females earned a livelihood by painting on porcelain. During the last
century, a Madame Gerard, "who possessed a large fortune, had a hotel
furnished with facilities for painting Sevres. Her splendid cupboards of
polished mahogany were gilded and bronzed, and their contents looked
like a rich collection for the gratification of taste rather than for
sale. She purchased some pieces for sixty and eighty louis d'ors. A pair
of vases, not very large, painted with sacred subjects, sold for 26,000
livres." "There are two distinct methods of painting in use for china
and earthenware: one is transferred to the bisque, and is the method by
which the ordinary painted ware is produced; and the other transferred
on the glaze." In the former process, women called transferrers and
cutters are employed. The cutter trims away the superfluous paper around
the pattern, which the transferrer applies to the ware, and rubs with
flannel to produce an impression. She then washes the paper off, and the
ware is ready for the hardening kiln. Women are excluded from that
department termed ground laying, though, from the care and lightness of
touch required, it is very suitable. In Staffordshire, E., great
opposition was made some years back to women becoming decorators, and
even now they are not permitted to use a hand rest. In France, and to a
limited extent in England, decorating, gilding, and burnishing are done
by women. This is probably one reason that imported China is cheaper.
Most of those in France and England who attain respectable skill in
decorating, are the wives or daughters of working manufacturers. Besides
the mechanical skill, it requires a very exact knowledge of the effects
of the coloring matters employed, as they are much changed by being
burnt. Decorating is certainly a beautiful employment for women, but few
in this country have the opportunity and are willing to apply themselves
long enough to learn the art. At K.'s china warerooms, Philadelphia, I
was told, no establishments of any size in the United States are engaged
in the decoration of china, because they can get it done more cheaply in
England and France. K. employs Englishmen to do what decorating he
wishes to have done. He employs women to burnish. The following
contradictory statement I found in the "Manufactures of Philadelphia:"
"Decorating porcelain and china ware, which had been imported plain, is
done in one establishment in Philadelphia to an amount exceeding $75,000
per annum." At H.'s, New York, I saw women burnishing china. It is
merely a mechanical operation, consisting in rubbing the gilding with
agate, after being burnt. The girls earn from $3.50 to $4.00 a week. It
requires care and physical strength. One girl was cleaning superfluous
paint off the china. Women might learn to make impressions for letters,
flowers, and other patterns. I saw an English lady in New York
decorating china. A lady took lessons of either her or her husband, to
teach in the school of design. S. employs one woman for painting, and
fifteen for burnishing china. China decorating is usually paid for by
the piece. Mixing the colors for china painting is not more unhealthy
than mixing them for canvas, and putting them on not more so than any
other sedentary occupation. A French decorator told me that in Paris he
gave private instruction to some ladies who learned it for a pastime,
and a few who made a business of it. Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and
New Orleans are the only places where china is painted in the United
States. L. thinks a person of taste and abilities could learn in one
year, earning nothing during the time, and after that earn from $5 to
$10 a week. He pays his burnishers $3 a week. Another decorator told me
he pays his burnishers (girls) from $2 to $2.50 a week. The foreman of a
large establishment in New York told me that it requires several years
to learn to decorate perfectly. Most decorators design their own
patterns, and usually earn $12 a week. He says, in busy seasons it is
difficult to get enough of good burnishers. His girls work only in
daylight, and earn from $3 to $5 a week. They are busy all the
year--most so three months before New Year. It requires three months'
practice to become a good burnisher. A learner receives $1 a week from
the time she commences to learn burnishing: he thinks it is not hard on
the eyes. The work is paid for by the piece. If there was a higher
protective duty, more decorating would be done in the United States.
LEATHER.
=276. Leather.= A leather dresser, somewhere in New York State, writes:
"Leather dressing is a disagreeable, wet business, fit only for men.
After leather is dressed, all the other work can be done by women. We
cut by measure and by pattern. A person cutting and making should earn
one hundred per cent. Women can cut, make, and sell as well as men, I
suppose even better."
