^ v* x ,\V V. <3 * Interior of a Shoe Shop in the Civil War Period A Modern Interior % Shoe Industry By FREDERICK J. ALLEN, A.M. Investigator of Occupations for The Vocation Bureau of Boston and Author of "Business Employments," "The Law as a Vocation," and Other Vocational Studies PRICE, $1.25 PUBLISHED BY The Vocation Bureau of Boston 6 BEACON STREET TSiooo Copyright, 1916, by The Vocation Bureau op Boston THE CHAPPLE PRESS BOSTON APR 26 1916 / o> I PREFACE THIS book is the story of a great and highly organized industry. It is the result of two years' careful investigation and extensive supplementary study. Representative factories, manufacturing all varieties of boots and shoes, have been studied in every department and operation, through periods varying from one to six weeks in each. Information has been secured from manu- facturers, officials, department heads, and opera- tives, in every grade of service. The work of the factory and the processes of shoemaking are described as actually observed by the investigator. Thus the book has been built up out of the in- dustry itself. All available published material, both domestic and foreign, has been examined, but this volume is unique as an original study. More- over the manuscript has been read critically and approved by many authorities in the industry, both by those who have given information and by others, and by economists and labor union officials. The conditions and methods presented are those that are general and prevailing in this country. The great natural divisions of the industry are treated in their logical order, from its historical setting and the development of shoe machinery to the distribution of the finished product of the factory. Employment conditions are treated at length and valuable supplementary material is added. Im- (3) 4 Preface portant statistical material is given throughout the chapters. An explanation of the terms used in shoemaking is made the final chapter, for consul- tation by the reader as may be found necessary. Numerous charts, diagrams, and illustrations are included. The book graphically presents extensive inside information gathered for permanent use. It is the purpose of this study to give the nature, history, magnitude, operations ' and processes, em- ployment opportunities and demands, and the future of the industry, both for those already in it and for other persons, and their advisers and teachers, who may be considering employment in this field of manufacture. Acknowledgment is due and heartily made to the hundreds of persons in the industry who have freely given information and suggestion in the course of this study. Grateful acknowledgment is made for special help, in most cases for a critical reading of the manuscript or proof sheets of the book, to the following persons and companies whose names are here used by permission: Mr. Thomas F. Anderson, Secretary of the New England Shoe and Leather Association. Mr. Eldon B. Keith, Treasurer, Mr. Charles E. Moore, General Superintendent, and Mr. Harry Dunbar, Leather Buyer, of the George E. Keith Company. Mr. Prescott I. Hersey, Vice-President of the Regal Shoe Company. Mr. Charles M. Lawrence, Assistant Manager and Superintendent of the Thomas G. Plant Com- pany. Preface 5 Mr. Winfield L. Shaw, Labor Supervisor of the William H. McElwain Company. Mr. Charles T. Cahill, Advertising Manager of the United Shoe Machinery Company. Mr. Frank: W. Selden, Superintendent of the Hervey E. Gup till Company. Rice and Hutchins, Incorporated. The Allen-Foster- Willett Company. The Thompson-Crooker Shoe Company. Mr. Arthur D. Anderson, Editor of the Boot and Shoe Recorder. Mr. Frederick E. Atwood, Editor of American Shoemaking. Mr. Fred A. Gannon, Editor of the Lynn Daily Item and author of writings upon the shoe in- dustry. Prof. Carroll W. Doten, Department of Eco- nomics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Vocation Bureau. TABLE OF CONTENTS Pag« Preface 3 CHAPTER I Historical Sketch Ancient and Mediaeval Shoes 25 A Recent Discovery of Ancient Shoes 26 The London Cordwainers' Company 26 The Moccasin of the American Indian 27 The First American Shoemakers 27 An Indenture Paper 28 The Value of Shoes in Colonial Times 32 Ancient Shoe Laws 33 The Itinerant Shoemaker 33 The First Shoe Shops 34 A Shop of a Century Ago 35 Ebenezer Breed and the Shoe Tariff 36 The First Shoe Factories 39 A Division of Labor in the Factory: "Teams" and "Gangs" 40 A Quotation on the "Contract System" 41 The Attitude of Early Shoemakers toward the Shoe Factory 42 Organization in the Factory System ... 43 Specialists 43 The Magnitude of the Industry Today 44 Boots and Shoes, Including Cut Stock and Findings — Value for Leading States: 1909 and 1899 47 Table I — General Statistics. Summary for the Three Branches of the Shoe Industry for the United States. Census of 1909 48 -Table II— Boot and Shoe Cut Stock 49 Table III— Findings 50 Table IV — Exports of Boots and Shoes from the United States during the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1914, as Reported by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Com- merce, Department of Commerce 51 (7) 8 Table of Contents Page CHAPTER II Shoe Machinery The Invention of Shoe Machinery 55 Three Stages of Development 56 The Wooden Peg: 1815 56 The Rolling Machine: 1845 57 The Howe Sewing Machine: 1852 58 The McKay Sewing Machine: 1858 58 The Goodyear Welt Machine: 1862-1875 59 Edge-Trimming and Heel-Trimming Machines: 1877 59 | The Lasting Machine: 1883 60 i The Pulling-Over Machine '. 