Prototype. Chapter text drafted from the research notes and not yet checked at the archives. Images awaiting permission are marked.

Tuftco

Company · not yet checked at the source · Image permission pending

Made by: Card family (Lewis Sr. and Roy Card), per one obituary
Date: founded 1960 (as Southern Machine Company)
Place: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Held by: Tuftco
Themes: Tools & equipment, Machine tufting & Dalton

View at the source Cited in chapter 5, note 39

Cite this source

Card family (Lewis Sr. and Roy Card), per one obituary. “Tuftco,” founded 1960 (as Southern Machine Company). Tuftco. tuftco.com/about.

Research notes

Tuftco says its business was founded in 1960 as Southern Machine Company to build and sell tufting machines; it sold abroad (Europe, Asia, South America) in the 1960s and added finishing and yarn-delivery equipment; ownership passed in 1985 to the family on its current board. An obituary of Lewis Card Sr. says he and his brother Roy, after working at Cobble, founded Tuftco "in the late 1950s" and later Card-Monroe, and lists Southern Machine among their firms. Why it matters: one of the three Chattanooga machine builders (with Cobble and Card-Monroe) whose machines equipped tufting worldwide. Dates: 1960 (company) vs late 1950s (obituary); Card family link not stated by Tuftco itself. Whether Tuftco made hand guns not found. Independent sources: https://madeintn.org/node/331 · https://floordaily.net/?p=25974 · https://floortrendsmag.com/articles/101963-in-memory-of-carpet-industry-pioneer-lewis-card-sr Research note (Oct 2026): facts taken from search-result summaries; the pages themselves weren't opened. Check the cited pages before quoting.