Part 48

=359. Hats.= We will give an extract from "The Art and Industry of the Crystal Palace": "In the manufacture of hats in the United States, there are twenty-four thousand persons employed: one half of them are men, and the remainder women. The consumption of straw hats amounts to about $1,500,000, about half of which are imported. The capital invested in the hatting trade in this country is little short of $8,000,000. The number of trimmers in New York are four hundred. There is no branch of industry in which the rate of wages is so fluctuating; no trade reflecting so faithfully the depressed or prosperous condition of the country. There are between fifty and sixty finishing shops in New York. There is no general understanding between the shops as to a fixed rate of payment. It is a peculiarity of the trade, that a person seeking employment never addresses himself to the principal; he goes direct to the foreman." Silk and felt hats are most worn in the United States. We find there is great objection by the workmen to the use of machinery. Some factories confine their work exclusively to the making of hat bodies. The manufacture of hatters' trimmings forms, in large cities, a distinct branch of business. "In C.'s hat manufactory, in London, fifteen hundred hands are employed, two hundred of whom are females. Among the processes by which a beaver hat is produced, women and girls are there employed in the following: Plucking the beaver skins; cropping off the fur; sorting various kinds of wool; plucking and cutting rabbits' wool; shearing the nap of the blocked hat (in some instances); picking out defective fibres of fur; and trimming." Women in our country could be employed in bowing the fur, pressing it with a hatter's basket, folding it in a damp cloth, rolling, rubbing, working it with the hands, and dipping it in hot water. The last operation is a very warm one. As it is, we know of no department in which they are employed, except that of carding, binding, lining, trimming, and tip gilding. Binding and lining are much done by them. The work is light, genteel, and rather profitable, and can be done at home. When done in factories, the workers cannot be so neat, on account of the dust, the large number of operatives in a room, and the coloring matter that rubs off the hats. All employers have reported it healthy, and I suppose it is as much so as any sedentary occupation, unless from causes mentioned in the preceding sentence. A hatter in Philadelphia told us he employs girls to line and bind men's hats. They are paid 75 cents a dozen for felt hats, and $1.25 for silk hats. Girls can earn as much as $6 a week at it. It requires a couple of months' apprenticeship. There is work for steady hands all the year. We have seen it stated that "hat trimmers in Philadelphia average $3.50 per week. They number from eight hundred to one thousand females. Hat binders usually spend six weeks learning their trade." The war department, about two years ago, closed a contract with S., of Philadelphia, to furnish sixteen thousand felt hats for the army, at $2.75 each. They make all qualities of hats at P.'s, Brooklyn, from those at 75 cents a dozen to those at $50 a dozen. The linings of the cheapest felt hats are put in by machines operated on by steam, the others by hand. I saw girls also laying gold leaf on muslin, which was stamped by a machine, forming the ornamental work and figures seen in the crown lining of cheap hats. These workers were called tip gilders. All except the box makers and tip gilders sit while at work. Girls at lining and binding can earn from $2.50 to $7. (I think he set his last mark high.) It is piecework, as everything, I believe, in that line is. Some girls have worked in P.'s factory eight years or more. The business is learned in a short time. Operators are paid at the same rate as hand sewers; but if any difference is made, it is in favor of operators. For hand workers, care and ability to sew well are the principal requisites. The hands have work all the year, but in midsummer and midwinter may do only three fourths of the usual quantity for a week or two. Hatters who manufacture in Brooklyn and sell in New York, told me they employ five hundred women, who are paid by the piece. Those that sew receive from $5 to $6, machine operatives from $8 to $9. A knowledge of sewing and taste, in finishing hats, is desirable. The business will extend. Three times as many hats are sold as fifteen years ago. Some parts of hat making are performed by machinery that could not be managed by women. The West and Northwest of the United States present good openings for this business. Manufactories, of course, must be where there is plenty of water. At a hatter's in New York, I was told that they pay 14 cents for trimming a hat of any kind, coarse or fine, silk or felt; but sometimes pay only 10 cents. Their binder often makes $7 a week. At B.'s, New York, the girls earn from $5 to $7, and are paid by the piece. They sew in the establishment. Sewing the crowns in and wires on of plush hats is a distinct business from trimming, yet one in which they employ some women. It pays rather better than the other part of women's work, but requires great care and neatness. Sewing the leather linings in hats is the least profitable part. More women might find employment in hat work. A lady said to me she has an acquaintance that sometimes earns $2.50 a day at trimming hats. (?) L. employs some girls for trimming in the spring and fall. It is piecework, and some earn $9 a week. It is sometimes difficult to get very good hands. There are some factories in the West, but none in the South. Another hatter told me he pays 12½ cents for trimming a hat. He has noticed that the swiftest are the best workers. A hatter told me a smart trimmer could earn from $8 to $10 a week, six months of the year; but not more than $3 the other six months, because work is slack. A salesman in D.'s store told me a brisk hand can trim a dozen hats a day. The children's hats they have trimmed for the wholesale trade are not so neatly and carefully done as those for the retail trade. In selling a single hat, a purchaser examines closely, and if there is any defect, condemns it. The occupation is well filled in New York, and the work requires care, taste, and expedition. D. has constant employment for his hands; but for four months they have not as much as the hands wish, yet enough to yield most about $4. The women work above the store, because the blocks are there. They are allowed to take home and sew in the evening the linings of those hats that have the rims faced with leather. The plan is, generally, for a learner to spend six weeks' apprenticeship with an experienced hand, giving her work for instruction received. At Sing Sing prison, New York, of the one hundred and fifty female convicts, a majority are employed in binding hats, at 15 cents a dozen, made by the male convicts. The usual price in St. Louis is 14½ cents a hat. At this rate, a lady can bind and line in a day a number amounting to from $1 to $1.25. There are two hat factories in St. Louis, but they are not enough to supply the demand. A firm in Danbury write us, they "employ from seventy-five to one hundred women trimming hats. They pay by the piece, and their hands average $5 per week. Males average $9 a week. By the rules of trade, males spend four years learning; females, five weeks. Women are not paid while learning. The prospect for a continuance of the business is good. The busy seasons are from July 1st to April 1st. Time of work does not exceed ten hours. The majority are Americans. There are advantages in being near the great centre of trade in this country, New York. Board, $2." A firm manufacturing wool hats in the same place--Danbury--write they "employ ten Irish women in a card room, and sixty Yankee girls in trimming hats. The first receive $3 per week, the others $5.50. Women in the card room work ten hours. The American girls are intelligent and pretty." Another wool-hat manufacturer in Connecticut writes: "My women earn $1 each per day, on an average. It takes male operatives two years to learn. Work, on an average, ten months in the year. Board, $2." A firm in Milford, Conn., write: "Women earn from $3 to $7 per week. The reason why women are not better paid, is because the supply is greater than the demand. The employment will last as long as people wear hats. Fall and winter are the best seasons for work. The nearer you get to the market, the better the location." In reply to a letter, a firm employing from sixty to eighty women give the following intelligence: "The females employed by us are generally from fourteen to twenty-one years of age. They are paid by the piece, and earn from $4 to $9 per week. The labor of women is entirely distinct from that of men. It takes a good needlewoman about two months to become proficient. Women give their labor to the person who instructs them, from two to eight weeks. The business is good six or eight months. The rest of the year, they average about one half of what they can do. Busy times are from January 1st to May 1st, and from July 1st to November 1st. The demand is about equal to the supply, except in very busy times, when we could employ more; but I think there are plenty, as an increased supply would tend to lower prices. Most of our women are foreigners. The proximity to large cities is advantageous to this business, as the goods are mostly sold in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, &c. I should say there is little difference between the women employed in hat manufactories and others who have to earn a livelihood, such as dress makers, tailoresses, &c. Board, from $1.75 to $2. There is an objection amongst boarding-house keepers to females generally, and strangers frequently have great difficulty in obtaining good board. This is certainly the fault of their own sex." A wool-hat firm in Yonkers, N. Y., write they pay by the piece, and workers earn from $5 to $7. Male and female labor do not compete. A gentleman and his son, in New York, who import and manufacture children's fancy hats, write me they pay from $5 to $12 a week, according to ability. Women are paid while learning, the time for which depends upon capacity and taste. There is regular employment with them in all months but June and December. Good operatives are always in demand. Large cities are the best localities.