=277. Currying.= The currying of skins might be done by women. Cutting
it of the desired thickness, soaking it in water, and working it with a
small stone, cleaning it with a brush, and, in the drying shed, applying
oil and tallow, would not require very long practice for one of any
mechanical talent. The skin is softened by being doubled and washed with
a grooved board. It is then carefully shaved, and worked again, after
which it is blackened and grained. The work would require some strength,
but not more than the ordinary process of washing clothes. All the work
must be performed standing. The process of converting the skins of
sheep, lambs, and kids into soft leather, is called tawing, and is
somewhat lighter work than currying; yet the leather requires much
stretching and rubbing. I am sure the work would not be more, if so
offensive, as morocco sewing.
=278. Harness.= A harness maker told me that a lady who stitches harness
of the best quality, can earn from $1.25 to $1.50 a day. He pays $1 a
set for stitching the blinds. The perforations are made by a man, and
they are stitched by hand. Not a great many are engaged in it, and he
thinks the prospect good of learners obtaining employment. Many earn $6
or $7 a week. He employs two women all the year. A person that can sew
well, can learn in two or three weeks. It requires some instruction. A
maker of horse collars told me his women stitch collars by machine;
formerly by hand. He pays six cents a pair. The wife of one of his
workmen stitches twelve an hour, with one of Howe's machines. B. employs
from fifty to seventy-five girls to make fancy harness, horse blankets,
and coach tassels. Fancy bridles he has stitched by Singer's machine.
Good operators can earn from $5 to $7 a week, and for leather work are
paid by the week. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons. The
fashions of fancy leather work change. One gentleman, who employs many
girls in making harness trimmings, says the cloth pieces are made by
hand, the leather by machinery. In Newark, Bridgeport, and New Haven,
much of the stitching for the South is done by machines, and women are
employed. The English harness is considered the best, and is done by
hand. In England, men called "bridle cutters" get large quantities of
bridles to make up, and employ from one hundred to two hundred girls to
do the stitching. A lady who has quite an establishment in New York, and
employs a number of work people, told me that she pays them each from $2
to $6 a week. She thinks machine operating is trying on the health, but
not so bad as sewing with a needle. She pays by the week. Women do as
well as men, except for heavy work. The trade can be learned in a few
weeks. She pays learners something. Her hands have work all the year,
but are most busy from October till the end of December. They work ten
hours. She prefers men for most of the work. She would like American
women, but cannot get them. She says girls think more of having a beau
than laying up a few dollars in a bank, and consequently spend all they
make on dress. A manufacturer writes: "Working on leather is considered
very healthy. I employ thirteen women in the manufacture of fancy
bridles, riding and driving reins, riding martingales, &c. They average
$1 per day. Three of them run stitching machines. All are paid by the
piece, except one, who does the overseeing and writing. We think the
girls receive as good pay as the men. Considerable practice is necessary
to do the work well. Learners are paid for all work that is sufficiently
well done to be salable. Good judgment, accurate eye, and nimble
fingers, best fit one for the occupation. As our business is wholesale,
it depends upon orders. Spring and fall are the most busy seasons.
Sometimes the women are entirely out of work for a short time in winter.
They never work over ten hours. We will not employ foreigners."
=279. Jewel and Instrument Cases.= At a manufactory, I was told they
employ some girls, paying by the piece. The girls can earn $4.50 to $5 a
week, of ten hours a day. It does not require long to learn. In busy
seasons it is difficult to get good hands, and they have to advertise
frequently. At another place, the proprietor told me he used to employ
girls who earned $4 or $5 a week, but he prefers boys, because they can
do all parts of the work. At a manufactory of morocco and velvet jewel
cases, the man told me he pays girls $4.50 and $5 a week, of ten hours a
day. In busy seasons it is difficult to get good hands.
=280. Morocco Sewers.= At a morocco manufactory, I was told by the
proprietor, a German, that he employs girls, paying twelve cents a
dozen, and they can sew from five to twelve dozen a day. He wants hands,
and of course would speak favorably of the occupation. He says they can
have work all the year except one or two weeks. At an American
manufacturer's, I was told it is wet, dirty work, and requires
considerable time and practice to learn to do it quickly. After working
at it constantly four or five years, a good hand may be able to earn
from $5 to $7 a week. Most of it is done in the families of tanners.
