Part 41

=321. Artificial Flowers.= As in everything else, the price for making artificial flowers is very much regulated by the quality and taste displayed. Many flowers made in the United States are equal in beauty and delicacy of finish to genuine Paris flowers, but they are mostly made by French women, and so are in reality French flowers. In France, the preparation of the materials used in the manufacture, forms several distinct branches of trade, and the quality of the flowers depends in a great measure upon the care used in the getting up of these materials. The modes of coloring flowers are exceedingly various. The materials used in the United States are mostly imported from Paris. Some stores in New York are confined to the sale of materials for artificial florists. There are said to be between sixty and seventy flower manufacturers in New York, and about a dozen in Philadelphia. I have been told there are probably 10,000 women and children employed in making flowers in New York: I know there is great competition in the business. The work is mostly done by women and children, who receive as wages from $1 to $6 per week. It requires care and patience, united with good taste and much experience, to succeed in this pretty art. There are said to be about twenty processes in the making of artificial flowers. The employment is one easily affected, consequently fluctuating. The New York manufacturers have sold large quantities of American flowers to Southern merchants, but have had no orders lately. In New York, flower peps are made by men and boys. A man at the work said it requires some time to learn to do all the parts. Boys, he said, do some parts that girls cannot well do; but from my observation, girls and women could as well do it all as workers of the other sex. One maker of flower peps told me that at one time he employed girls, but found they had not strength enough to cut the wires. To cut the wires might be hard, but they could get accustomed to it; at any rate, they could dip the pistils and stamens into the coloring matter and place them in the frames to dry. H. told me he employs about 600 women and 400 men in his business, that of making flowers and dressing ornamental feathers. The women earn from $4 to $12 a week; the average is from $6 to $7. They only work eight hours in winter. There are several distinct branches, and it requires longer to learn some than others. The washing and dyeing of feathers is done by men, the curling and dressing by women. A few of his women are French. He thinks it a business that must increase as the country grows older. T. imports all his flowers, but employs one girl to mount them, that is, make them into clusters, wreaths, &c. Not more than one in eight or ten of those employed in the city in making artificial flowers devotes herself to mounting them. It requires excellent taste and some ingenuity. He pays by the week, from $8 to $10. I called on a German lady who makes artificial flowers of paper and coarse muslin. She arranges them in wreaths, and sells them to decorate small stores, particularly German book stores. She and her daughter make a comfortable living at it. It requires long practice in the artificial flower business to earn good wages, and very good wages are earned at only a small number of establishments. The trickery of mean people in every occupation, it is desirable to avoid. In this business much is said to be practised. One of the unprincipled acts referred to is this: Learners are told they must spend six months acquiring the trade, and during that time will receive nothing, but after that get fair wages. One branch is learned in a week or ten days, but the apprentices remain, according to agreement, six months doing the same kind of work, when they are dismissed on the plea there is no work to give them, and new apprentices are taken. Some will keep their apprentices at but one branch of work for a year or two, so reaping the benefit of their work, without giving the instruction they promise. Girls who have served several years at artificial flower making can seldom earn over $3.50 or $4 a week. G. & K., one of the oldest and most extensive firms in New York, prefer to take girls from thirteen to fifteen years of age. Older girls are not satisfied with such wages as learners receive. While learning, for the first month, they are paid $2; after that, by the week, according to what they can do. They teach their girls all the different parts, and they make the finest French flowers. They give their girls work all the year, and they earn from $1 to $6 a week. In summer, they work ten hours; in winter, nine and a half. In this, as in every business, the best hands are most sure to obtain employment. Mrs. P. thinks only little girls should learn it, as it takes a great while to acquire proficiency. She and her partner pay fifty cents a week for two months to a learner, then $1 a week for a time, and then increase according to what is done. They usually give employment all the year. They pay altogether by the week, wages running from $2 to $5. At another manufactory, I found the arrangements the same, the girls working nine and a half hours in winter, and ten hours in summer. At another place I was told that it was best for a learner to begin at ten years of age. By the time she is eighteen, she will be able to make $4 or $5 a week. In some of the first-class houses for the sale of fine French flowers, a few superior hands may earn $6 and $7 per week; but for common flowers, particularly in the cheap establishments, the prices paid are very low. It is said to be common among some manufacturers of flowers to mix in a few imported ones with their own, and sell them all as foreign flowers. At another place, I found the same arrangement, fifty cents a week for a learner; $4 a week is the price paid for a very good hand. At an importer and manufacturer of flower materials, I was told their season commences about the first of February. It requires but two or three weeks' practice to earn something--then learners are paid by the piece. Their girls make centres. They manufacture stamps and veins. At a clean-looking place, where the flowers were of a superior quality, I was told their girls earn from $2 to $7. At a Frenchman's, I was told, in two months a smart girl could begin to make fine French flowers. He pays nothing for two months; after that, seventy-five cents a week, and increases that as the worker acquires speed and proficiency. A good worker, he said, can earn $9 (?) a week. His girls work nine hours a day. They make all parts and different kinds of flowers. Some girls never learn to make flowers. At another place, the girls, I was told, are paid nothing for three months, but at the end of that time are paid $5. They learn all the branches. Workers are paid by the piece, earning from seventy-five cents to $6 a week. It requires taste and a peculiar aptitude.

