the fancy; but fruits are a healthy and important article of food. Some
women sell fruit in market; some, at stalls in the street; some, in
fruit shops or groceries; and some, from baskets, going from house to
house. Most dispose of small fruit, such as berries--some wild and some
cultivated. The ferries in large cities are very good stands for sellers
of fruits and sweetmeats. Places of amusement and the entrance to
cemeteries, are also. I talked to one apple woman, who says her business
is a slavish one. Her stand was at the Atlantic ferry, New York. When
she goes to her dinner, she gets the gate keeper to mind her stand. She
earns, on an average, $1 a day. She rises, gets her breakfast, and
starts to market by five o'clock. She remains at her stand until nine
o'clock at night. She sells the greatest quantity of fruit in the spring
and fall, when people are most apt to be making money, and so permit a
little self-indulgence. She sells least in winter. I saw a woman on the
street selling fruit and flowers. When she is out all day, she can
generally earn from fifty cents to $1. Another fruit seller told me that
she makes a good living. She has been at her stand eight years. She
sells most fresh fruit in summer; and in winter, about the holidays,
most dry fruit and nuts. In the coldest weather she remains in her
basement, heated by a stove, where she stores her fruit at night. Her
grapes are brought in on the cars, put up in pasteboard boxes. Her
location is excellent, for the working class of people pass in the
evening, returning from work, or in their promenades. I talked with an
old woman at an apple stand, who told me she often sells $1 worth of
articles in a day, but seldom makes a profit of more than half. She
sells most fruit in summer, but most cigars, candy, and nuts in winter.
She says there is a stand on every block, in that part of New York. Hers
is a good location, because so many men pass. In wet weather, she does
not sell much. She is shielded in winter, by sitting in a hall near,
where she can keep an eye on her stand. She lives near, and while she
goes home to dinner, her husband sells for her. An apple woman, in New
York, told us, she has kept her stand in Washington park for seven
years. She remains at it all the year. If any other fruit vender should
trespass on her bounds, a policeman would soon send him or her off.
Another old woman, keeping a fruit stand, told me she makes a
comfortable living at it in summer; but in winter she stays in a
confectionery store, and gets $10 a month and her board. At another
fruit stand, on asking the old lady how she got on, she burst into
tears, and replied, very poorly, scarcely made enough to keep her alive.
A professional honor exists among fruit women, and a desire to sustain
each other in their rights. A wholesale fruit dealer writes me that it
takes from two to four years to learn the business, when carried on
extensively.
=129. Gardeners.= The strength and energy of people, in northern
climates, have led them to excel in the rearing of fruit--not in
imparting a more delicious flavor, but in the quantity, the fulness, and
the size of the fruit. In the balmy air and under the sunny sky of the
South, vegetation develops more rapidly and more luxuriantly. He who
adds to the list of beautiful and fragrant flowers, or improves some
variety of fruit, enlarging, or rendering it more luscious, will be
remembered as a benefactor. Gardening is a pleasant and healthy
occupation to those that love outdoor life. A woman can no more be
healthful and beautiful without exercise in the open air, than a plant
can when deprived of air and light. We learn, from Mr. Howitt's "Rural
Life in England," that "there are on the outskirts of Nottingham, upward
of five thousand gardens, each less than the tenth of an acre. The bulk
of these are occupied by the working classes. These gardens are let at
from half a penny to three halfpence per yard." German women are often
employed, near cities, to weed gardens, gather vegetables, and other
such work. "In Hereford, England, there are no fewer than six annual
harvests, in each of which children are largely employed: 1, bark
peeling; 2, hay; 3, corn, 4, hops; 5, potatoes; 6, apples; 7, acorns.
Add to these, bird keeping in autumn and spring, potato setting and hop
tying, and the incidental duties of baby nursing and errand going."
=130. Makers of Cordial and Syrups.= Women who live in the country, and
have small fruit, would find it pay well to make cordials, berry
vinegars, &c. There are some establishments where it is made, and women
are employed to gather the fruit. The people of the Southern States have
depended on the North for these articles, but we presume a change will
be wrought. The abundant growth of small fruit in the South will enable
the South before long to meet the demand. We think there will be many
openings of this kind, in the South and West, for many years to come.