61 Joseph L. Joyce 61 Power in Shoe Manufacture 61 The Development of the Shoe Shank 62 Operating a Complicated Machine 63 The Leasing System 63 The Care of Machinery 64 The Standardization of Machinery 67 CHAPTER III Last-Making Definition , 71 * The Shaping of the Last 71 • Last Material 72 Hand Last-Making 72 Modern Last-Making 73 The Model Last 74 The Use of the Last-Lathe 74 Devices for Reducing Last in Use 75 The Storage of Lasts 75 CHAPTER IV Pattern-Making Definition 79 The Pattern Designer 79 'The Pattern Model 80 The Trial Shoe 81 The Number of Patterns to a Shoe 81 Pattern Material 81 Making Patterns , 82 The Standardization of Lasts and Patterns 82 Table of Contents 9 Page Pattern-Making — Continued The Storage of Patterns 83 Positions in the Pattern-Making Department 83 The Pattern Maker 83 The Price of Patterns 83 CHAPTER V Leather Its Nature 89 Tanning 89 Ameacan Leather Manufacturing 90 The Increasing Shortage of Leather : 91 Leather Substitutes 92 The Tannery Divisions of Hides and Skins 93 A Side of Leather 94 Divisions of Leather in Shoe Manufacture 94 The Varieties of Upper Leather 94 Kid 96 Calfskin 97 Side Leather 98 Sheepskin 99 Coltskin 99 Sole Leather 99 The Cut-Sole Industry 101 Leather, Tanned, Curried, and Finished — Value of Pro- ducts for Leading States: 1909 and 1899 103 Table V — Imports of Hides and Skins (Except Fur Skins) into the United States During the Fiscal Years Ending June 30, 1913 and 1914, by Principal Countries, as Re- ported by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce 104 CHAPTER VI The Department of Shoe Manufacture The Business Departments 109 The Executive Officers 110 The General Offices 110 The Factory Offices 110 * Chart of the Business Departments of Shoe Manufacture 111 Factory Service and Office Service 112 The Factory Departments 112 The Modern Shoe Factory 113 Chart of the Factory Departments 114 .10 Table of Contents Pag* The Department of Shoe Manufacture — Continued i Chart of Factory Management 115 / The Typical Factory 116 CHAPTER VII Methods in Shoe Manufacture The Chief Methods 123 Illustrations of Methods Now in Use 124 Cross Section of a Goodyear Welt Shoe 125 Cross Section of a McKay Sewed Shoe 126 Cross Section of a Standard Screwed Shoe 127 ; Cross Section of a Pegged Shoe 128 j The Turned Shoe 129 ( The Lace Shoe 129 The Different Stages in Goodyear Welt Manufacture... . 130 Table VI — Census Statistics Showing the Number of Boots, Shoes, and Slippers Made in the United States for the Year 1909 by Each Method of Manufacture. . . 132 CHAPTER VIII The Upper Leather Department The Importance of Detail in Shoe Manufacture 135 Action Upon Receipt of an Order 136 Chart of the Upper Leather Department 137 The Day Sheet 138 (A Typical Shoe Tag 139 A Typical Shoe Factory Day Sheet 140 The Upper Leather Room 141 Measuring Upper Leather 141 The Leather Sorter 142 The Lining Sorter 143 The Positions in a Sorting Department 143 The Lining and Cloth-Cutting Section 144 Positions in the Lining and Cloth Cutting Section 145 The Cutting Room 145 The Hand Cutter 145 The Clicking Machine 148 The Counting, Marking, and Skiving Department 152 Skiving 152 Nicking 153 Dieing Out Straps 153 Table of Contents 11 Page The Upper Leather Department — Continued ( Positions in the Skiving Department 153 ] Assembling Department 153 (.Positions in the Assembling Department 154 Time and Pay Statistics in the Cutting Department 154 Table VII — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average and Classified Full-Time Hours per Week in the United States, by Years, 1910 to 1914— Cutting Department 156 Table VIII — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average FultTime Weekly Earnings, and Average Full-Time Hours per Week, by States, 1914 — Cutting Department 158 CHAPTER IX The Stitching Department Definition 163 Variations in Stitching Room Processes 163 The Number and Divisions of the Parts to be Stitched . . 164 The Divisions of This Department 164 The Lining Department 164 Chart of the Stitching Department 165 Positions in the Lining Department 166 The Tip Department 166 Perforating 167 Positions in the Tip Department 168 The Closing and Staying Department 169 Positions in the Closing and Staying Department 170 The Foxing Department 170 J Positions in the Foxing Department 171 The Top Stitching Department 172 Positions in the Top Stitching Department 173 The Button Hole Department 173 Positions in the Button Hole Department 174 The Vamping Department 175 Positions in the Vamping Department 175 The Toe Closing Department 175 Positions in the Toe Closing Department 176 Operating Stitching Machines 176 Table IX — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average and Classified Full-Time Hours per Week in the United States, by Years, 1910 to 1914— Fitting or Stitching Department 178 12 Table of Contents Pag* The Stitching Department — Continued Table X — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full- Time Weekly Earnings, and Average Full-Time Hours per Week, by States, 1914 — Fitting or Stitching Department 182 CHAPTER X The Sole Leather Department Its Nature 187 The Preparation of Sole Leather Parts 187 frhe Division of Bottom Stock Fitting 188 /The McKay Insole Department 188 i Positions in the McKay Insole Department 189 f The Welt Insole Department 189 Channeling 189 Slashing 190 Wetting 190 Randing 190 Reinforced Insoles 190 The Canvas Reinforcement 191 Positions in the Welt Insole Department 191 The Outer Sole Department 192 Positions in the Outer Sole Department 192 The Counter Department 193 1 The Toe Box Department , 193 \ The Heel Department 194 iThe Processes of Making Heels 194 Positions in Heel Making 195 Employees in the Sole Leather Department 196 Table XI — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average ^ Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average and Classified I, Full-Time Hours per Week in the United States, by Years, 1910 to 1914— Sole Leather Department 197 Table XII — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average Full-Time Hours per Week, by States, 1914 — Sole Leather Department. . 