Some women undertake it, but give it up because they do it so slowly it
will not pay. The man said nearly or quite all who work at it are
Germans, and the wives and daughters of those in the business. They are
paid twelve cents a dozen. The occupation he thinks is full in New York,
for women. Beginners are apt to hurt their fingers, as needles are used,
the sides of which are triangular. Sewing five skins a day is considered
very good work. Dr. Wynne says: "Exhalations from animal substances,
which are very offensive to the senses, more especially to that of
smell, not only appear to be in most instances innoxious, but often of
absolute advantage in affording a protection from disease." Most morocco
is made in Philadelphia, none South or West. S. employs sixteen women,
and pays good hands from $4 to $5 per week. He thinks there are at least
two hundred morocco sewers in Philadelphia. It does not take long to
learn. He pays from the first. They have work all the year, but the
prospect for learners is poor. At A.'s, Philadelphia, I saw some women
sewing up goat skins, which were to be tanned. It is extremely
disagreeable work, as the skins are wet and smell offensively. The women
are paid twelve cents a dozen, and find their own thread. A steady hand
can earn from $3.50 to $6 a week, and can always find work. They are
most busy in spring and fall. A morocco dresser writes: "He pays by the
piece, and his women each earn about seventy-five cents a day. A woman
can learn in two or three weeks. The prospect for future employment is
very poor, as skins are mostly tanned now without sewing. A location
must always be had where pure water is abundant."
=281. Pocket Books.= One man told me he employs a woman to make
portemonaies, paying $5 a week. On Broadway a firm employs four or five
women, paying from $3 to $6 a week. It requires but two or three months
to learn the business. The women sew with a machine, paste morocco on,
and varnish some parts. C. pays his girls from $3.50 to $4 a week. At
another place one of the firm told me their girls earn $3, $4, and $5 a
week. It is piece work, and requires but three or four weeks to learn. A
smart girl can earn $2 the first week. The busy seasons are spring and
fall. They find it difficult to get enough good hands in those seasons.
The business is mostly confined to New York and Philadelphia. A
manufacturer in New York told me, about two hundred women are employed
in making pocket books, &c., in that city. He pays $4.50 a week, but
they have a certain quantity to do in that time. It requires but a short
time to learn to do the stitching only (which he has done by hand), but
about a year to learn to do all parts. He pays $2 a week while they are
learning, and then he increases at the rate of twenty-five cents a week
after a few months, and at the end of the year some are earning $3; some
$3.25. Neatness in cutting and fitting the parts together is desirable.
He keeps his hands employed all the year. There is a scarcity of good
hands, but an abundance of indifferent ones. A manufacturer in Maine
writes: "We employ from eight to twelve American girls. They are paid by
the piece, and earn from $12 to $16 per month. Boys earn about the same
as girls. They are paid while learning, if the work is well done. It
requires about a year to become proficient."
=282. Saddle Seats.= In Philadelphia, I was told at a large saddle store
that they employ women to stitch saddles, paying from fifty cents apiece
for common ones to $1.25 for those of a better quality. At a large
saddle and harness manufactory in New York, I was told they employ women
to stitch by the machine and by hand. They are paid by the day, as there
is a variety of work, and their girls are not confined to exclusive
branches. In prosperous times their hands are employed most of the year.
Spring and fall are the best seasons for work. There are small factories
in most of the Southern and Western cities. The hand sewers earn but $3
and $5 a week; a few operators can make $6. At S. & M.'s they employ
about twenty women in the different branches, and, when business is
good, have work all the year. It does not require long to learn. They
are paid by the week, from $3 to $4. Prospect dull. This kind of work is
mostly done in Newark.
