Mr. Clark,

Get on GOOGLE.com and type in cotton cards in parenthesis and click on the Image tab and you will see several examples. They were rectangular in shape and very fine wires like a brush. These were used to "card" the cotton into thread. It was a very time consuming process.

I hope this helps.

Respectfully,

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
War Between the States Historian
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
http://39thgavolinfrgt.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html