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persons were producing hand woven fabrics for commercial or other uses in the United States at that time. I knew of no competition. Second, the one-of-its kind article that I could produce had a special value to architects and interior decorators. A machine-made fabric could be, and was, widely duplicated if it suddenly became fashionable. But when an architect ordered a fabric from me, to be used for a special purpose, he could be sure nothing similar to it would appear elsewhere. It was distinctive, a kind of silent trade-mark for us both. The day came when I was copied, right and left, and at first I resented this. Later, I came to see it as a form of flattery. There is only one way to counter the copyists, which I discuss in another chapter.

To return to the architects...The weaving I had done for pleasure in Leon's apartment had not been all lost motion after all. A number of San Francisco architects has seen it there and visualized the potentialities of having