing block
1908-2007
ABC Wax textile printing roller
1920-2007
ABC Wax hand printing block
1908-2007
Pair of hand blocks, ABC Wax
1908-2007
Pair of hand blocks, ABC Wax
1908-2007
ABC Wax textile printing roller
1920-2007
ABC Wax hand block with metal printing
1908-2007
ABC Wax hand block
1908-2007
ABC Wax hand block
1908-2007
ABC Wax dolphin design hand printing block
1908-2007
‘New Fine Trail’ design hand printing block
1908-2007
‘Sweet Pea’ design hand printing block
1980-2007
‘Dice’ design hand printing block
1908-2007
Hand block ‘Canoe Peak’ design
1908-2007
ABC Wax screen printing roller
ABC Wax printing roller
1920-2007
ABC Wac printing roller
1920-2007
ABC Wax printing roller
1920-2007
ABC Wax printing roller
1920-2007
ABC Wax printing roller
1985
F W Ashton & Co brass sign
1812-1970
ABC Wax promotional cap
1980-2007
ABC Wax promotional keyring
1980-2007
ABC Wax promotional fan
1980-2007
Brochure The Cha Textile Group in Africa
2000-2007
ABC Wax factory trolley
1920-1930
ABC Wax printed calendar
2007
Toto calendar, Blue Printers Ltd
1985
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
fabric sample
1980-1986
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'Curl Leaf' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'New Fine Trail' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'Sweet Pea' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'Dice' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample, 'Dice' design
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample book
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
ABC Wax fabric sample
1980-2007
