Buyer competition, which tended to lower the prices, the change in the minimum wage laws, and development of machine-produced spreads soon made the handcrafted spreads too expensive. Gradually the industry began to pull the workers from surrounding hillsides and small towns into mills in town, beginning the rapid growth of the tufting industry in Dalton.

In the 1930s, as a result of the demand for more bedspreads, the first mechanized tufting machine, attributed to Glen Looper Foundry of Dalton, was developed. Looper modified the single needle commercial Singer so that it would tuft the thick yarn into unbleached muslin without tearing the fabric and an attached knife would cut the loop. Machines quickly developed into four, then eight, twenty-four, and more needles to make the parallel rows of tufting known as "chenille." By 1941, all but about one percent of tufted bedspreads were machine made. Mats and rugs were created with the same process, using cotton yarns and fabric. Volume increased rapidly after World War II, because people were hungry for color and beauty. To show the extent of growth, 30,000 bales of cotton were consumed in 1946 by the industry. By 1950, approximately 500,000 bales were used, and the industry was the third largest consumer of cotton grown in Georgia in 1952.

Sales were created by correspondence or by taking spreads to department stores, but by far the most famous and enjoyable way to buy a spread was on "Bedspread Alley," U. S. Highway 41 between Dalton and Cartersville. This stretch of the major north-south highway got its nickname because of the bedspreads the tufters hung on clotheslines to dry in the breeze and sun.

The salesmen and tourists enjoyed seeing the colorful, gaudy spreads and enjoyed the novelty of buying them "off the line." The most popular pattern to the travelers, outselling all others 12 to 1 was the Peacock -- feathered birds facing each other and spreading tails over the breadth of the spread. This "Bedspread Alley" phenomenon lasted into the '70s, and even now a few spreads can be seen on lines just south of Dalton.

As the number of tufted products produced annually went into the millions, the job of supplying the industry became equally important. Yarn, sheeting, ducks mills, and agents were established in the area, with their entire output going to the industry; and larger mills elsewhere vied for the growing business. Machine shops were established to manufacture the thousands of single and multi-needle machines needed, as well as to design improvements aimed at making even more beautiful and better spreads, bathroom sets, robes, beach wear, and rugs. Dye plants for yarn were built. Laundries were erected for finishing the spreads. Printing shops were established to supply the millions of tags and labels needed. Box factories turned out cartons for shipping. Moving these spreads to market were big volume for rail and motor freight lines.

Machinery was continually widened, creating larger mats and rugs, and, later, broadloom carpet. Developments of new fibers at the same time machinery was changing accelerated the growth of broadloom carpet.