Dressmaking As A Trade For Women In Massachusetts (1916)

CONTENTS. Page. Introduction 5-9 Chapter Chapter II. The dressmaking trade of to-day Chapter I. Evolution of the trade in the United States 11-21 23-52 1. The family dressmaker 29 2. The journeyman dressmaker 29, 30 -3. The private dressmaker 31-33 4. The dressmaker of the transition stage 33-37 5. The dressmaker of the shop of specialized workers 37-42 6. The commercial dressmaker 42-49 7. The manufacturing dressmaker 49-52 III . Industrial conditions in the trade . 53-81 Business administration 53, 54 The problem of capital. The problem 54-61 ofcompetition 61-64 The labor force 64-81 Chapter IV. Irregularity of employment 83-111 The seasons 83-93 The workers season 93-106 Instability of the labor force 106-1H Chapter V. Overtime in the dressmaking trade 113-126 Chapter VI. Wages and earnings in Boston 127-146 Chapter VII. Teaching the trade 147-159 Chapter VIII. Summary and outlook 161-165 Bibliography 167-175 345067 3 This study was begun in the fall of 1909 by the author as a fellow in the Department of Research of the Womens Educational and Industrial Union of Boston in cooperation with the Boston Trade School for Girls and was completed by her while assistant and associate director of the department. It has been accepted as a thesis by the faculty of political science of Columbia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy. direction of The work was done under the general Dr. Susan M. Kingsbury, director of the Department of Research. INTRODUCTION. The occupation of dressmaker ranked third in the United States in 1900 in the number of women employed, 338,144 women 16 years of age and over being engaged in it.1 Only two occupationsthat of servant and waitress and that of agricultural laborer surpassed it in the number ofwomen employed, but in none didwomen form a larger proportion of the total employees. Because of the numbers the trade employs, because it is womans traditional occupation, and because it provides opportunities for development, training for the dressmaking trade has held a large and a logical place in the curriculum of voca- tional schools for girls. The growth of the movement for industrial education and for vocational guidance has called for a thorough knowledge of the various industries. Especially is this important in the case of those trades which have been recognized as in some degree desirable, and for which the trade schools have attempted to prepare young workers. Almost two-thirds 62 per cent of the girls who went out from the three Massachusetts trade schools in 1914 had been trained for the dressmaking trade. Dressmaking is a difficult trade subject for the casual and superficial observer to grasp, because of the variety of types of shops and methods of production which it presents...