A woolly tale of everyday Swiss culture

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Advertising for Schaffhauser Wolle. This poster was awarded the "Swiss Poster of the Year" prize in 1965. Advertising agency: H. Looser, Zurich. Photo: Hanspeter Mühlemann. Poster photo: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen Foto: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen

Factory worker Rosa Bürgin (25.02.1926). Company archive Albers & Co. AG. Photo: Hermann Stauder Firmenarchiv Albers & Co. AG, Fotograf: Hermann Stauder

Advertising for Schaffhauser Wolle, Hugo Laubi, 1926. Photo: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen Foto: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen

Rudolph Schoeller (1827-1902) at the time of the foundation of his factory in Schaffhausen. Photo: Albers & Co. AG, Zurich Firmenarchiv Albers & Co. AG, Zürich

Advertising for Schaffhauser Wolle, Willi Weiss, 1945. Photo: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen Foto: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen

Women in the packing station,(25.2.1926). On the wall in the background hangs the second advertising poster from 1925. Company archive, Albers & Co. AG, Zurich Firmenarchiv Albers & Co. AG, Zürich

Advertising for Schaffhauser Wolle, Herbert Leupin, Offset, 1960. Collection Herbert Leupin. Photo: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen Collection Herbert Leupin, Foto: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen

Award for "The best posters of 1969". Photo: Bruno and Eric Bührer, Schaffhausen Bruno und Eric Bührer, Schaffhausen

Advertising for Schaffhauser Wolle, Willi Weiss, 1950, Photo: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen Foto: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen

The factory shown as a detail on a letterhead, after 1903, company archive Albers & Co. AG, Zurich Firmenarchiv Albers & Co. AG, Zürich

Advertising poster for Schaffhauser Wolle. This poster was awarded the title "Swiss Poster of the Year" in 1969. Advertising agency Diggelmann und Mennel, Zurich. Photo: Peter Schreiner Michel Zumbrunn (1969). Poster photo: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen Foto: Jürg Fausch, Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen

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When a Swiss wool mill in Schaffhausen, northern Switzerland, spun an innovative advertising strategy into being 150 years ago, it put the company Schaffhauser Wolle on the map and made sure wool became entwined in Swiss culture.

In 1867, Rudolph Schoeller founded the first worsted (a spinning technique that produces fine yarn) spinning mill near the River Rhine in Schaffhausen. The production of knitting yarn began the following year. Schaffhauser Wolle established itself as a leader in hand knitting yarns in Switzerland and many of its subsidiaries succeeded in selling its wool worldwide. Until 1974 it was exporting to 26 countries in over five continents.  

But soon afterwards a slump in wool sales caused serious problems for the industry. Machine-knitted textiles and cheap imports from the Far East were beginning to boom, and demand for yarns to use in hand knitting dropped dramatically in the mid-1980s. Colourful advertising posters, designed by renowned Swiss graphic artists, couldn’t revive sales and the company turned to television advertising.

The business was unravelling, and finally a decision was made to close the Schaffhausen factory and move production to the sister company in Bregenz, Austria. Production in Schaffhausen was discontinued in April 1991.

An exhibition keeps the yarn spinning

To mark the company’s 150th anniversary, the Museum zu Allerheiligen in Schaffhausen is showing a selection of over 100 advertising posters created by Swiss graphic artists between 1924 and 1989 .

The exhibition Schaffhauser Wolle. Ein Marke macht GeschichteExternal link (Schaffhausen Wool. A brand makes history) documents everyday factory life with historical photographs reflecting the spirit and the aesthetics of the time.