Part 49

=363. Shirts.= "Women who make shirts by hand, are paid for fine shirts from eighteen cents apiece to $1. Those who make at the lowest prices appear to have no other mission on earth but to sew up bleached muslin into shirts. The only time which they economize is their sleeping time; and their food is economized for them by circumstances over which it would appear they have but little control. In some instances we have been informed, that where there are two or three or more women or girls engaged in this enterprise of making shirts to enable gentlemen to appear respectable in society, they absolutely divide the night season into watches, so that the claims of sleep may not snatch from the grasp of the shirt manufacturers an iota of their rights. In this way, by working about twenty hours a day, the amazing sum of $2.50, and sometimes $3, is earned per week. Sewing machines have so reduced the amount of labor required for shirts, as well as the price, that they can in some places only earn twenty-five cents by working twelve hours; and they cannot get steady employment even at these prices." Between 2,000 and 3,000 women are supposed to be engaged in shirt making in Philadelphia. Competition has depressed prices fearfully low. A shirt maker in that city told me he pays by the week. He gives the bodies out, and they are done by hand; the collars and bosoms by machines. They are cut out by men with knives, and the cloth is from twenty-four to thirty-six thicknesses. They pay basters now mostly by the piece. B., of the same city, who carries on general shirt making, puts the plain parts out in the country to be done. It, of course, costs less than the finishing off. Good workers can earn from $3 to $4 a week for plain sewing--more for fine. At a shirt-bosom manufactory in Philadelphia, P., the proprietor, told me he has the bosoms and collars made by machinery, employing seventeen girls all the year. Some establishments employ them only in the busy season, spring and fall. His women earn from $3 to $5 a week. To one machine are employed three girls: one to cut out, one to baste, and one to stitch. The fine plaits of bosoms are laid by machinery. Cutters and button-hole makers are better paid than basters and stitchers. A shirt maker told me in New York (December, 1860), that the only houses there supplying the article were those that made up for the California market. Operators, good ones, he said, usually earn $1 a day, of nine hours in winter, and ten in summer. Those that work at home can earn more, because they do more. On Dey street, I was told by a gentleman that he has shirts made in Connecticut, and he often finds it difficult to get good hands. He has shirts cut out with scissors. He used to employ a forewoman to cut and superintend. Most shirts sold in the South, West, and California, have been made at the North. New York, Troy, and New Haven are the principal places. Operators usually earn $1 a day, of eleven hours; but as the work is generally paid for by the piece, they may earn only from fifty cents to $1. Making button holes is a distinct branch. He pays half a cent apiece for those of ordinary size, and one cent for the larger ones of the wrists. In good times he employs girls all the year. The spring sale commences in January, the fall sale in July. S., another manufacturer, has common drawers and shirts made by machine. A brisk hand can make two dozen pair of drawers a day, and are paid fifty cents a dozen (?) He keeps workers in prosperous times all the year. A lady who makes shirts by hand told me she could barely make a living, though her work is done for customers. She does most in spring and summer. The trimmings she makes by machine. Madame P. pays eighty cents for making a shirt, except the bosom, which is imported. She does her own cutting by hand. A shirt maker says girls that can finish a shirt neatly get $3 a week of ten or eleven hours a day. Work of that kind is not confined to seasons. J. has most work to do in summer. The girls are paid by the piece, and can earn from $3 to $4. His are made by machine, but finished off by hand. He has girls of all kinds; idle and industrious, easy of temper and obstinate; in short, the variety always to be met with in help. A lady told me she cuts shirts by measure, and has a variety of styles. She pays an old lady fifty cents a day for basting, and from $5 to $6 a week to an operator. The neatness of machine sewing depends much on the way in which the basting is done. W. told me his basters earn from $3 to $4; operators from $5 to $6; button-hole makers from $4 to $6. He gives employment all the year. No demand, except in busy seasons for good operators, and they can be obtained by advertising. The owner of a shirt-collar manufactory and laundry said his collars were stitched by machines, and the operators earn from $3 to $9 per week. It is piece work. The washers are paid by the hundred dozen. Six weeks, I believe, is the time usually given by one that can sew neatly, to learn the trade. At L. & G.'s, I was told the best seasons in the wholesale trade are spring and fall; but in the retail trade there is little difference. Men and boys cut out with a knife, and are able to cut through seventy-two thicknesses of cloth. Women have not the strength to cut such quantities. The prospect is fair for good hands. There is a superabundance of indifferent hands. Their best sewers are English. Many of them are married women. They used to employ young girls, but they wasted material and