=322. Belts.= B. & H. have ladies' and children's belts made, dolls dressed, fans trimmed, &c. Their business is wholesale. They manufacture for houses here that sell to the Southern trade. They have employed at some seasons from twenty-five to fifty girls. The belt trade is merely making the goods into belts. A person that can sew neatly can learn belt making in a day. The girls earn from $3 to $4 per week, and are paid by the piece. The belt room is superintended by a man. The busiest time for belt making and for trimming in the wholesale business, is in July and August, January, February and March. Spring work begins in January and ends the first of June, and fall work the first of August and ends the first of December. Their hands have work most of the year. They have a variety of work done; so if there is not enough of one kind for their hands, they put them to doing something else. They pay by the gross. The sewing must be done by hand. The business is confined mostly to New York. When business is good, the foreman will allow those he knows to take work home, and get their mothers and sisters to help them. The factory is in Newark. It is difficult to get girls to go there from New York.

=323. Bonnet Ruches.= At some factories, ruches are made entirely by machinery. They are not as well nor as neatly put together, and do not sell as high as those made by hand. It does not require long for a girl with any brains to learn, but she should commence when young, and gradually rise to the more difficult processes. A manufacturer told me girls must be at it a year before they are good pressers. For making ruches he pays by the week, from $1 to $4.50. Ruche makers are not apt to be out of employment more than from two to four weeks. P., New York, told us his workers are of all nations. Some work by the week, sewing ten hours a day. Girls sit in his factory while at work, but stand in most places. Standing is thought to be the easiest position, as it allows of change. He told us that some girls earn as high as $6 a week. It is piece work. Joining, sewing, and pressing are done by females, fluting by men and boys. It is best for females that wish to learn the business to commence quite early, say when twelve or fourteen years of age. P. thinks it would not be advisable to introduce more workers into the occupation but I would advise any one desiring to learn the trade to make further inquiries into the condition of the business. T., of Philadelphia, who has been in the business a great many years, employs over one hundred females.

=324. Dress Trimmings.= In London, many women and children are employed in making dress trimmings. The children wind the quills, and the women wind the silk on reels, and weave it, knit covers for fancy buttons, make fringes, tassels, buttons, and other trimmings. In this country most of such work is done by women and girls, the majority of whom are Germans, as are also the proprietors. They are the best for hand work, but English trimming makers are best for power looms. All large cities contain more or less manufacturers of dress trimmings, but the business is mostly confined to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Many who manufacture, also keep for sale the different varieties of sewing and embroidery silk, zephyr wool, patterns, and canvas, braid, and such articles. It is only within the last twenty-five years that fringes and tassels have been manufactured in this country, but quite a number of houses are now engaged in it. The goods are said to equal those of Europe. "There are over 1,000 hands employed in this branch in New York, at least three fourths of whom are females. Girls at reeling earn $2.50; at braiding, $3.30; and at weaving, from $4 to $6." I called at a factory where eighty girls are employed. They earn from $1 to $6 per week, doing both day and night work. No girl, the foreman said, can earn $1 a day of ten hours at that work. When the snow is on the ground, the girls can take work home with them to do at night, instead of remaining at the factory. He says there are different seasons for different kinds of trimmings, as buttons, fringes, gimps, &c., and the styles of these trimmings change. Work is slack in the early part of the winter for a few weeks. It would take three or four years to learn all the branches perfectly. Some sit and some stand while at work. At a manufactory in New York, I was told the season begins in September and lasts through the winter. Their hands earn from $3 to $5 per week. There is an over supply of hands in New York. At another place I was told the work is nearly always paid for by the piece. Their hands earn from $3 to $5 per week. Men receive from $7 to $10. Women's part can be learned in from four to six weeks, and learners are paid if they do not spoil too much material. June, July, December, and