field of employment to women. The fashion, a few years back, of ladies
making their own shoes, raged like a fever. Those that had leisure did
so with economy, as the lasts and implements for working cost only $3,
and the materials for a pair of shoes from sixty cents to $1. Afterward
no further expense was needed but the materials. The fitting of shoes is
basting, stitching, and putting them together. Fitting is generally done
by females, and is so simple that children can work at it. A good deal
of this work is done in families at the East. Crimping and bottoming are
done altogether by men. Some firms in cities confine themselves to
importing and dealing in shoe-manufacturers' tools, materials, &c. In
Massachusetts, most of the shoes are made in country towns, where living
is much cheaper than in the cities; and the business in cities is very
much absorbed by foreigners, that can live much cheaper than Americans.
The principal defect in ready-made shoes is their imperfect shape. It
would be well for every adult to have a last made the exact shape of his
or her foot, and keep it at the shoemaker's. "The application of
machinery to the manufacture of shoes has made so vast a difference in
the ease and rapidity of their production that those engaged in the
business can scarcely realize the advantage they possess, and before
they are aware of it they are in the way of creating a surplus. The
effect of this change in their production will be to lessen the number
of manufacturers and operatives." Says a writer in the _Pennsylvania
Inquirer_: "Individuals that are prominent in the shoe business assert
that about 2,000 females are employed in Philadelphia in binding shoes
or sewing uppers; but they do not obtain steady work, and the average of
their wages is only $75 to $100 per annum." Four thousand two hundred
men are employed in Philadelphia in making women's shoes. Might not a
large part of that work be done by women? Yes; the cutting, binding,
stitching--indeed, the entire making of ladies' shoes might be done by
women. Most of the stitching is now done by machines. The most depressed
trades in New York, in 1845, were those of shoe and shirt making. From
the New York _Tribune_ of May, 1853, we take the subjoined extract: "The
binding of children's shoes is paid for at the rate of two pairs for
three cents, or eighteen cents a dozen pair; while for the full size,
five cents a pair. Now a first-rate hand may succeed, by the closest
application--say from fourteen to seventeen hours a day, if
uninterrupted by domestic cares--in making, during the week, four dozen
pairs, for which, after delivery and approval, she will be paid $2.40,
that being the maximum paid, and representing the value of not less than
eighty hours' labor; and from this miserable dole the cost of light and
fire is to be deducted. We are not prepared to say this sum is never
exceeded, as some houses may pay a slight advance on these prices; but
it is more than sufficient for us to know that this is _above_ the
average that hundreds of women and girls in this city (New York) are
earning from that source." We have seen it stated, elsewhere, that good
shoebinders, in New York, usually earn from $4 to $7 a week. I talked
with a shoe fitter in New York, who works for a large and fashionable
store and employs a number of hands. Some of her operators have $6 a
week, and have better wages than hand workers, because they can do more
work in the same time. As sewing machines become cheaper, wages for work
done by them will fall. Shoemakers made more money before ladies wore
heels on their shoes, as they wore out more. Mrs. I., a shoe fitter,
told me that she pays one of her hands $7, another $6, and none less
than $4. It requires about six months for most women to learn the trade.
The business is one that will extend. Spring and fall are the best
seasons for work. Her hands usually spend but nine hours a day at labor,
as stitching shoes is heavy work. Men usually do the cutting in the back
of the store, and receive better wages than the women. The cutting is
done by hand. Her workers pay $2.50 for board. There is a scarcity of
good operators on uppers. Plenty of indifferent hands can be had at any
time. She says American women are too fond of pleasure and dress. They
make money, and then must have a day or two to rest. She was an Irish
woman. The journeymen shoemakers of New York have an association for
regulating prices and hours of work, and a lady branch was started, but
has become extinct. A shoebinder in Brooklyn told me that he employs a
number of girls, paying his operatives $3, $4, $5, and some even $6 per
week. The machines have taken work from many, and lowered the prices of
those that do it by hand. To make fancy shoes requires taste and
judgment. The late strikes have given us, through the newspapers, some
reliable information in regard to the starving rates paid for work, and
wages have been somewhat increased by it. I heard a shoemaker say he
knew one sewer that received forty cents for a week's work, stitching
sixty pairs of gaiters. Two cents is what some of the Massachusetts
women received for binding a pair of boots. Yet the consumer must pay as
high for boots and shoes as ever. The reason given is, that leather
costs more than formerly--a statement we are led to doubt when
considering the increased facilities for tanning. An intelligent shoe
fitter told me the prices of work were formerly much higher than now.