198 CHAPTER XI The Making Department Its Nature 201 The Lasting Department 202 The Pulling-Over Machine 202 Toe and Heel Wiping 202 Table of Contents 13 Page The Making Depabtment — Continued The Upper Trimming Machine 205 Positions in the Lasting Department 205 The Welt Bottoming Department 205 Welting 206 Welt Beating 206 Sole Laying 206 Rough Rounding 206 (Heel Seat Nailing 209 /Sole Sewing 209 / Channel Laying 210 | Leveling 210 Welt Finishing 210 Other Finishing Processes 210 j Positions in the Welt Bottoming Department 213 ,i The McKay Bottoming Department 217 I Processes Connected with the McKay Method 217 Positions in the McKay Bottoming Department 218 j The Heeling Department 221 Blind Nailing 221 | Slugging 221 Heel Trimming 221 Positions in the Heeling Department 222 The Turned Shoe Department 222 Lasting the Turned Shoe 222 Positions in the Turned Shoe Department 225 The Standard Screw, Pegged, and Nailed Departments . . 226 Work in the Making Department 229 Table XIII — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average and Classified Full-Time Hours per Week in the United States, by Years, 1910 to 1914— Lasting Department 230 Table XD7 — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average Full-Time Hours per Week, by States, 1914 — Lasting Department 234 Table XV — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average and Classified Full-Time Hours per Week in the United States, by Years, 1910 to 1914— Bottoming Department 236 Table XVI — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average Full-Time Hours per Week, by States, 1914 — Bottoming Department 240 14 Table of Contents Page CHAPTER XII Finishing, Treeing, Packing, and Shipping Additional Departments 247 Finishing 248 The Tip Repairing Department 248 The Treeing Department 249 Embossing 250 Ironing 250 Inspecting 251 Positions in the Treeing Department 251 The Packing Department 251 positions in the Packing Room 252 "jfhe Shipping Department 252 Positions in the Shipping Department 253 Table XVII — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average and Classified Full-Time Hours per Week in the United States, by Years, 1910 to 1914— Finishing Department 254 Table XVIII — Average Rates of Wages per Hour, Average Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Average Full-Time Hours per Week, by States, 1914 — Finishing Department — Other Employees, all Departments 256 CHAPTER XIII Employment Conditions and Supplementary Material The Sex Division of Employees 261 The Divisions of Employees Among Departments 262 Shoe Manufacture Highly Specialized 263 Seasons 263 Shoemaking a Trade 264 Entering Upon Work rn a Shoe Factory 264 Promotion 265 Securing Skilled Labor 265 Schools and Courses for Shoemaking 266 Quotation from a Report upon Industrial Education in Shoe Manufacture 267 The Shoe Superintendent 271 The Shoe Foreman 272 The Quality Man and the Quantity Man 273 The Efficiency Engineer 274 Table of Contents 15 Page Employment Conditions and Supplementary Material — Continued The Monotony of Shoemaking 275 Quotation upon Efforts in Some Factories to Lessen Monotony 276 Social Service in the Shoe Factory 277 Quotation from a Government Study of Social Service . . 277 General Sanitary Conditions Observed in Boot and Shoe Factories 280 Piece and Time Payment 283 The Best Paying Processes 283 Wages and Variation in Employment 284 Table XLX — Average Full-Time Hours per Week, Rates of Wages per Hour, and Full-Time Weekly Earnings, and Per Cent, of Employees Earning each Classified Rate of Wages per Hour in the Principal Occupations in 1914 . . 286 Variation in Number of Employees, Total Pay Rolls, and Bi-weekly Earnings per Employee 288 Sex and Age Distribution of Wage Earners in the United States by Leading Industries: 1909 289 Table XX — Sex and Age Distribution by Leading Indus- tries: 1909 290 The Shoe Repairing Industry 292 Earnings in the Repair Shop 295 The Shoe Factory Chemist 295 CHAPTER XIV An Explanation op the Terms Used in Shoemaking The Need of Knowing These Terms 299 Acid-tanned 300 Adjustment 300 Aloft 300 Anatomic 300 Arch 300 Assembling 300 Backstay 300 Back Strap 300 Bal 300 Ball 301 Beading 301 16 Table of Contents Page An Explanation of the Terms Used in Shoemaking — Continued Beating Out 301 Bellows Tongue 301 Belting 301 Bench-Made 301 Bend 301 Blackball 301 Blacking the Edge. 301 Blind Eyelet 301 Blocking 302 Blucher 302 Boot 302 Bottom Filling m 302 Bottom Finishing 302 Bottom Scouring 302 Box 302 Brogan 302 Broken Arch 302 Brushing 302 Buckram 303 Buffing 303 Button 303 Button Fly 303 Cabaretta 303 Calfskin 303 Calking Machine 303 Carton 303 Case 304 Channel 304 Channel Screwed 304 Channel Stitched 304 Channel Turning 304 Chrome-tanned 304 Clicking 304 Closing On 304 Collar 304 Colonial 304 Combination Last 304 Congress Gaiter 305 Copper Toe 305 Counter 305 Table of Contents 17 Page An Explanation of the Terms Used in Shoemakinq — Continued Cravenette 305 Creasing Vamp 305 Crimping 305 Cushion Sole 305 Custom-Made 305 Cut-off Vamp 305 Dieing or Dinking 305 Dom Pedro 305 Dressing 305 Edge Seating 305 Edge Trimming 306 Embossing 306 Eyelet 306 Fabric 306 Facing 306 Fair Stitch 306 Filler 306 Findings 306 Finish 306 Fitting 306 Fitting Room 307 Form 307 Foxing 307 French Size Marking 307 Gaiter 307 Gem Insoles 307 Golf Shoe 307 Goodyear Welt 307 Gore 307 Grading 307 Half-Sole 307 Heel 307 Heel Scouring 308 Heel Seat 308 Heel Shaving 308 Hemlock Tanned 308 Inseam Trimming 308 Insole 309 Inspecting 309 Ironing Uppers 309 *2 18 Table of Contents Page An Explanation of the Terms Used in Shoemaking — Continued Lace 309 Lace Stay 309 Lap Stone 309 Last 309 Lasting 309 Leveling 309 Lift 309 Lining 309 Low-cut 309 McKay Sewed 309 Measurement 310 Moulding 310 Naumkeaging 310 Oak-Tanned. 