=283. Tanning.= Leather can now be tanned by a chemical process in a few
days. Leather has been made so thin, and received so high a polish, that
it has been used for making bonnets in Paris. Buckskin is used for
making many articles in this country. Shoulder braces, drawers, shirts
and gloves, are made of it. A tanner writes: "I know of no country where
this business exists in which females are employed, unless perhaps in
some of the smaller German States, where female service is not deemed
incompatible with the services of the ox and the horse. The tanning
business in all its departments is laborious and offensive, and although
not unhealthy, is dirty and disagreeable, requiring a great amount of
muscular power. I know of no employment less congenial to the taste of
women, or less suited to their elevation. Morocco is polished by hand,
and in some places is done by women. A tanner writes: "It requires
strong and healthy men to perform _any part_ of a tanner's trade, and
they do not get very highly paid at that. The business is decidedly
dirty, and oftentimes very disagreeable, not fit for women in any
particular. In order to conduct the business successfully, one needs to
be located by a good stream of water, or where it can be easily
obtained, plenty of bark, and not far from market." Among the Cossacks,
some women are employed in tanning.
=284. Trunks.= A trunk maker said he thought women could not well put
the tacks in trunks, because the trunks are first put together, and are
heavy lifting; but I think it could be done by them. Putting the linings
in trunks could certainly be done by women. The man referred to said he
thought some women are employed in a large trunk factory in Newark,
because the proprietors thought they could get their work done cheaper,
and he hoped they failed, because of their motive. The employment of
women, he urged, cuts down men's labor, and so all labor is reduced
below its worth, just as it is now in England. There a woman must
neglect her home duties, to help make a living. If women, he added, were
paid at the same rate as men, and so there was a fair competition, he
would not object to women being employed.
=285. Whips.= V., of New York, says he and his partner have whips
manufactured in Westfield, Mass., and some in the House of Refuge,
Charlestown. Westfield is the principal manufacturing place for whips in
the United States. The daughters of farmers for miles around the town
braid lashes. The covers are put on the handles by machines attended by
girls. That part is usually done in factories. The part called buttons
is also made by girls, and done by hand. Girls can earn from $3 to $5 a
week. They receive about three fourths the price paid men, because the
work is not so laborious. It requires from three to nine months to
learn, according to the skill of the person. They are paid what they can
earn while learning. They have been able to keep their hands employed
all the year, but fear they cannot this winter (1860). In 1857, there
were probably but one half the working class able to obtain employment.
The prospect for work in this line is better than in most others, for
the whip market has increased twofold in the last ten years, and is
likely to extend. The work done at home is piece work, and that done in
shops is usually so. The business suffers in hard times, for people then
think they can dispense with whips. V. said the Philadelphians and
Yankees have different views in regard to woman's labor. The Yankees
know they can get it done cheaper by women, and the Philadelphians think
they cannot get it so well done by women. The American Whip Company
write "they employ eighty females; about one half are American, and one
half Irish. Women are employed in any department where they can labor
with propriety and advantage. The prospect is that the business will
always continue as good as now. All seasons answer equally well for the
work. During working hours, one of the women often reads aloud for the
benefit of the others in the room. Board, $2 per week." "The reason why
women are employed at making whips is, the work being light, they can do
as much as a man, and competition compels the employer to get his work
done for the lowest wages." P. & S., in Philadelphia, employ some girls
to braid lashes. It requires about six weeks to learn. Some earn $3, and
some $4 a week, working from nine to ten hours, but are paid by the
dozen. All their girls are Americans, as are the generality of females
in this business. "In London," says Mayhew, "the cane sellers are
sometimes about two hundred in number, on a fine Sunday, in the summer,
and on no day are there fewer than thirty sellers of whips in the
streets, and sometimes--not often--one hundred." The branch of finishing
in whip making has been entered by women in Birmingham, England, and
created some opposition. Sellers of large, coarse whips usually frequent
market houses--those with fancy whips stand on the sidewalks.
WHALEBONE WORKERS.
=286. Whalebone Workers.= The natural color of whalebone is nearly the
same as gray limestone rock. The black ones we buy are colored.
Whalebone is exported from New York. About four hundred American vessels
are employed in whaling, and about ten thousand men. Enough whalebone
can be prepared in one factory to supply the whole United States, I was
told by one of the proprietors of a whalebone factory. He paid a boy $2
a week for tying up whalebone for parasols and umbrellas (which work
could be done by a girl). Small holes are punched by machinery in the
ends of bones to be used for stays. A woman runs a thread through, and
ties them in bunches. She is paid one cent a bunch, and, as she ties up
five hundred or six hundred a week, earns $5 or $6. At another factory,
I was told they employ girls and women in tying up some whalebones and
stringing others. They sit while at work, and are paid by the week,
working ten hours a day. They keep their hands all the year, but are
most busy in the fall. Tying up whalebones looks simple, but it requires
practice to become expert, and requires discrimination to select the
indifferent from the salable. The woman we saw earns $4.50, but she has
been at it several years, and is very expert. Women seldom earn more
than $3. Girls might polish the bones--a something I saw a boy doing.