The work that would formerly have brought fifty cents is now not paid
more than twenty-five cents. Mrs. B. says well-dressed women sometimes
come and bring what they say is a sample of their work. A few pairs will
be given them to make, which they will bring in poorly stitched. She
thinks any one in the shoe-making business that does her work well can
always find employment. "In Ohio, several women are employed as
shoemakers, and others are working independently and successfully,
evincing both taste and ability in their elegant and substantial work."
A manufacturer in Albany, N. Y., writes: "I employ ten women running
sewing machines, binding by hand, and stitching with wax-thread and awl.
I pay mostly by the piece, and my hands earn from $2 to $5 per week.
Women cannot do men's labor in our branch. Learners are paid what they
earn. Mechanical talent is a desirable qualification. The prospect for
extension of the business is necessarily poor. Prison work is
interfering much with our craft. Women can have steady work, if
employers manage prudently. Women that work with awl and wax thread are
mostly foreign." The returns of 1860 give 56,039 males and 24,978
females employed in making boots and shoes in New England; and in all
the States, 96,287 males and 31,140 females. In Dublin, about five
hundred women are employed in eight of the large establishments of that
city in boot closing, and earn on an average eight shillings per week,
of nine hours a day.
=347. Stays and Corsets.= At Mrs. B.'s, Philadelphia, I was told women
are paid by the dozen for making corsets, and earn from $2 to $3 a week.
They mostly take their work home. At a place in New York, I was told
they have sewing machines, and they pay operators $4 a week, working
from 7½ A. M. to 7½ P. M. Those that sew for them by hand do not earn so
much. It is difficult to get enough of good hands; so the lady thought
there must be openings for competent workers. Girls get $4 a week for
basting. Their girls are of all nations. Every store, she remarked, has
its own way of doing business. It takes some time to learn to do all
parts, as a girl usually works at some special part. A man does the
cutting. One corset maker thinks it a valuable gift to be able to fit
well. She considers corsets necessary to the preservation of health.
American children, by their restlessness, counteract the effects of
their rapid growth. Miss C. told me those that work for wholesale houses
can, if good hands, find work all the year. They are paid by the piece,
and can earn from $3 to $6. It requires three or four years to learn all
parts. Her girls cannot take their work home. Few are willing to take
learners. At another place, I was told a good operator can get $6 a
week. They sell most women corsets of French and German make. The French
fit American ladies nearly as well as those made to order, but the
German do not. At another place, I was told it requires but a short time
to learn. There are but few manufactories in this country. The imported
corsets are mostly sold, because cheapest. The basters get $3 a week,
ten hours a day, and operators $4, and $4.50, according to abilities.