310 Oxford 310 Pasted Counter 310 Pattern 310 Pegging 310 Perforating 310 Polish 310 Pressing 310 Pulling Lasts 310 Pulling Over 311 Pump 311 Quarter 311 Rand 311 Relasting 311 Repairing 311 Rolling 311 Rough Rounding 311 Royalties 311 Rubber Cement 311 Rubber Shoes 311 Sample 312 Sandal 312 Screw Fastened 312 Shank 312 Shank Burnishing 312 Shanking Out 312 Table of Contents 19 Page An Explanation of the Terms Used in Shoemaking — Continued Size 312 Skiving 312 Slipper 313 Slugging 313 Sneaker 313 Sock Lining 313 Soft Tips 313 Soles and Sole Leather 313 Sole paying 313 Sorting. 313 Split. 313 Spring 313 Stamping 313 Stay 313 Stitch Separating 313 Stitched Aloft 313 Stock Keeping 314 Stripping 314 Style 314 Tan 314 Tanning 314 Tap 314 Tempering 314 Tip 314 Tongue 314 Top 314 Top Facing 314 Top Lift. 314 Top Stitching 314 Treeing 315 Trimming Cutting 315 Turned Shoe 315 Turnover 315 Upper 315 Vamp 315 Vamping 315 Viscolizing 315 Welt 315 Welt Beating 315 20 Table of Contents Page An Explanation of the Teems Used in Shoemaking — Continued Welting 316 Wheeling 316 Width 316 Shoe and Leather Bibliography 317 Shoe and Leather Journals 319 Alphabetical Index 320-3 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page 1. Frontispiece Interior of a Shoe Shop in the Civil War Period. A Modern Interior. 2. An Old Time Shoemaker 29 3. An Old Time Shoe Shop Placed beside a Modern Factory 37 4. Facsimiles of Early Royalty Stamps 67 5. A Side of Leather Divided as to Quality 95 6. A Typical Modern Shoe Factory, Manchester, N. H. . 117 7. Cross Section of a Goodyear Welt Shoe 125 8. Cross Section of a McKay Sewed Shoe 126 9. Cross Section of a Standard Screwed Shoe 127 10. Cross Section of a Pegged Shoe 128 11. A Goodyear Welt Shoe in the Different Stages of Manu- facture 131 12. A Typical Shoe Tag 139 13. A Typical Shoe Factory Day Sheet 140 14. A Skin Showing how Patterns Are Placed in Cutting. 147 15. Operating the Clicking Machine 149 16. Operating the Rex Pulling Over Machine 203 17. Operating the U. S. M. Co. Lasting Machine 207 18. Operating the Goodyear Welt Sewing Machine 211 19. Operating the Goodyear Rough Rounding Machine . . 215 20. Operating the Goodyear Stitching Machine 219 21. Operating the Sole Leveling Machine 223 22. Operating the Heeling Machine 227 (21) THE SHOE INDUSTRY Chapter I HISTORICAL SKETCH 23 CHAPTER I Historical Sketch Ancient and Mediaeval Shoes. The sandal was the first known form of footwear. It was the uni- versal type among all early peoples, as it is now in all warm countries. Pictures of ancient Egyptian sandal makers of 1495 B. C. have been found in Thebes, showing methods something like those of the modern hand shoemaker who sat upon a low bench or form and held his work upon his knees. The earliest known form of footwear varied from a strip of leather fastened underneath as a protection from the ground to coverings ornamented with gems and gold. Sandals of papyrus and of leather were in quite general use in ancient times. The Teutonic tribes of the north of Europe wore a leather protec- tion upon the leg below the knee. The Romans adapted this custom by attaching the leg covering to the sandal, at first leaving the toe open and later closing it, thus making a complete boot. Such a boot or shoe was worn throughout the Middle Ages. In this period the shoe became one of the most im- portant and conspicuous articles of dress, and its length varied with the social or political standing of the wearer. Thus a prince wore a shoe thirty (25) 26 The Shoe Industry inches long; a baron, one of twenty-four inches; a knight, one of eighteen, and so on. A Recent Discovery of Ancient Shoes. "The two-thousand-year-old footwear exhibit in the museum of the United Shoe Machinery Company, which was recently taken from excavations made on the site of the ancient city of Antinoe, established A. D. 130, impresses the observer with the fact that ancient shoemakers were by no means lacking in skill. In looking at the exhibit, one is amazed to see the modern effects of many of the samples. The shoes are splendidly preserved, and some of the knitted sandals have the appearance of having been given only a few weeks' hard wear. Attempts at ornamentations show rosettes made of leather, and made up in a variety of designs."* The London Cordwainers' Company. In the year 1272 King Henry III granted an ordinance which established the Cordwainers' and Cobelers' Company of London, as it was first known, and gave it power to supervise the trade generally "for the relief and advancement of the whole business, and to the end that all frauds and deceits may here- after be avoided." While "cordewaner," a word originating from the use of leather coming from Cordova in Spain, was the name used generally for the shoemaker of the time, the term included also workers in the associated trades, such as leather curriers, tanners, purse and pouch makers, and •From American Shoemaking, for November 7, 1914. Historical Sketch 27 girdlers. The "cobeler" became later the worker in old leather, or merely the shoe repairer. The Cordwainers' Company has become simply a guild, but one of the oldest and most honored in the city of London. Marry, because you have drank