Some manufacturers of ginger wine, bitters, syrups, cordials, and grape
wines, write: "In reply to your circular we say--We do not employ any
women in our business, although we indirectly furnish employment for
several hundred, during the various fruit seasons, in gathering most
kinds of fruit, which we use in our business. Many of these fruits are
wild, which we buy at a specified price. The gatherers control their own
time, and their earnings will vary from fifty cents to $1 each, per day.
It would probably require the labor of about six hundred for six months
of each year, in gathering the amount of fruit which we use. But as we
do not directly employ them, or know anything about the general business
of those thus employed, we are unable to give further particulars."
=131. Root, Bark, and Seed Gatherers.= When the grass is bowed by the
sparkling dew, and the hills shrouded in mist, plants exhale most freely
their sweet odors. They are then gathered and sold to manufacturers, who
prepare from them oils, essences, and perfumeries. An old Quaker lady on
Tenth street, Philadelphia, keeping an herb store, told me that she
purchases her herbs mostly of men, but some women do bring them to sell.
It requires a knowledge of botany to gather them, and the stage of the
moon must be observed. Digging roots, and gathering plants, at all
seasons, is a hard business. At another herb store, I learned that the
prices paid gatherers depend much on the kind of herb, the difficulty of
obtaining it, and the season when it is gathered. A woman may earn $1 a
week, or she may earn as much as $10. The roots and herbs are bought by
weight. Many are purchased fresh in market, but some of the gatherers
dry them. They are sent from different parts of the Union to the cities
and towns. One told me that she would rather purchase herbs and seed put
up by women, for they are neater and more careful with their work. She
sells most in spring and fall. An Indian doctress told me barks must be
gathered in the spring and fall, when they are full of sap; and roots,
when the leaves are faded or dead. She sometimes makes $20 worth of
syrup in a day. She says the business requires some knowledge of plants,
experience in the times of gathering, amount of drying, &c.
=132. Seed Envelopers and Herb Packers.= In a seed store in
Philadelphia, we found, they employ women in January and February, at
$2.50 a week, to put seeds up in paper bags, seal them, and paste labels
on. They go at eight in the morning, and remain until dark. At a large
drug store in Philadelphia, we were told they employ nine women. They
have seven distinct branches for the women, and separate apartments for
each branch, consisting of weighing and putting up powders, sorting
herbs and roots, putting up liquids, &c., &c. The women earn from $3 to
$5 a week, and spend nine hours, from eight to six, having an hour at
noon. In busy seasons they remain till eight or nine, and receive
additional wages. There is nothing unhealthy in the business. They are
paid $3 a week from the time they are taken to learn, and deduction made
for absence. A seller of botanic medicines in Boston writes me: "He
employs women in putting medicines in small packages for the retail
trade, bottling the same, and labelling. He pays $5 a week to his women,
and $3 a week while learning, the time for which is six months. Common
sense, neatness, and integrity are the qualifications needed. The girls
work from nine to ten hours. He will not employ any but American women.
He pays men $8 or $9, because they can take them off, and put them upon
work that girls cannot do. Women would be paid better if they were
stronger, and did not need so much waiting upon in the way of lifting
and arranging their work. Rainy days they want to stay at home, or, if
they come, it takes half a day for them to dry their clothes. Men they
can depend on in all weather. Women might keep their books, if their
crinoline was not too extensive: that alone would bar them from the
counting room. Women are inferior only in physical disabilities. Girls
are good for nothing until after sixteen years of age; and nine in ten
will get married as soon as they are fairly initiated in work--hence the
time spent by women in acquiring a business education is to a certain
extent lost--lost to their employers, but of assistance to them in the
education of their children." Mr. P., botanic druggist says: "There are
but three establishments in New York, for this business, and twelve
women would be quite enough for them. They put up herbs in packages. One
day's practice is enough for a smart person. The women are paid from $3
to $5 a week." At the United States Botanic Depot they employ one girl,
and pay her $4 a week. She only works in daylight. Mr. J. L. employs two
girls to put up botanic medicines. He has men to cork the bottles. They
work ten months in the year. Nothing is done in December and January.
