Portofino tapestry wall hanging features a finished rod pocket sleeve and weighted bottom bar for even hanging (decorative rods available separately). Design is jacquard woven with cotton and blended yarns by loom. Measures 56 x 80 inches. Although Thomas Lemuel Oates started Manual Woodworkers and Weavers in 1932, the story goes back further. The roots of the company can be found in Oates' entrepreneurial spirit. He and his brother used to farm the mountain areas of Bat Cave in western North Carolina, all the while helping their mother find materials for her crafts. The sons began to make wooden whistles, buckets, and bird-houses and they would sell their wares, along with her crafts, to the people from Charlotte that came through in horse-drawn buggies on the way to the mountains. Later, Thomas worked at the Ashville Postcard Company, where he learned about the wholesale business. When the Depression hit, he lost his job, but it inspired him to go into business and sell crafts, like cornhusk dolls and woven pieces, that were produced by the local women. He built a waterwheel to generate electricity at a mill, began making product, and opened shop. Over the years, he expanded the company. His son, Lemuel Oates, worked in the business from a young age and went on to manage the company. He explains the products were made from cotton scraps left over from making socks; half-inch circles would be looped together to form a variety of products. Lemuel Oates went to college and then settled in Richmond. In December 1973, he returned to Bat Cave and took over the company. In 2007, his son Travis and his daughter, Molly Oates Sherrill, took over the business.
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