Commemorative wax print calendar for the year 2000 by ABC Studios

A millennium ‘guaranteed wax’ calendar for the year 2000 from the ABC Wax company, which has links to Greater Manchester to this day. The company began with a printworks which opened in Hyde in the early 19th century. In 1908 they began to produce the exact kind of fabric we see here – imitation batik fabrics, intended for export to Africa. In the early 1990s, ABC Wax was bought by a company based in Hong Kong and in 2007 production was transferred to Akosombo Textiles Ltd in Ghana. The name ABC comes from a Swiss company which was set up in the 19th century to manufacture and trade madras cloth from India to the West African coast. This company had been bought by the Calico Printer’s Association in 1959. This somewhat confusing and convoluted company history illustrates the threads of commerce and colonialism that were spun around the globe from European traders and factories. 

• Category: Samples and Commercial Textiles
• Date: 1951-2000
• Material: Cotton
• Place: Great Britain
• Technique: Dyeing
• Technique: Printing