Four insect-derived products-- silk, cochineal, shellac, and gall-based ink-- were widely traded commodities in the Industrial Age (ca. 1820-1920). Locally produced, each traveled along circuits of global commerce, with raw silk forming the basis of the greatest trade nexus between the West and the Far East. Completion of the first North American transcontinental railway gave rise to special, non-passenger coast-to-coast “silk trains” replete with bales of raw silk. Speed being paramount, trains stopped only briefly to change engines or replenish water for the engine’s steam. Delays increased the chances of theft so armed guards protected the valuable cargo, but thefts did occur— $45M of raw silk was looted in 1919, when the US imported 80% of the world’s raw silk. Factories in northeastern cities converted the raw silk to consumable goods, with European immigrants forming the mainstay of the American workforce. Absent modern labor reforms and collective bargaining, men, women, and children toiled under horrific conditions for meager wages. Cochineal from the New World found favor among European painters as a red lake pigment. Shellac from India and Southeast Asia entered Western factories manufacturing 78 rpm phonograph records, furniture finish, and daguerreotype cases. Cochineal and shellac together produced the exceptional finish of Stradivarius violins. And Aleppo gall extracts became indelible ink on banknotes of the US Treasury and Bank of England. Eventually, cheaper synthetic substitutes drastically reduced the demand for these insect products: nylon for silk, aniline dyes for cochineal and ink, vinyl for shellac-based phonograph records.
