Picañol at the World Exposition in 1958

The date 17 April 1958 saw the start of the much talked about World Exposition in Brussels, which would last until 19 October. Picañol participated in the event and did so with a President loom at the Symatex stand in the Belgian pavilion. On 12 July, Picañol organized a group outing with the Brass Band for the employees who wanted to visit the World Exposition. And on 4 September, Picañol appeared on Flemish television. The following Picañol employees – O. Deschacht, R. Desquirez, M. Dufromont and J. Liefhooghe – participated in a short television report. Thanks to this, our loom and the Picañol Workshops received the honor of becoming Symatex's most important member at the ‘Maison de la Metallurgie’ (the House of Metallurgy). The television reporter asked O. Deschacht a couple of questions about the evolution of the loom in the last 200 years.
- “Where are these looms manufactured?”
- “In Ieper, in the heart of West Flanders.”
- “Are they also sold in Belgium?”
- “Certainly, an important model company from Bruges has recently purchased numerous looms, however, many of them cross the seas to foreign countries.”
- “Could we see and hear this ‘fierce machine’ in action for a moment?”
- “Absolutely.”
And, following these questions, the Picañol loom roared at the Expo and on Flemish television for fifteen minutes.
(foto: Bernard Steverlynck at a presentation in the Atomium)