with the King, And the King hath so graciously pledged you, You shall no more be called shoemakers; But you and yours, to the world's end, Shall be called the trade of the gentle craft. — George-a-Greene, Old Play, 1500. The Moccasin of the American Indian. The American Indian made rawhide leather by simple processes, and sewed pieces of it into a foot covering called a "moccasin." The white men who first came brought shoes from the mother countries and for many years continued to import them; but the pioneers also wore the moccasins of the native, sometimes making them, as well as hunting shirts and leggings, from leather tanned by the Indian. The First American Shoemakers. The first shoe- makers in this country settled in Massachusetts, Thomas Beard and Isaac Rickerman coming to Salem in 1629, and Philip Kertland to Lynn in 1635. The advent of each of these men was heralded as an important event and special favors were granted to them. They brought the methods of a trade still primitive though ancient in Europe. They used the leather apron, lap stone, hammer, wooden 28 The Shoe Industry pegs, hand-made thread, boot-tree last, such as thousands of cobblers use even in this day of ma- chinery. John Adam Dagyr, a Welshman, came to Lynn in 1750. He was a master-craftsman, and Lynn, which had already become the leading shoe town in the Colonies, advanced still more rapidly in the industry. Dagyr was the first organizer of the industry in this country. The more ingenious colonists learned to make shoes by hand, often serving an apprenticeship of seven years, and the trade gradually passed far beyond its European stages. From these simple beginnings sprang the great industry of American shoemaking. An Indenture Paper. Following is a copy of the original agreement by which boys were apprenticed to the shoemaking trade in the early part of the last century. The original is now in the possession of Mr. Charles Wellesley Allen, Brooklyn, N. Y. "This Indenture, Witnesseth, "That John Goedersoon, now aged fourteen years, eight months and twenty-seven days, by and with the consent of his step-father, John Wright, and his mother, Mary Wright, hath put himself and, by these presents, doth vol- untarily and of his own free will and accord, put himself Apprentice to Frederick Seely of the City of New York, Cordwainer, and after the manner of an Apprentice to serve from the day of the date hereof for and during, and until the full end and term of six years, three months 29 Historical Sketch 31 and three days next ensuing during all which time the said Apprentice shall his master faith- fully serve, his secrets keep, his commands everywhere readily obey. "He shall do no damage to his said Master nor see it done by others, without letting or giving notice thereof to his said Master. He shall not waste his said Master's goods nor lend unlawfully to any. He shall not contract matri- mony within the said term; at Cards, Dice, or any unlawful game he shall not play, whereby his Master may have damages. With his own goods nor the goods of others, without license from his said Master. . . . He shall neither buy nor sell. He shall not absent himself, day or night, from his said Master's service without leave, nor haunt ale-houses, taverns or play- houses; but in all things behave as a faithful Apprentice ought to do, during the said term. "And the said Master shall use the utmost of his endeavors to teach, or cause to be taught or instructed, the said Apprentice in the trade, or mystery, of a Cordwainer, and procure and provide for him sufficient meat, drink, washing, lodging and clothing fit for an Apprentice, during the said term of service and four quarters of night schooling during the said term. "And for the true performance of all and singular the Covenants and Agreements afore- said, the said parties bind themselves each unto the other firmly by these presents. In Wit- ness Whereof the said parties have inter- changeably set their hands and seals hereunto. Dated the sixth day of August, in the thirty- fifth year of the Independence of the United 32 The Shoe Industry States of America, and in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eleven. "Sealed and delivered in the presence of L. Cowdrey. "Frederick Seely, "John Goedersoon, "Maria Wright, "Jahan Wright." The Value of Shoes in Colonial Times. In spite of the abundance of wild and domestic animals whose skins might serve as leather in Colonial times, the prices of leather and of rough hand-made foot- wear were comparatively high. Leather of the finer sort was still imported from England. Shoes were the product of quite laborious processes and of con- siderable skill and ingenuity. They might be purchased by labor on the land or in the forest, by the barter of other goods or by hard English shillings. In the law of 1720-21 Pennsylvania fixed the maxi- mum price at which shoes should be sold at retail in the colony, as "six shillings and six pence for a pair of good, well-made men's shoes," five shillings for women's shoes, and proportionately less for children's shoes. This law fixed the price of leather also. With many persons, especially children and youth, shoes were little or seldom worn, appearing only on special occasions. Often the Colonial family walked bare-foot to church on Sunday morning, each mem- ber carrying his shoes in his hand until near the church door when they were put on the feet. Historical Sketch 38 Ancient Shoe Laws. The law makers of the Colonies from the beginning set regulations over the activities and employments of the people. The Province of Pennsylvania in 1720-21 made it a crime for a tanner of leather to become a