Mrs. B. thinks it difficult to become a good fitter. She employs men to
cut, put bones and eyelets in, and press. Anybody that can sew well can
soon take up corset making. All her sewing is done by hand. She sends
her work to the country, because she can get it done more cheaply. The
work pays poorly. She says the form is retained much longer by wearing
corsets. A lady who employs women to stitch corsets for her by hand,
pays from $2.50 to $3.50 a week--ten working hours a day. It requires
six months to learn, and a just eye, a knowledge of figure, and an
ability to sew by hand and stitch by machine, to succeed. She says most
corset employers in New York are French, and employés Irish. She
thought, if a lady has good apartments in a genteel part of the city,
she may do well. Mrs. B., who has been twenty-three years carrying on
the business on Broadway, says she has applications constantly, but
finds it difficult to obtain competent workmen. Men are practical corset
makers, and do the cutting. They are better able to cut the goods, so as
to make a handsome fit. They receive better wages than women. It is a
business as much to be learned as cutting gentlemen's coats. She pays
both by the piece and week, and her hands receive from $3 to $8. Some of
the stitching is done by machinery--some by hand. It requires about the
same time to learn corset as dress making. Learners receive from her
from $1.50 to $2 per week. She thinks the supply of hands just equal to
the demand. She employs from 100 to 150 hands. They are mostly from
Great Britain. The business is dependent on fashion. Spring and fall are
the busy seasons. In summer, she does not sell so much, because ladies
are then out of town; but the employés can work all the year, and do so,
as she keeps a stock on hand. Corsets are more worn now than a few years
back. A manufacturer in Boston writes: "I employ ten American women in
sewing on corsets. They work by the piece, and average sixty cents per
day. The prospect of future employment is not flattering. Board, $2.25."
Another manufacturer in Boston "pays from $3 to $4.50, and says it is
all he can afford to pay. His hands work ten hours a day. The prospect
for this work is good. July and August are the dullest months. He has
found women equal to men in all branches of business they conduct.
Board, $2.50."
STRAW WORKERS.
=348. Bleachers and Pressers.= I called in a place where I saw the
pressing of bonnets and children's hats. The rims of the hats were
pressed by a woman with a large iron, the crowns by a man with an iron
attached to a lever fastened in a frame. It is all piecework, and some
can earn from $4 to $5 a week. I have been told that Mrs. K., New York,
employs women pressers. The iron is not so heavy for bonnet pressing as
for hats, but requires too much strength for a woman. Shaping straw
bonnets is done by women--that is, placing them on blocks and pinning
them around the edge, after they have been bleached, until they acquire
shape. A man pressing straw hats, told me he is paid 5 cents a hat, and
can press sixty in ten hours. The time for learning either to sew or
bleach, I find, is usually six weeks. Mrs. M. pays learners nothing for
six weeks. Her busy seasons are from October to last of November, and
from December to spring. It is all piecework, and her girls earn from $3
to $4. A bleacher of straw hats employs a lady at $5 per week to alter
and wire bonnets, after they have been bleached, which is done by her
own family. She works ten hours a day. The work is mostly confined to
spring and fall. The bleaching process is very deleterious, owing to the
sulphur used. It produces a loss of vitality and shortens life. A stout,
healthy man, in the course of a year, becomes quite pale and thin. The
bleaching does not require all the time of any one. The bonnets and hats
are put into the bleaching room, and, when they have become white, are
taken out.
=349. Braiders.= The following is from the New York _Tribune_, of 1845:
"The Amazonia braid weavers--a large and ill-paid class of working
females--begin work at seven in the morning, and continue until seven in
the evening, with no intermission save to swallow a hasty morsel. They
earn, when in full employment, $2 and $2.50 a week. Out of this, they
must pay their board and washing (for they have no time to wash their
own clothes), medical and other incidental expenses, and purchase their
clothes--to say nothing of the total absence of all healthy recreation,
and of all mental and moral culture, which such a condition necessarily
implies. They have, many of them, no rooms of their own, but board with
some poor family, sleeping anyhow, and anywhere. For these
accommodations they pay $1.50 per week, some of the lowest and filthiest
boarding houses charging as low as $1 per week. The living here must be
imagined." At Foxboro', Franklin, Middleboro', and Nantucket, Mass., are
straw manufactories. "In 1855, 6,000,000 straw hats and bonnets were
made in Massachusetts, giving employment to ten thousand of her people."