January are dull months. In busy seasons good hands are very scarce. The clerk of Messrs. B.'s factory told us the wages vary greatly. We glanced over the account book, with his permission, and observed that the lowest wages were about $1 a week, and the highest $4. It is piece work, and they will not promise employment all the year. He says, if a girl that learns cannot earn something in a year, she is not worth having. Their work is for wholesale houses. At one place I was told the girls work nine hours a day, and receive $4 a week--six months learning. After the first week they were paid $1.50 a week for six months. They make up a stock when not doing ordered work. N. employs from fifty to one hundred women, and sometimes more. They can learn in fourteen days. He pays from the first, and pays by the week, they working from six to six, having an hour at noon. It requires but a few weeks to learn one branch. One girl told me she works by the piece, and sometimes earns from $3 to $6 a week. She works from seven in the morning till gaslight. Girls, when reeling and braiding, stand. To those engaged in this kind of work, there is employment all the year to twenty-five out of every hundred; the rest are occupied from July to January. When paid by the week they seldom receive more than $4, though by taking it home and working more hours they sometimes make $5. Prices in this kind of work have fallen considerably in the last few years. I have been told by a manufacturer that the class so employed is usually of not so elevated a character as some others. The prices paid and work given for so short a time, prevent the best class of workers from entering the business. M--s, Philadelphia, employ about seventy females, including bookkeepers, saleswomen, and trimming makers. In the dull seasons their operatives are not likely to be thrown out of work, as the wholesale dealers will always require them. The workers are paid by the piece, according to the degree of perfection they have attained. When a girl presents herself for employment, the foreman immediately sets her to work on some easy kind of trimming, but she receives no wages until her work is fit for sale. The loss of time on her part and the risk of materials on the part of the employer constitute the apprenticeship. A smart girl will of course soon be able to earn something, and has always the stimulus of increasing her gains. The class of girls in the store seemed to be superior to those in the workroom, more intelligent and refined. The workrooms were large and airy. The weavers, button makers, &c., work from eight to ten hours a day. Another proprietor said a person to learn the business should go to a small place, where only a few are employed--not to a factory, as they will not be troubled with learners in a factory. Some of his hands work slowly, but execute in a superior manner; others work rapidly, but make the article in an inferior manner. At another manufacturer's, one of the firm told me a good hand can earn from $5 to $6 a week, ten hours a day, when times are good. They pay, after a learner has spent a week at it, according to what she can accomplish. The prospect for work is good, but he would not advise a lady to learn it; he thinks millinery better. In a town not far from New York, where he lived, a milliner could earn $20 a month and her board. Crocheting pays better. For crocheting the heads of silk fringes, a girl may earn $5 a week. I saw the agent of a lady who has trimmings manufactured. He says girls spend about two weeks learning, and are then paid by the week, from $1 to $4. He thinks the prospect for work very poor at present, for their work has been for the South almost exclusively, and now the Southerners will not purchase, particularly as such articles can be dispensed with. They have employed hands all the year, but are most busy spring and fall. The busy season commences in February. A manufacturer told me he pays his learners $2 a week for a time. His girls have work most of the year. Good hands can earn $5 a week. Some of his hands take work home with them to do in the evening. From the arrangement of the conveniences in the room, I think the air must be not only offensive but unwholesome. I observed this in two or three other workrooms. At another factory, I was told it takes but four weeks to learn, and girls during that time are paid fifty cents a week. Girls earn from $3 to $5. One man told me he pays as soon as the work is done well enough to sell. The largest manufactory in the world of dress trimmings, curtain trimmings, carriage laces, and military goods, is that of W. H. Horstman & Sons, Philadelphia. They employ four hundred hands, the majority of whom are females. In R.'s dress-trimming manufactory, Philadelphia, seventy females are employed, at an average of $2.75 a week.