currier or a shoe- maker. Section 7 of the law reads as follows: "And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that no person occupying or using the mystery of the shoemaker, shall make or cause to be made any boots, shoes, or slippers for sale but of leather well and sufficiently sewed with good thread well twisted and made and well waxed. Nor shall mingle the over- leather, that is to say part of the overleather being of neats leather and part of calves leather. Nor shall put into any boots, shoes, or slippers for sale, any leather made of sheepskin, bulls hide, or horses hide; or into the upper leather of any shoes or slippers, or into the inner part of any boots (inner part of the shoe excepted) any part of any hide from which the sole leather is cut, called the neck, shank, flange, powle, or cheek, upon paying a forfeiture of all such shoes, boots, and slippers, to be divided and applied in the manner directed by this act." The same Act provided that shoes sold above the prices fixed by Provincial law or above the rates set from time to time by the mayor, aldermen, and justices of the courts, should be subject to forfeiture. The Itinerant Shoemaker. The Colonial shoe- maker often traveled from house to house or village 34 The Shoe Industry to village, as a journeyman, doing repair work and making new shoes for all the members of a family. The market for home-made shoes was limited in those days, and many of the shoemakers practiced other arts, such as sharpening knives, saws, and axes, mending furniture, repairing clocks, cutting hair, and pulling teeth. The traveling cobbler* with his kit of simple tools and with the rough and heavy leather of the period, was a welcome dis- penser of service and of news and gossip among the colonists. The First Shoe Shops. No change of importance from either home work or itinerant employment occurred in shoemaking in the colonies until about the middle of the eighteenth century, when the more enterprising cobblers began to employ others and work became more and more confined to local shops. Hand processes continued, with some sub- division of labor, one man cutting, another sewing, another fastening on the bottom of the boot with pegs, and so on. Often in the home or little shop the hand sewing was done by girls and women whose hands were more deft for such a process. Poor lone Hannah, Sitting at the window, binding shoes ! Faded, wrinkled, Sitting, stitching, in a mournful muse ! Brighte-eyed beauty once was she, When the bloom was on the tree. Spring and winter Hannah's at the window, binding shoes. — "Hannah Binding Shoes," Lucy Larcom. Historical Sketch 35 The New England shoemakers led in the industry. There were a few Dutch shoemakers in New York, but scarcely any in agricultural communities of the South. The market of the New England maker, therefore, included all the colonies scattered along the Atlantic coast. In many cases the pro- prietor of the shop made weekly or monthly trips on foot or with an ox-cart to a village or larger com- munity to dispose of his shop-made goods, and shoe traffic gradually arose. Often the shop was closed altogether in the sum- mer, when work upon the land was necessary or fishing for those situated along the sea coast. Frequently the home served as a shop, the family receiving shoe materials from the manufacturer or from the village storekeeper who acted for the manu- facturer or tanner. A Shop of a Century Ago. "Probably the oldest shoe factory now standing in this country is the Putnam shop, near the Newburyport turnpike, in the town of Danvers, Mass. It was built before the Revolution. It was one of the buildings on the old Putnam farm, the birthplace of General Putnam ('Old Put') of Revolutionary fame. It was men- tioned in the first United* States census of manu- facturing, taken in 1786, and it was then evidently a factory of importance. It is still in excellent state of preservation. Some of the tools that were used by its occupants are still preserved. "The early tools are of wrought iron. The pat- 3* 36 The Shoe Industry terns are of board. Cutters who are used to hand- ling thin patterns of today would think these board patterns very coarse. Lasts saved in the old shop are clumsy. The books show that they cost from twenty-five cents to one dollar a pair, the price being determined by the style. Apparently, the last- makers of old well knew how to capitalize style. "All the shoes made in this old shop were made by hand. The shoemakers were paid from fifteen to twenty-five cents a pair for their labor, and they earned from five dollars to ten dollars a week, the rise and fall of their wages being determined chiefly by the way that orders came in. At first shoes made in this shop were sent in ox-wagons to Boston. Later they were sent in horse wagons. They were packed in barrels."* Ebenezer Breed and the Shoe Tariff. Following the Revolution the break between the Colonies and the Mother Country encouraged American indus- tries in many lines. American shoemaking, how- ever, still suffered from the competition of imported shoes. The habit of wearing English-made shoes was hard to break and many of the well-to-do people continued to demand them. At this crisis, in which an industry of great possi- bilities seemed likely to be restricted and confined mainly to the cheaper lines of product, appeared the first great leader of American shoe manufacture, Ebenezer Breed. Breed was born in Lynn, of *From Boot and Shoe Recorder, Boston. 