Rye straw is raised in all the New England States. It is cut, soaked in
water (I think split), and then dried. It is sold by the pound--then
braided by women and children for 10 or 12 cents a day. It is mostly
done in farmers' families, who are at but little expense for living. In
this state, it is mostly sold to merchants or agents, who sell it at
manufactories, where it is trimmed by machinery, and then sewed. It is
then shaped into bonnets, wired, pressed, and bleached, the crowns are
lined with paper, and they are packed ready for exportation. The women
earn on an average $5 a week. In England, wheat straw is raised, which
is inferior to rye straw. N. says the largest straw-bonnet
establishments of England are not as large as those of the United
States. For making straw hats in Philadelphia, men receive $7.50 a week,
and women $4.50. Philadelphia is said to spend $6,000,000 annually in
the manufacture of straw goods. At H.'s, New York, they employ from
fifty to one hundred hands. It is usual to have learners six weeks for
nothing, and then pay full wages, if they prove competent. Work is given
about ten months. They are paid by the piece, and can earn from $4 to $6
per week. In December, they begin to make up hats and bonnets for
spring. A milliner told me she pays her braiders by the yard. Some earn
$4 a week, and some even $5. They work at home. The summer season is
over by September. H. writes: "In my opinion the best arranged
industrial establishment is the Union Straw Works at Foxboro', Mass.
High wages, cushioned arm-chairs, a literary society which carries on
the lyceum lectures of the town, are all far above any of our factories.
The proprietor would not call it a factory, to make it more attractive.
Out of three hundred operatives, sometimes, seventy-five have been
teachers."
=350. Sewers.= Mrs. K. employs about seventy-five girls for bleaching
and sewing braid and straw bonnets. She pays some $3, some $3.50, and
some $4 a week. They work ten hours. All live at home, but bring their
dinners. She bleaches by the old-fashioned process with sulphur, and has
men to do the pressing. N. & Co. employ about one hundred and
twenty-five on an average six months, and about twenty-five all the
year. The bonnet business has increased very much during the last few
years. At B.'s, I was told the wholesale work for the South begins in
November; but the city work, the last of March, and continues to July.
It is light work, and does not require close application of the eyes.
Machinery can never be used for sewing straw, because long stitches
answer, and straw is too brittle. Persons of a nervous temperament are
often the most intellectual. Such females make good straw sewers. It
requires a peculiar adaptability, as every other occupation does.
Everybody cannot learn to sing or to paint--just so some cannot make
good straw sewers. He thinks most young workpeople in New York do not
live at home, and considers obedience to parents and observance of the
Sabbath the foundation of success in life. B--s, of Connecticut, write:
"Women are employed in this country, and in Italy, France, and England,
in sewing straw. Our girls (150) are mostly paid by the piece, and earn
from $3 to $7 per week. They also trim straw hats. They spend four weeks
as learners, and are paid $2 a week while learning. To be a fast sewer
is the most important requisite. The prospect of a continuance of this
work is good. The busy season is from September to June. The best
locations are near New York and Boston." "About 200 persons are employed
in the straw factory at Nantucket. Some of the operatives are daughters
of the leading men of the town, and make $5 a week at the business." A
firm at Middleboro', Mass., write: "We employ 850 women, and have them
in preference to men, because they are more dexterous with the needle.