were not steady at work. They have lost much by women that would come and take out a dozen shirts to make, and never return them. On inquiring at the place where the women said they lived, they would find they had never been there. Few, except the Jews, require a deposit. It is difficult to obtain one from sewers of the value of the material taken out. They could obtain one hundred and fifty hands any day by advertising. Button-hole makers earn $5 a week; some operators, $9. A factory in New Haven employs eight hundred women; two hundred work in the establishment, the others work out. The indoor work is done by machines. The other is finishing off, and is sent through the country. It consists in gathering and sewing in the sleeves, felling down the facing around them, stitching on wristbands, sewing in the bosoms, putting on the collar, and working the button-holes, for which they receive ten cents a shirt. A firm of shirt manufacturers in Troy, N. Y., write: "We employ from three hundred to four hundred women; some with sewing machines, some with needles, and others in various kinds of labor connected with our manufacturing. They are paid by the piece, and earn from $3 to $10 a week. While learning they are paid according to what they do. Spring and fall are the best seasons, but they have some employment all the year. The supply is fully equal to the demand in this locality. About half are Americans; board, $2 to $2.50." Another firm in the same place writes: "We employ four hundred, and pay from $5 to $10 per week to about one hundred hands, and from $3 to $7 to those who do not depend upon it for a livelihood. Women spend a few months learning; men, years. Midwinter and summer are the best seasons for work." A shirt-collar firm in Troy write: "In reply to yours we would state, we are employing in and outside of our manufactory, from six to eight hundred women, in running, turning, stitching, banding, marking, and boxing gentlemen's collars. Most of our workwomen are Americans, and live with parents or relatives. Those boarding pay from $1.75 to $3 per week. Many of our workwomen are very intelligent. All are required to be steady and industrious. Some parts of our business can be learned in two or three weeks, while other parts will take as many months; but each one is paid while learning. Our work is all done by the piece, and women earn from $5 to $8 per week during business seasons, which are summer and winter. They are usually thrown out of employment one month during the fall, and one in spring. The employment requires from eight to nine hours per day, in our manufactory. The making of gentlemen's collars must increase in proportion to the increase of the male population of our country; and, as styles are becoming more and more varied, this also must tend to increase the manufacture. There is, however, no demand for help in any department of the business, yet. We have but five or six women in all our establishment who are required to stand upon their feet while at work. All others can make their positions quite comfortable. We employ but few men (from five to eight), and they are in departments which women could not fill; nor could men well fill the women's department." Manufacturers in Boston write: "The prospect of future employment is good. Our women (fifty in number) are nearly all Americans. There is no competition between male and female labor in this branch, which, probably, is the cause of women receiving less wages. The work is healthy, only as it involves want of fresh air and exercise. Girls in the shop are paid from $4 to $7 per week, and work from nine to ten hours. Good sewers are getting scarcer every year. We are always ready to employ a really good hand--one who can do nice work. There is a growing demand for articles of all kinds. There are a great many women unable to sew well, who compete with each other for the work given out by the slop shops." Shirt makers in Ithaca, New York, write: "The work is very healthy in well ventilated establishments. What we employ men for, women cannot do as well. There is a demand for collar finishers, a surplus of machine operatives." Shirt manufacturers in Watertown, Conn., write: "We employ in our establishment from twelve to twenty girls and women, all Americans. They work in winter about nine hours; in summer, ten. Most of them work on sewing machines, and can earn from $4 to $5 per week. For board they pay $2 per week. There is no season of the year when our work is entirely stopped." L., in Lynn, Mass., engaged in custom-shirt manufacturing, writes: "I pay fifty cents apiece for making shirts, and $4.50 per week for a machine girl. My workwomen are widows and married women, and they average five shirts or $2.50 per week, besides their house work. But a woman that makes five shirts a week cannot have much spare time." A lady in Massachusetts, who has shirts made to order, informs me she pays by the piece, and her girls earn from fifty to seventy-five cents a day. She employs the most skilful. She says the nature of the employment is such that no woman could enjoy health long, who did nothing else, and the wages are so small that anyone must work all the time to make a living; hence the work does not suit any, except those who have homes and have recourse to this as a secondary employment. The demand for the articles in the market is limited, and she has never been able to carry it on in a wholesale manner except by the aid of friends whose sympathy has created a demand for the work.