They pay $4 a week, of ten hours a day. In Louisville, St. Louis, and
Cincinnati, few women are employed in this way. Some seedsmen and
florists near Boston employ four ladies in enveloping seed. One of the
ladies writes: "We presume more ladies are employed in Europe to put up
seed than in this country. The employment is not unhealthy. We are paid
6 cents an hour, and work by the hour. To learn the part the women do,
requires about two hours. Judgment is most needed. Employment of this
kind is increasing, there is a demand for female labor in the seed
department." A seedsman, in Rochester, writes: "We employ six women in
making paper bags, paying 25 cents per hundred. Boys are employed at
about the same wages. We have work from July to January. The girls take
their work home. We use some boys, because their work benefits their
families equally as much."
=133. Sellers of Pets.= In Paris there are stores for the sale of dogs
and cats. In London, the sale of dogs is mostly on the streets, or at
the residence of the raiser. The aristocracy of England maintain 500,000
dogs and a large number of cats; consequently food must be provided for
them. The sale of birds is common. Gold and silver fish, white rabbits,
Guinea pigs, squirrels, tortoises, fawns, lambs, and goats, are
sometimes sold in seed and flower stores. Flowers and birds are the
favorite pets of ladies in the United States. Everything of this nature
is sold to some extent in the markets and on the streets of our cities,
but generally at the houses of those who devote themselves to the
business.
=134. Wine Manufacturers and Grape Growers.= Many persons are becoming
interested in the culture of the grape; and some are spending time and
money in experimenting. Longworth of Cincinnati has realized a fortune
from his operations. Belle Britain says: "In Longworth's cellars are
700,000 bottles of wine. Mr. L. informed her (?) that we have in this
country at least 5,000 varieties of the grape, and his vineyards yield
from 600 to 700 gallons to the acre." The color of wine depends on the
color of the grapes from which it is made. In several of the States,
Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Alabama, vineyards are flourishing,
and many new ones are being planted out. The variety of soil and surface
in our country is such that there is every probability of success. As
yet, only two kinds have been much grown. No doubt a large number of
women will, in the course of a few years, be employed in the cultivation
of the vine and the manufacture of wine. One can soon learn, with a few
instructions in each season, the proper culture of the vine. A great
deal of the work in the vineyards of France and Switzerland is done by
women. Women do better that men, because their fingers are smaller and
more nimble. The want of intelligent culture has been the greatest
barrier in the introduction of graperies into our country; but such is
the number of foreigners now among us that have a practical knowledge of
the business, we need fear no want of workmen. Many, too, have not been
willing to invest capital in an uncertain enterprise. Wine manufacturers
in Orange county, N. Y., write: "We have not employed women to any great
extent in our business. There are some branches of the business in which
women might be suitably and profitably employed, where those branches
are extensively carried on. The bottling process, including cleaning of
bottles, filling, putting on foil, labels, &c., could be done by women
as well as men. Women could pick the grapes, and cull out the green and
poor berries, and prepare them for the press. They are employed for this
purpose in Europe. The reasons why we have not employed women in these
branches are, we bottle not more than one sixth of our wine; we
manufacture principally for church communion and medicinal purposes, and
the principal demand for those purposes is by the gallon--consequently
we send it out mostly in casks. (Some wine growers bottle all.) The men,
whom we necessarily employ by the year or month in the cultivation of
the ground, vines, &c., are of course employed in the season of the
vintage, bottling, &c.; and in hurried times, such as the time of
picking the grapes, we get such additional help as is easiest obtained,
generally boys and girls, with sometimes women. Women are in such demand
here for household labor, that, unless sought for at the proper time,
March and the 1st of April, and hired for the year, it would be almost
impossible to obtain them. The wages generally paid are from $5 to $7
per month, mostly $5 and $6." Another grape grower writes, in answer to
a circular: "I do not employ female help in my business, except for a
few weeks during the time of tying up the vines and in gathering the
fruit, for which I pay 50 cents per day, without board. Women might be
employed to quite an extent in this business, which is increasing in the
country to a wonderful degree."