=325. Embroideries.= Embroidery was a favorite employment of the ladies of ancient times. In the days of Grecian prosperity it was a pastime among all ranks of ladies, and in the middle ages it was no less popular. The French excel in embroidery. Much of the embroidery sold in New York is done in Ireland. "A French manufacturer has invented a process of applying the electric spark to piercing designs on paper for embroidery." There now exists a machine by which one lady can accomplish as much as fifteen hand embroiderers. There are one hundred and fifty needles attached, all of which can be in use at the same time. By it the most difficult patterns can be executed. Many of the machines are now in operation in Germany, France, Switzerland, and England. "The canton of Neufchatel employs more than 3,500 females in hand embroidery, but this branch of the trade is principally carried on in the eastern parts of Switzerland, where manual labor is extremely cheap." In 1851, 250,000 females were employed in Great Britain in muslin embroidery, and the larger number of the women did the work at their own homes. About a million and a half of dollars then passed out of the United States in payment for a portion of this embroidery. We would be pleased to see a greater demand for these articles from a home, and less from a foreign market. The increased facilities for stamping impressions on the muslin, and the consequent cheapness of doing so, tends to render the business more lucrative to those employed. The prices earned depend on the skill and experience of the worker. Embroidery may be divided into two kinds, cloth and muslin. The first is used for thick goods, furniture covers, ottomans, chair seats, tapestry, &c. The other kind consists in the embroidery of ladies' caps, collars, handkerchiefs, and other light articles of apparel. The materials used are cotton, linen, silk, and silver and gold thread. Embroidery is paid for by the piece, according to the quality of the material and the amount of work. For stamping muslin to embroider, four, six, and eight cents a yard are paid, according to the width and style of pattern. Some stamping is done with wooden plates, some with copper plates, and some by a paper impression. The wooden plates cost from fifty cents to $2.50. Metal tools for stamping cost more. It would be well, in establishments where embroidery is kept for sale, to keep patterns on hand for braiding, needlework, and embroidery. Such patterns have met with a ready sale, and always will, when such a pastime is fashionable. I find fifty cents a lesson is the usual price paid for instruction in embroidery, and a person accustomed to using the needle can learn in a few lessons. One lady told me she charged twenty-five cents a lesson. An embroiderer told us but little of such work is done now. A good deal of money was made at it, when fashionable for outer garments and for children's flannel skirts. A gentleman that has such work done told me that good medallion workers would find employment. B., who employs some embroiderers, thinks there is not a surplus of such labor. He could employ more hands. He pays by the piece, from $3 to $7 a week. Taste and skill with the needle are required. Embroidery pays poorly--one could not make a living at it now, unless they had constant work, and were rapid with the needle: very few in New York depend on it for a livelihood. D., a gold and silver embroiderer, thinks a person of ordinary abilities could not get to embroidering well in less than one year's practice. He pays something after a few weeks--as soon as the work is done well enough to sell. Many Germans and French have taken the custom. The Germans do it for less, and consequently root out other embroiderers. So there is not much prospect for work in New York. He has considerable done for cap makers and flag makers, who send South and West. He pays his girls from $4 to $5 a week, and they work from eight to six o'clock. I was told at another place that gold and silver embroidery pays well. The lady that works for W. earns $25 a week. A man writes: "You are aware that women are unable to make the very finest kind of needle embroidery, and that wherever the highest skill is required, men are needed?" We are aware there are some womanish men in France that embroider, but we must have facts before we are convinced that women cannot equal men in embroidering. A young lady, keeping an embroidery store in New York, told me her father cuts stencil plates with chemicals for embroiderers. In some establishments they are cut by steam power. Her father made wooden plates, but it would not pay. It takes but a short time to learn stamping, which pays better than embroidering. Those that do embroidery cheapest, get most to do. The greater part of it is done in winter evenings, as a pastime by ladies. Many ladies have stamping done before they go to the country in the summer, and embroider while they are in the country, putting out their plain sewing. Ladies that embroider, generally do their own stamping. M. knows one lady that embroiders for two or three stores, and makes a very good living. But she thinks very few have enough embroidering to do to occupy all their time. The Broadway stores have considerable embroidery ordered, and get very good prices; but their embroiderers, I have been told, are not better paid than those of other people. Some stores give it to ladies who do it for pocket money. Some of these ladies talk about embroidering for their friends, but, lo and behold! they expect their friends to pay them. It requires considerable practice in embroidery to keep the stitches even, and properly shape the leaves and flowers. A French woman told me she used to get $1.20 a day for embroidering fine collars in Paris.