=364. Suspenders.= J., New York, says his girls can earn from $4 to $5, and are paid by the piece. There are but four suspender factories in the United States, of any size. The factories at the east are mostly supplied by the daughters of farmers from the vicinity. The one in Easthampton is of the best standing. The girls are intelligent and well behaved. Board too is lower. They like to employ families, father, mother, sons, and daughters. A suspender maker, in New York, told me he buys the woven goods, then cuts it the right length, and shapes the leather for the ends, which his wife sews on. I expect, from the appearance of their room, they earn but a meagre subsistence. The agent of the American Suspender Co., at Waterbury, told me "they employ a large number of girls to spool, weave, and pack. The straps are sewed on by farmers' daughters, who take them home. They are paid for by the gross. They earn less than weavers, who can make from $4 to $6 a week. They have had constant work until this fall (1860). The bindings are sewed on by hand. It requires some time to become a good weaver. A man serves a regular apprenticeship--women will learn for ten years, if they continue. Ingenuity and mechanical talent are desirable. A learner is not paid while in with another weaver. The amount of employment in future depends on European competition. The hands work ten hours a day, and they employ about fifty women, one fourth of whom are American. Women are superior to men in activity, and will handle thread much better than men. Board, $1.75."

=365. Tailoresses.= The tailors of London have a pension society. All the tailors' work of this country might be performed by women. It is most suitable for them. Some say women cannot do the nice sewing of a coat. Give them the same training, and pay them the same wages as men, and we are confident they can. All of the clothes sold in the slop shops of cities are made by women. Many can sew beautifully, but have not learned the art of cutting out. This they will find an important part of their trade. It will greatly assist those who make boys' clothes. It is ascertained that at least 4,800 females are supplied with work by the ready-made clothing establishments of Philadelphia, which enables each industrious sewer to earn from $1.25 to $5 per week. A large number of women are now engaged in making clothes for the soldiers. At most large clothing establishments, work is done both by hand and machine. Some is done in the house, but most is given out. At O.'s, New York, they employ a large number. The majority are Americans, but some are Germans, and a few Irish. The foreman finds those that are dependent on their work for a living, do their work better than those that merely do it for pocket money. The best work is always best paid. A good hand can earn $3 per week. They work by the piece. Some women hire a room and employ girls to work for them. S. says the principal reason that women do not get as good prices as men, is that they do not learn to do their work so well. He spent five years learning, but a girl expects to learn it in so many weeks, or months, at most; but many women that sew for a support are very poor, and cannot afford to spend much time learning. T. pays his women from $5 to $10 a week, according to the work they do. R. says girls do not feel the interest in their work they should. They forget that three minutes lost by twenty girls amounts to an hour. If a procession is passing, they think it very hard if they cannot have ten or fifteen minutes to look out of the windows. The girls that sew earn from $3 to $4.50, except those who fasten the ends of threads and take out basting threads, who receive $2.50. They all work ten hours. They have some who take their work home, and are paid by the piece. Those that do their work best have the highest prices, and are most sure of having constant employment. Some of their women become mere machines, and that in his opinion was a recommendation. They have no life or spirit, but plod on day after day in the same way. Such, when they do their work neatly and thoroughly, he thinks most reliable. They find it difficult to get their work well done. It is computed by Dr. L. that one thousand needlewomen fall victims annually to overwork at the needle. A city missionary told me that he knew of many sempstresses that spent sixteen hours out of the twenty-four, stitching. I was told in D. & B.'s clothing store, that the women who sew by hand, earn from $3 to $4 per week. P. measures and cuts, and he employs women to operate on machines, paying from $3 to $4 per week, working from 8 to 7 o'clock. It is done under Mrs. P.'s supervision. The work is mostly for boys. They give work out, and of course pay by the piece. Their most busy times are from October to March, and from April to September. They do Southern work. L. & Co. make boys' clothing, and pay by the piece. They require a deposit from those that are doubtful. If business is good, they give work all the year. He thinks there is enough of work, in busy times, for all the tailoresses in the city. The best way to learn is to receive instruction from journeymen who employ hands and take learners. Some require an apprenticeship of three months, and some of six months, in children's clothing. The busy season commences November 1st and runs to March 1st, and from March to September 1st.

=366. Vests.= First class vest makers receive better prices than women in the other departments of tailoring, and are more sure of work. Superior hands can earn from $4 to $5 a week. Clothing, cap makers and shoe binders are often crowded together from forty to fifty in a room, where it is stitch, stitch, stitch from daylight to sundown. Some slop shops in New York pay only fifteen cents for making a vest, and only ten cents for pantaloons!!! There are over nine thousand tailoresses doing custom work in New York, and of these 7,400 are vestmakers.

UPHOLSTERERS.