RAISERS, MAKERS, PREPARERS, AND DISPOSERS OF ARTICLES OF FOOD.
=135. Bread Bakers.= Nearly all the bakeries in New York are attended by
women. I could not learn of any women being employed in bread bakeries
to mix or bake, but they are in Germany and France. In France the
bakehouse girls enter ovens heated often to 300°, and, it is stated,
sometimes to even 400°. Bakerooms are usually of such great heat as to
be injurious to the health of any but the strongest and stoutest. Some
establishments have day and night bakers. The night bakers are up all
night, and must have their bread ready by 5.30 A. M. The day bakers go
in at 7, and turn out a batch of bread at 11 A. M. Bakers spend on an
average seventeen hours at their work, and this no doubt accounts partly
for the absence of women from the occupation in this country: seventeen
hours out of the twenty-four are too many for any woman to be on her
feet. In this country the bakers are robust, hearty-looking men, and
mostly Germans. Their average wages are $6 a week. Some bakers have a
scaly eruption produced by frequent contact of the skin with flour.
Inhaling the flour in mixing bread I have heard is unhealthy. Some women
might object to working in the same room with men, and baking is
certainly very warm work in summer. In most European cities the price of
bread is regulated by the Government. The cost of materials and the
state of the market regulate the price. A fine is the penalty for a
violation of the law. In this country, bakers regulate the price of
bread by the kind and quality. No law is enforced specifying prices.
Some years ago an attempt was made in New York to have bread sold by the
weight, but the bakers all opposed it. They might have been tempted to
put something heavy in the flour. In large cities some establishments
are devoted to one branch only of the business. Baker's bread is more
used in free than in slave States. In Northern cities some families
prepare their bread, cakes, pies, and meats, and send them to bakeries,
where for a small sum they are cooked. It saves a vast amount of labor.
Some bakers use potatoes in making up wheat bread. I never knew of rice
being used by bakers in this country, but know it is by some bakers in
Paris. The modes of baking bread, and the kinds of bread used, vary not
only in different, but in the same countries. "Some bakers give the
impression their bread is made by women," said a lady in a bakery, to
us, "but it is not. A woman could not make up two or three barrels of
flour in a day. Men are just as neat bakers as women could be." At three
bakeries I was told by the employers that they pay their girls who
attend the shop $7 a month, and board them, but do not have their
washing done. From several girls that stood in bakeries I learned that
they received from $6 to $10 a month, and their board. Only one of the
number got her washing done without extra expense. The girls were
expected to keep the counters, waiters, jars, and floors clean. They
must be in the bakery by 5 o'clock A. M., and stay until 10 P. M. Some
women require the girls to sew when not waiting on customers, and some
require them to sweep and keep the room clean, and some even to wash the
shop windows. Girls that stand in bakeries receive no better
compensation than house girls. A foreman of the baking department,
generally receives $8 a week, and his boarding. Girls are usually paid
from the time they enter. A knowledge of reading, writing, and figures
is considered sufficient. I was told by one lady in a shop that girls
attending bakeries usually receive from $8 to $10 a month, with board,
and some, also, get their washing done. They are not required to keep
the books for those terms, and the bakeries are few in number where
female employees keep the books. I was told by an Irish woman that in
Ireland there are few or no women attending bakeries and groceries. At
one bakery a girl told me she finds it very bad to be on her feet all
the time. She could not stay constantly in a bakery for one year at a
time, she gets so weak from excitement and fatigue. She says most
Germans keep their bakeries open on the Sabbath; but the Americans have
too much respect for the day to do so. On Saturday night, bakeries are
often open until 12 o'clock, and sometimes later.
=136. Brewers.= I wrote to a lady, whose name I saw in a directory as a
brewer. She replies: "You wish to know if I work at brewing, personally.
I do not at present, but have done so, and worked hard the man's part;
but my means are such now that I can do without. I have men employed,
and a clerk, &c., &c. I am a widow, and superintend my business, and
understand all that is connected with it. I suppose it is not necessary
to dwell longer on the subject, as I am out of the working part now. I
am sixty-two years of age."