BRUSH MANUFACTURERS.
=287. Brush Manufacturers.= Women have from the earliest period been
employed in making brushes. In France, women are employed in preparing
bristles for brushes, bleaching, washing, straightening, and assorting
them. If they are so employed in this country it is at Lansingburg, N.
Y. Indeed the finer bristles are all imported. The process of preparing
bristles is simple, merely washing them and placing them in a
preparation of sulphur to bleach them. "The great art in making brushes
for artists is so to arrange the hairs that their ends may be made to
converge to a fine point when moistened and drawn between the lips; and
it is said that females are more successful than men in preparing the
small and delicate pencils." In shaving brushes the bristles must be so
arranged as to form a cone. This requires skill, and commands handsome
wages. A large number of bristles are imported from Germany, Russia, and
a considerable quantity from France; yet the United States furnish some.
We think the owners of pork houses, and farmers in the Southern and
Western States, would find the saving of bristles to justify the trouble
of doing so, as they bring a good price. In this country, the process in
making finer brushes, called drawing, is mostly done by women. The
heavier kind of brushes is seldom made by women. Persons working in
horn, wood, whalebone, ivory, gutta percha, pearl, &c., prepare the
handles. Few if any brush makers have them prepared in their own
establishments. I called on a brush maker whose manufactory is in
Boston. The clerk says they never have any difficulty in getting plenty
of good hands. They work by the piece. He says, if you advertise there,
you are sure to have hundreds of applicants, many of whom are already in
business, but hope to get better wages for the same amount of work, or
less work for the same wages. A manufacturer told me that he employs
boys, who do piecework and earn from $5 to $10 a week, but thinks he
will employ girls, as he could get drawers for from $3 to $4 per week.
The girls sit while at this work. H., a maker of tooth, nail, and hair
brushes, told me his is the only tooth brush manufactory in the United
States. His girls looked clean and orderly, and had intelligent faces.
Those working in the house were of Irish extraction--those who worked at
home, Americans. Most of them attend night school. H. finds his girls
more careless about their work Monday morning than at any other time. He
attributes it to their talking and thinking of what they saw and heard
the day before. Those that sew well he finds work best for him. (I
expect that principle generally holds good--those that work well in one
business are likely to in another, because they are industrious and give
their attention to it.) If the work is not well done, he takes it out
and makes them do it over. As it is done by the piece, it of course is
their own loss. They engage in trepanning, wiring, and trimming brushes.
The trepanning and wiring are done altogether by women in England. They
are paid by the piece, those wiring and trepanning earn from $3 to $4.
The lady that trims earns $6 a week. The work is very neat and well
adapted to women. It requires about three months to learn. Women are
paid something while learning. Care and nicety must be used to fill the
little cavities in the brush with bristles closely and firmly. The
business is not good, on account of competition in the manufacture with
European countries, where labor is cheaper. Women cannot polish the
ivory well, as it is done by hand and is very hard work. Women are
superior in the branches pursued by them. $2.50 is the usually price
paid by workwomen for board in New York. A brush maker in Philadelphia
writes: "I pay from eighteen to twenty cents per thousand holes. No men
employed by us in this branch. Boys spend four or five years at this
trade. Girls spend six months learning one branch. The prospect for more
work of this kind is poor. Our women are all Americans, and work the
year round. Women are superior in their branch." P. & M. employ girls to
make ostrich feather dusters, and they earn from $4 to $6 per week. They
have had employment all the year. While at work the girls can sit or
stand, as they please. Their girls also paint the handles. A
manufacturer of ostrich feather dusters told me, he pays girls from $2
to $3 a week for coloring and putting the feathers in handles. They can
always get enough of hands. The girls work in daylight only.
IVORY CUTTERS AND WORKERS.