Abaca

We were shown a species of banana, called abaca, the finer filaments of which, mixed with silk, are manufactured into native cloth. ❋ William Henry Giles Kingston (1847)

Others can decipher the calendar and the lives of the saints, can sign their names with tolerable facility, and can make the simpler arithmetical calculations with the help of the stchety, a little calculating instrument, composed of wooden balls strung on brass wires, which resembles the "abaca" of the old Romans, and is universally used in Russia. ❋ Donald Mackenzie Wallace (1880)

The latter, which was made of "abaca," the fibre of a banana, vulgarly called "Manilla hemp," although recommended on account of its great elasticity, was not of much use on board ship. ❋ Jules Verne (1866)

The product was made from powder coated iron frame with abaca rope weaving. ❋ Unknown (2010)

To anchor the restaurant in its location, Rockwell Group surrounded the restaurant walls and ceilings with large hand-woven curvilinear abaca panels to evoke an environment submerged under an ocean wave, and added accents of traditional Middle Eastern vernacular architecture such as hand-wrought iron columns of flowers, leaves and buds. ❋ Unknown (2008)

This has to be a good thing given that just a few years ago no one would have imagined names like Givenchy, Versace, or Burberry coming together to explore the possibilities of fibers like hemp, abaca, or bamboo for their future collections. ❋ Unknown (2008)

This was extremely useful as many of us are familiar with eco-fibers like bamboo, hemp, organic cotton or wool, and soybean, but are less familiar with abaca, lyocell, mud silk, sasawashi, or peace silk, for example. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Their gorgeous line of residential fabrics do not have any toxic finishes and are made from 100 percent biodegradable natural fibers including bamboo, hemp, linen, organic cotton, , abaca and wool. ❋ Unknown (2009)

OEcotextiles uses a variety of fibers, including linen from Italy, organic cotton from Peru, bamboo from China, hemp from Romania, and abaca from Ecuador, all grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Adding tactile rugs—everything from wool kilim to plush chenille to nubby abaca—introduces another layer of textural depth. ❋ Thom Filicia (2008)

The tones of the abaca rug are repeated in those same rattan chairs and the window blinds. ❋ Thom Filicia (2008)

My favorites are textural abaca rugs, bars of all-natural vegetable soap, unglazed pottery, recycled-glass dinner plates, natural string lampshades, and paintings without frames. ❋ Thom Filicia (2008)

All of the other neutrals dominoed from there, including the abaca armchairs, the rug, and even the books stacked on the coffee table. ❋ Thom Filicia (2008)

For crispness, partner with dark woods and abaca rugs. ❋ Thom Filicia (2008)

Mr. Herrera's use of abaca, a species of banana native to the Philippines whose fiber is often used for making ropes, facilitates the intertwining images and stringy composition of the piece. ❋ Unknown (2008)

By 1939 there were eighteen thousand, and their farms accounted for four-fifths of Davao abaca, almost half of the abaca exports from the Philipines; they also produced all the export lumber and half the coconuts, as well as operating over half the powered fishing boats11. ❋ Unknown (2007)

By 1918 there were ten thousand Japanese settlers working over half the abaca plantations in the Davao region. ❋ Unknown (2007)

ANNALISA REYES, USC PROFESSOR: The number one export of the Philippines used to be rice or abaca or coconuts and now the number one export is literally the labor of its women. ❋ Unknown (2007)

[Elementary] [music teacher]: "What is [rondo] form?" Class of second graders: "a-b-a-c-a!" ❋ Solfege73 (2005)

[hey man] [you got some] abaca i can [smoke]? ❋ FlipFigga (2003)