American Fabrics Company Lace Manufacturer. Originally founded by two German immigrants as "Albert and Ernest Henckels, Inc." in 1909, the company became the first Cluny Lace mill in the United States. The demand for the quality and style of the lace produced was such that by 1916 the company's output exceeded all other embroidery and feather edge productions in the country. Specialty lace production required expertly crafted, highly specialized machinery. One jaquard loom could measure twenty feet long and seven feet deep and consist of ca. 2,000 parts. During WWI, the company was sold under the Alien Property Custodian Act and was renamed the American Fabrics Company. During that period, plant production focused on the "essential production" of weaving binding tape for soldiers' blankets and uniforms. In the post war era, manufacturing focused once again on domestic markets and the plant expanded its product line to numerous varieties of laces and fabrics for both the home-use market and the textile industry.