HAT BRAIDERS, &c. Most hats called "palm leaf" are made of straw grown in the Northern States. P. & Co., of Boston, write me: "The occupation of braiding hats is one that employs the odd moments and hours of almost every Yankee farmer's sons and daughters, throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire, from one year's end to the other. We employ women, but not exclusively, and pay by the piece, from $1 to $1.50 per dozen. A wide-a-wake Yankee girl or boy, with nimble fingers, will learn in a few hours." A manufacturer in New Hampshire, employing "from 300 to 400, pays by the piece, and his workers earn from $6 to $8 per month. They learn generally when children, by seeing others braid. The future prospect is not flattering, as the demand for palm-leaf hats is decreasing. The braiders work at home." $60,000 worth of palm-leaf hats were annually manufactured at Nashua, N. H., a few years ago. C. told me they never employ women, except, in winter, to bind and put the oil-silk lining in gentlemen's straw hats, for the spring trade of the South. For the work they pay 12½ cents a dozen. A woman can do from six to ten dozen a day. The best workers find employment. The prospect of obtaining work to those who may learn is good. B. thinks but few American girls are employed in trimming straw hats. He pays by the piece, and some earn as much as $5 per week. They should spend about one month learning, and they do well to earn their board during that time.

=360. Oil Clothing.= I was told at L. & Co.'s oil clothing depot, that they have their sewing done by women at their homes. It is done by machines. They do not require any deposit. Since the panic, a number of girls and women have come in and offered to do their work at under prices. The oiling is done after the goods are made up. The garments are laid on tables, and the oil applied with brushes. The clothes are then hung on frames to dry, and it requires six months. Oiling the goods is greasy, dirty work, but might be done by strong women. The work is not at all unhealthy. L. & Co. sell $150,000 suits a year. Their best sewers can make up six or eight dozen shirts a week, for some of which they are paid $1 a dozen, and for others, $1.25. The manufacture of oiled goods is confined to New York.

=361. Pantaloons.= In making pantaloons, as in most other tailor's work, what is most neatly done commands the best prices. Custom work pays best. Making pantaloons is not quite so remunerative as making vests. The prices paid in cities by good-class tailors for making summer pantaloons, runs from 75 cents to $1.25. For winter goods the prices are higher, ranging from $1 a pair to $1.50. Some tailors have their pantaloons made by men, and some even employ men to make their vests.

=362. Regalias.= "Five American women are employed at Chicopee, Mass., in stitching military goods. They are paid by the piece. They never get their work perfect. Learners are paid something. Men are preferable, because it takes too much time to wait on women. There will be work as long as there are wars." A regalia maker, in New York, told me her girls earn from $3 to $5 a week. The sewing is done by hand. Those who embroider in silk receive about the same; those with gold and silver thread, something more.