37 Historical Sketch 39 Quaker parentage, and here learned the shoe trade. While still a young man he removed to Philadelphia, then the Nation's capital. Here he gained the friendship of prominent people, including members of the National Congress. He proposed a protective tariff on boots and shoes, and on this suggestion Congress passed a shoe tariff act in 1789. Breed was a wholesale boot and shoe merchant, and prospered greatly after the passage of the act. He was recognized as a leading American and was feted at home and abroad, visiting France and England. Through misfortune in personal affairs, Ebenezer* Breed lost his business and property and his eyesight. He died in the almshouse of his native town of Lynn. The following has been said of him: "The man who was so powerful as to build up a great wall of protection about the entire American shoe trade spent his declining days quietly and peacefully in an almshouse, for- gotten by nearly everyone but the Quakers." The First Shoe Factories. Soon after the Revo- lution shoemakers who wished to increase their output or had ambition to became manufacturers or employers, engaged other shoemakers to work for them on a larger scale than formerly, thus establishing the factory system and introducing a distinction between capital and labor in the industry. 40 The Shoe Industry The early manufacturers devoted themselves more and more to buying materials in quantities and to selling the products of their factories. Larger and larger factories were erected. In many cases shoemakers took materials from the factory and made shoes at home, each in his little shop. A Division of Labor in the Factory: "Teams" and "Gangs." It was known that workmen were usually expert in particular operations, for instance, in cutting and fitting uppers, or in preparing soles, or in sewing the sole to the upper. This fact pro- duced a division of labor. Shoemaking in factories during this period, until the introduction of machin- ery, was marked, also, by the custom of having what were called "teams'* of workers. A team consisted of a number of workers, each performing a particular process, the whole team producing an entire shoe. On the other hand, a team might con- sist of a group of men all experts upon a single process. Such a team was known usually as a "gang." A gang of bottomers, for instance, often went from factory to factory, or from employer to employer, having a contract with each to bottom all the shoes in process of making. The team or gang system gradually passed largely out of use after the introduction of shoe machinery. The term is still used in some factories, especially in the making or bottoming room. In one factory only, however, among the many investigated in obtaining material for this book, was there found a Historical Sketch 41 gang working as in earlier times. This was a team of six men making an entire shoe of high quality for a fine class of trade. A Quotation on the "Contract System." The following quotation gives an interesting picture of the contract system and team work:* "With the advent of the McKay machine came new methods, new systems, and new styles. "The contract system was the popular way of making shoes. The manufacturer had a room in the shoe district, where he cut the uppers and kept his stock; he would then enter into a con- tract with some man to fit them. When uppers were fitted he would again make another contract with some firm to bottom them. Thus it will be seen that very little equipment was needed to manufacture shoes. All the room required was for cutting and packing. Our large and modern factories of today, with their splendid equipment of almost humanly intelligent ma- chinery and skilled operators, giving employ- ment to thousands of men and women, and turning out annually 3,000,000 pairs of shoes, was never the dream of the old-time shoe- maker. "Many evils grew from the contract system. It was a common thing for those men who had charge of the contract fitting and bottoming rooms to underbid each other, and he whose bid was the lowest got the work. He saw to it, however, that his margin of profit remained *G. P. Lawrence, in American Shoe-making, Boston, January 16, 1015. 42 The Shoe Industry the same, for he would cut the piece price of his employees enough to make up the difference, and thus his margin of profit remained the same. "Labor organizations did much to correct this evil. "Prices for bottoming ranged from twenty- seven and one-half to forty-five cents a pair. Contractors wanted the lion's share for their profit, and got it. "The McKay sewing machine and a few stock fitting machines were all the machines used at the time of the five-handed team, and they were operated by foot power. "Stock fitting was a simple operation, con- sisting of rounding and channeling and counter skiving (no moulding) . Five men were required to build a shoe. A bench six feet long and four feet wide, with two shelves in the center, two men on each side and one at the end, a laster, beater-out, trimmer, edge setter and bottom finisher, constituted the team, and twelve pairs of lasts were given to each team." The Attitude of Early Shoemakers towards the Shoe Factory. The typical shoemaker had long been his own master. He worked in his little shop at home as he pleased, doing perhaps farm work or engaging in some other occupation a part of the year. He objected to serving any other master than him- self, and believed that obedience to a foreman was a surrender of his personal rights and liberties. He was reluctant to submit to factory hours, from seven o'clock in the morning until six at night, and Historical Sketch 43 to exacting factory regulations. He opposed in like manner the introduction of labor-saving machinery. The general industrial growth of communities was, however, an irresistible though