They receive from 30 cents to $1.62 per day, and are paid mostly by the
piece. Women are paid five eighths what the men receive, but could not
perform their labor even at the same price. Learners make enough to pay
their board the first three weeks. Good mechanical talent is needed in a
learner. They have work about nine months in the year--generally stop
July, August, and November. Nine tenths are Americans; seven eighths
live at home. A large number of them are not dependent upon labor for a
living. Board, $2 to $2.25." From a factory in Wrentham, Mass., we have
the following report: "We employ during the winter season, in the
factory, from seventy-five to one hundred females, and in families who
work at home about six hundred, whose pay is not so good by about one
third. Some of our workers are paid by the piece--some by the hour. Most
of them can earn $1 a day, twelve hours being a day for females. Men are
paid 15 cents an hour; good help extra, and poor, less. They work ten
hours. For the part done by women, we pay the same price from the first,
but their work is not received until it is well done. A person is
employed to give them instruction; five or six weeks' practice mostly
makes a good sewer of one who can learn at all. During this time most
girls earn half wages. To good help we usually give work nine months in
the year. Busy seasons from December 1st till June 1st, and from July
15th to October 1st. The rest of the year, work is given out at reduced
prices--sufficient to earn about half wages. All American women. It is
desirable for manufacturers to be near New York city, so as to keep
posted on styles. Many ladies choose this business after teaching school
for years. Most of our hands come from Maine, and board in houses
provided for them, paying $2 a week." Another straw manufacturer informs
me "the girls in straw shops earn more than in most other kinds of
business, they being, as a general thing, smarter girls, and such as
would not work in cotton and other large mills. Their work varies much,
as the styles and materials change." A firm employing about eighty
American girls write: "They are paid according to their skill and
smartness, from $2.50 to $10 per week. Two thirds work by the
piece--half will earn $5 to $6.50--average about $4.50 per week. Male
labor will average double. It cannot be done by females--they are not
strong enough. The reason of women's being paid low wages is the surplus
of female labor. They cannot be hired to do housework--it is too
confining. It requires one month, more or less, according to taste and
genius, to learn the work. Good references as to character are required,
and some skill with the needle, and an idea of form. Busy from December
to June, and from August to November. We do nothing for about three
months. Hands hired by the week are paid extra for overwork. If we could
not give them the amount of work they have, the _best_ help would go
elsewhere. There is always plenty of help in this branch in New York,
and they get work done for much less, but by a different caste of girls.
In the New England States, girls are generally brought up to work,
whether rich or poor, and we can get help from the best families, well
educated and intelligent--while in some States we could not find them.
Board, $2.25 to $2.50." A straw firm in Franklin, Mass., write: "We
employ about 400 females--60 of them in our manufactory--the remainder
work at their homes. The former have the privilege of working from 6 A.
M. to 9 P. M.; but as they work by the piece, they are not confined to
any particular time. The latter accommodate themselves. Few get less
than 80 cents per diem, and many can earn over $1--some over $1.50. All
are paid by the piece, except overseers. Males and females are never
employed in the same kind of labor. Females make and trim bonnets and
hats--males bleach, block, and press them, which is too laborious work
for females. Some years would be required to learn to conduct the straw
business successfully. Some females will make a very good bonnet or hat
after a few weeks' practice. Others take a longer time, and a few will
never make a good bonnet. Our practice is to pay all while learning. The
qualifications required by us are a good character, good health, skill
in the use of the needle, and a desire to acquire proficiency. The
supply of hands is always greater than the demand. All the females
employed in straw factories are American. Our girls have access to a
good library, lectures, &c. Those employed in manufacturing board at
$2.25 per week, including washing. Boarding houses attached to the
different straw manufactories in this town are of good character and
comfortable."
RENOVATORS.
=351. Gentlemen's Wear.= A dyer and scourer of gentlemen's clothing told
me she charges 37 cents for scouring and pressing a pair of pantaloons;
75 cents for a coat, and $1 for an overcoat. A woman could make a
comfortable living at it if she had constant employment.
=352. Ladies' Wear.= The cleaning of kid gloves saves quite an item in
the purses of the wearers. Wooden frames, the shape and size of gloves,
are used for drying them on. The renovating of silk shawls, dresses, and
other goods is best done by the French. They are sometimes made to look
almost as bright and clean as if they were new. Woollen goods, too, that
will not bear washing, are beautifully cleaned by those that rightly
understand the business. All that profess to, by the way, do not. Prices
vary, of course, according to goods, places, and renovators. Women are
mostly engaged in this business. A cleaner of kid gloves writes: "I
employ some women with pens and needles at $3 per week, working from
four to six hours per day. Cool weather is the best for work, but they
are employed all the year." Mrs. C. told me that her husband and his men
clean most gloves in winter; they can clean them in two days. I noticed
they are free from any offensive odor. They pass through the hands
several times. She charges individuals 12½ cents a pair--storekeepers
less. She has been many years at it. They used to send a wagon and
collect them from the stores, but their business does not warrant it
now--so they send a messenger. As many have attempted that do not
thoroughly understand it, the business has been injured.
GENTLEMEN'S CLOTHING.