=137. Candy Manufacturers.= "There are three hundred confectionery
manufacturers and retail dealers in New York city. Twelve establishments
are devoted exclusively to the manufacture of candies. In some, as many
as a hundred hands are employed in busy times. During the busy season,
there are engaged in the manufacturing houses about five thousand
persons of both sexes, though a very much larger number, probably some
thousands, are indirectly supported by it, the paper-box makers being
generally busily employed, and many children gaining a livelihood by
hawking candies through the streets. The city of New York is the
headquarters of the confectionery trade, supplying as much as all the
rest of the Union together, and distributing the results of its industry
to all parts of the United States, as well as to Canada, most of the
West India Islands, Mexico, Chili, and many other places. It is
estimated that fully $1,000,000 worth of confectionery is made annually
in this city; and by that term we mean preparations of sugar, chocolate,
jujube paste, &c., but exclude many articles such as ice creams,
jellies, blancmanges, pastry, and other delicacies, which would sum up
this amount to perhaps double. Two of the principal houses manufacture
daily between them four thousand pounds of candies, at prices varying
from 14 cents to 50 cents per pound, the average being about 20 cents."
The coloring matter of foreign candies is generally showy, and of a
poisonous nature. That of American manufacture is not of such brilliant
and permanent colors, but more regard is paid to health in the selection
of coloring matter. At confectioners' in London, classes of young ladies
are taken and taught the art of making confectionery. Some candies are
made by stretching over a hook, some must be shaken in a pan over a
charcoal fire, and rolled on tables with marble tops. I was told at S. &
P.'s (a wholesale house) that they are most busy from August 1st to 20th
of December, and from March to June. They take learners for a week, to
see if they are fit for the business, and if they are, reward them for
their time. It takes but a short time to learn the part done by girls.
They pay experienced girls from $3 to $6 a week. The girls work ten
hours a day, and if longer, they are paid extra. Lately they have kept
their girls until ten o'clock at night. It requires taste and invention
to envelop fancy confectionery, but is not very reliable for constant
employment. S. & P. employ ninety girls in busy times. At another place
I was told they will not take Southern orders, for the Southerners will
not buy, and have not the money to pay, if they would. The fancy candies
go through three or four processes, and so the girls must work in the
same room as the men who paint them. The girls sit while at work. R.
pays by the month, and keeps his girls all the year. He says labor is
more poorly compensated in New York, in proportion to the rates of
living, than in any city in the Union. He thinks some girls should go
from the cities into country places, and enter into service. H. says a
person of any intelligence can learn in two or three months to paint
candies. He used to employ girls to put gilding on, paying $2 a
week--ten hours a day; but if a girl can paint well, she can earn $4 or
$5 a week. He knows several German girls in the city that do. The candy
flowers, he says, are made by hand, the fruit moulded. A lady
confectioner told me that a woman who ornaments fancy candies is poorly
paid, and it is dirty, sugary kind of work. Yet she acknowledged that
candies must be kept on a clean table and handled by clean
hands--otherwise they would not look well, and consequently not sell
readily. The wives of German manufacturers do most of that kind of work.
A confectioner told me, candy is never made in this country by women,
but it is in England. He said the dust of the powdered sugar and the
gases of the coal render it unhealthy. In large establishments most
candy is made by steam. The making of candy he thought even too
laborious for men. The teeth of candy manufacturers are often decayed
from the frequent tasting of heated sugar. One candy manufacturer writes
me: "We employ six girls in making candy, and do not think the business
unhealthy. Wages range from $1.25 to $4.50 per week--ten hours a day.
Men's wages are from $4.50 to $9. It requires from three to five years
for men to learn. Women's part is learned in one year. The prospect of
employment is good for a limited number. Fall is the best season, but
they are always employed except during part of the winter. In some
branches of the work women excel." At a manufactory of gum drops and
candy rings, I saw a boy who receives $3 a week for making the rings,
and a girl who receives $2.75 for picking gum drops, _i. e._, loosening
the sugar in which they are incrusted while being made. They work from 7
A. M. to 6 P. M.