Norka Goods Exhibited at the 1862 International Exhibition in London

Industrial weaving was first developed in the colony of Sarepta, and as a result the fabric produced by the colonists received the name "sarpinka". Sarpinka is a fine gingham material woven from dyed cotton yarn.

Production of sarpinka grew and colonists were sent to Sarepta to learn the trade. In 1810, a large weaving operation began in Norka.

The sarpinka industry remained in the hands of only a few families. There were only seventeen families controlling the sarpinka business at the outbreak of World War I, and of those five families employed 60 percent of the weavers.

The International of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from May 1 to November 1, 1862. The exposition was sponsored by the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Trade, and featured over 28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries, representing a wide range of industry, technology, and the arts. All told, it attracted about 6.1 million visitors.

Page 380 of the Official Catalogue of the Industrial Department lists two exhibitors, J. Deiness (Deines) and W. Spadi (Spady), from Norka (shown in the catalog as "Norki Settlement, Saratof Gov."). Both men are shown as exhibitors of "cotton cloth (sarpinka)". Other Volga German merchants are also shown as exhibitors.