=353. Army and Navy Uniform.= Our Government might do something toward
bringing about a reform in the prices paid women. If those who have
clothing made for the men of the army and navy would pay good prices to
men of standing, that pay their workwomen well, we think some good might
be done. At any rate, they would set a good example.
=354. Buttons.= The making of buttons is chiefly done by women, and
affords employment for a great many. The proportion of women to men in
this branch of industry is six to one. Some kinds of buttons are made by
hand, but most by machinery, moved by steam. The manufacture of cloth
for buttons is a distinct branch of business. It was estimated in 1851
that five thousand persons were employed in Birmingham in the
manufacture of buttons of different kinds, more than half of whom were
women and children. In the manufacture of buttons a variety of hands are
employed--piercers, cutters, stampers, gilders, and varnishers. "In a
factory employing five men and thirty females, from six to seven hundred
gross of buttons can be turned out daily." I called in a factory where
buttons were made of vegetable ivory. I think all the work could be done
by women, but it is a trade, and requires three years to learn all the
parts. One man might be needed to put the machinery in order when it
would get out of repair. Boys that polish buttons are paid from $2 to $3
a week. Polishing looks simple, but, no doubt, requires practice. A
little girl, whose father makes common horn buttons, says he employs
some small girls who, by presses, cut out the buttons and make the
perforations. They are paid seven cents for a thousand. Her parents
assort them. H. & C., manufacturers of cloth and gilt buttons, say it
requires some weeks to learn to chase the gilt buttons, which are done
with small metal tools and a hammer. Chasers are paid by the piece,
working ten hours a day, and some can earn $1 a day. Those that make
cloth buttons work by the week, eleven hours a day. They pay nothing
while the person is learning. They think the prospect of employment in
that branch is good. (I think it must be, for it is a manufacture likely
to extend.) They employ their hands all the year. The girls sit while at
work. S. has girls to do most of the work in making men's coat buttons.
They cut out the iron and cloth with machines, and also cover the
buttons with machines. The girls require but a few weeks to learn. They
are paid from $1.75 to $3 a week. Some of the girls are not more than
twelve years of age. The average of the oldest girls is $2.75. They work
ten hours. Learners are paid half wages. Good eyesight and smart fingers
are needed. The gilding of brass buttons is called water gilding, though
no water is used. The mercury and nitric acid used in gilding metal
buttons renders the business pernicious to the health, the fumes of the
nitric acid affecting the lungs, and the mercury producing its peculiar
disease. A manufacturer of tin buttons writes: "Our women earn from 75
cents to $1 per day, and are paid by the piece. It requires but little
practice to learn. All are American girls from neighboring families." A
manufacturer in Middlefield, Conn., writes: "We employ from twenty-five
to thirty girls in cutting, drilling, sorting, and packing buttons. They
work by the piece, and average $15 per month. While learning they are
paid $1 per week, and their board. They have regular work, and pay for
board $1.50 per week. The prospect for an increase of the manufacture is
fair." A button company in Waterbury write: "Our hands receive $3 and
upward, as they are worth. The business is good when times are good. The
majority are Americans. Spring and fall are the best seasons." A
buttonmaker in Morrisville, Pa., writes: "We pay our girls by the gross,
and they earn from $1 to $4 per week. Men earn from $3 to $9. The
women's work is lighter. Beginners are paid small wages. The prospect of
future work is poor. Seasons make no difference in the work."
=355. Canes.= Walking canes could be painted and varnished by women. I
have been told that, in France, women are employed in making ivory,
gold, whalebone, and wire heads for canes. Mrs. F. makes whalebone heads
for canes. She offered to teach me how for $20. P. says he pays from $6
to $100 a dozen for the heads of canes--ivory, silver, and gold. The
work is mostly done by Germans. The business will not pay except in
large cities. There are only six in the business in New York, which is
the main depot. He sells most to Southerners and Canadians. The business
requires a regular apprenticeship. Making and putting on the heads could
be done by women, if they were instructed, but there would not be enough
of it to justify more than a few in learning. The South offers the best
opening.