=367. Upholsterers.= Some branches of upholstery are hard work in consequence of the heaviness of the materials. At some upholsterers in Philadelphia, when a girl applies for work, she is taught during a fortnight, and receives enough to pay her board--usually $1.50 per week. At the end of this time, if found faithful and diligent, she is put upon full wages, $3.50 a week. In this trade there is the serious drawback of remaining a great part of the year unemployed, as it is only in the spring and fall that the business is brisk. Men usually put up tapestry, and lay down heavy carpets. The price to girls by upholsterers is about on a par with other work done by females. H., Philadelphia, employs several women. The forewoman receives $5.50 per week; the next best hand, $5; the less proficient, from $2 to $5. The business requires a good amount of intelligence, and about a year's application to acquire it. H. is not exacting as to the number of hours his operatives work. When business is slack they have easy times. He employs his good hands all the year. In one of the principal importing and manufacturing upholsteries and carpet establishments in New York about seventy females are employed. They make up a great many lace and damask curtains, and are under the supervision of a forewoman. Seventeen sewing machines are kept, though most of the sewing is done by hand. Any person that can sew well can do all the work, as it is cut out and prepared. With a very few exceptions all are paid by the week, receiving from $3 to $4, working ten hours a day. The piece workers can sometimes earn $5. They are employed the whole year. An upholsterer told me that his work is done to order, and consequently the measure for beds, mattresses, curtains, &c., is always taken. There are many women in Boston, I have been informed, working in sofa, chair, and lounge manufactories that earn from $1 to $1.50 a day. A firm in Boston writes: "I employ women to sew and attend sales, and pay from $3 to $4 a week. Men are paid two thirds more than women, because it is the fashion. It requires three months to learn. A knowledge of the needle and figures is desirable. Learners are paid. Females work nine hours and a half. Some parts of our work are in wood, and too heavy for women; the rest they can do better than men. Board, $2 to $4. A firm in Boston, "employing two women to make sofa cushions, pay them $4 each per week, working from eight to ten hours a day. They pay women less than men, because female help is generally cheaper. Men spend three years learning; women, one month. Learners have their board paid. The prospect for work is good. Spring and autumn are the most busy seasons, but they have work all the year." Another firm in the same place write they "employ fifteen women, pay by the piece, and their hands earn $5 per week. The prospect for work is good, but there are plenty of hands there."

=368. Beds.= At a feather store I was told feathers for stuffing beds are bought from merchants, who employ agents to travel through the country, and buy them up. They get their feathers from the West. Live geese feathers are the best. All imported are from Russia. It requires great experience to buy feathers. At another store I was told feathers must be baked to render them light--otherwise they are flat and heavy. The salesman never knew of a woman being employed in baking--thinks it not suitable, for the down gets in the mouth and nostrils, as the feathers must be constantly stirred. In the spring and fall, when most people go to housekeeping, most beds are sold.

=369. Carpets.= Two thirds of the inhabitants of Saxony are employed in weaving. It requires from two to three years to become a good carpet weaver. To prepare warp and rags for rag carpets is very suitable, but the weaving is rather hard for women. Mrs. W. says it does not require a great deal of strength to weave rag carpets, when the loom is a good one and in proper order. In weaving, both the arms and lower limbs are exercised, particularly the latter. She wove when she was only thirteen years old. The exercise tends to develop the chest. The price for weaving in small places is from 12½ to 18 cents a yard. She knew one lady that often wove fourteen yards a day, amounting to $1.75; but her health failed, and she changed her occupation. I called in a weaver's, in Brooklyn. He charges 18¾ cents per yard for weaving, and can weave from eighteen to twenty yards a day. Some rags are much more difficult to manage than others. The dust from the rags in spooling and weaving must be disagreeable. When not working for customers he makes carpets to keep on hand for sale. He buys the rags of old women, who get the scraps at tailors' shops every Monday morning, and cut them into strips, then wind and sell them at $7.50 a hundred pounds. The women are mostly Germans, and make a scanty living at it. In the Old Ladies' Home, Brooklyn, some of the inmates pass part of their time in preparing rags for weaving. Some old women buy of junk dealers the rags they sell to weavers. A woman whose husband was a carpet weaver in New York, continues the business since his death, employing two old men to weave. She charges eighteen cents a yard for weaving. She says that kind of weaving could never be done by machinery, as it would pull the rags all to pieces. She buys listing and cloth of old women who get it from the tailors and bring it around to sell. She pays twelve cents a pound for listing, six for cloth. She cuts them herself. A weaver told me he charges eighteen cents a yard. He buys pieces of cloth from the tailors for making up a stock to keep on hand. A pile of listing lay on the floor, for which he had paid nine cents a pound. He can weave from eight to sixteen yards a day. I have seen the average price of weaving carpets stated at nine cents a yard. The dust that flies in preparing carpet rags is disagreeable, and injurious to the eyes and lungs.