a slowly coming tide. Progressive methods of employment and the introduction of machinery gradually broke down all opposition. The individual shoemaker or cobbler has survived to the present day, but will probably disappear with this generation. Organization in the Factory System. Factories were divided into the natural divisions or depart- ments of shoemaking. Men were set apart to organize and train employees. Superintendents and foremen or overseers of departments appeared. Systems were worked out for the procuring and care of raw materials, for making shoes in quantity, for moving them in the processes of making from one factory room to an other, for having each lot handled and finished as a unit, and for disposing of factory product through agencies established in market cen- ters, and through traveling salesmen. Thus factory organization produced also business organization. Specialists. Modern factory and business or- ganization calls for specialists in each department. The large shoe manufacturing firm of today has a specialist in leather buying, another in procuring lasts and patterns, another in charge of miscel- laneous supplies, another as manager of sales, another as factory manager or in charge of a factory de- partment, another as financier, another for ad- 44 The Shoe Industry vertising, and so on through all the great divisions of the firm's activities. The Magnitude of the Industry Today. The growth of the shoe industry in this country has been marvelous. The greatest gain has taken place within the last twenty years, since the invention and wide-spread use of the more important shoe machines. Although full statistical information is given in the census tables included in this volume, a few illustrative figures and facts may be presented here. According to the Census of 1909 there were in thirty-one states of the Union 1,918 factories making shoes and allied products. The capital invested in the industry was $222,324,000, and the number of employees was 215,000. Eight hundred and sixty of the factories were in Massachusetts. There has been a constant increase in the industry since that time, especially in invested capital and employees. The persons connected with shoe manu- facture probably now number nearly 250,000. The leading states in their order are, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, New Hampshire, Ohio, Penn- sylvania, and Illinois. Boston is the leading center of the world in the shoe and leather trade; Chicago, in trade in untanned hides. Lynn, the first home of the industry in this country, has long been the leading city in the manufacture of shoes and shoe material. Sixty-five per cent, of the manufactures of the city are in these lines. It Historical Sketch 45 has over two hundred shoe factories, employing 18,000 people and $18,000,000 in capital, and pro- ducing goods to the value of $47,000,000 annually. Brockton, Mass., ranks second in the industry, with eighty-six per cent, of its manufactures in shoes. It has seventy-five factories, employing about 14,000 people and a capital of over $14,000,000, and pro- ducing shoes worth $40,000,000 annually. Other cities in the order of magnitude of shoe manufacture are, St. Louis, Mo., Haverhill, Mass., Boston, New York, Manchester, N. H., Cincinnati, Rochester, N. Y., and Chicago. The exportation of shoes has come mostly within twelve or fifteen years, and has grown very rapidly within this time. The Massachusetts North Shore district, for example, now sends abroad more than ten million dollars' worth of shoes each year. The United States is not only leading the world in making shoes, but is finding markets increasingly in all countries. The New England Shoe and Leather Association has recently issued a circular from which the follow- ing statements are drawn: New England produces fifty-seven per cent, of the boots, shoes, slippers and cut-stock and findings, and a large percentage of all the leather made in this country. It has 1,000 shoe factories and cut-stock and findings establishments, principally in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. 46 The Shoe Industry In these industries $111,000,000 capital is invested, 100,000 wage-earners are employed, and the annual value of product is approximately $300,000,000. It has about 175 establishments for the pro- duction of leather, representing $45,000,000 of invested capital and $45,000,000 annual value of product. It also leads in the manufacture of rubber goods, Massachusetts alone annually producing $50,000,000 worth of rubber boots and shoes and miscellaneous articles. Massachusetts is virtually the birthplace of the tanning and boot and shoe industries of the United States, and has possessed these allied industries for nearly three hundred years. In the boot and shoe and cut-stock and find- ings industries, it has about 875 establishments, with more than $90,000,000 invested capital, 83,000 wage-earners and annual value of pro- duct of $236,000,000. It has sixty-three cities and towns in which the shoe manufacturing industry is carried on. It has one county, Essex, which produces one-seventh of the combined boot and shoe and leather product of the United States. Brockton, the leading city in which men's shoes are manufactured; Haverhill, the foremost slipper manufacturing city, and Lynn, the world's greatest women's footwear center, are notable examples of Massachusetts' shoemaking activity. More than 3,000,000,000 pairs of shoes have been shipped from Boston in the past forty- five years. *r- o CO H O P Q I to O i O 00 £ -■ §:. 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O0 N(M i-H CO 00 1— I i— I lO i— I © CO i— I 00-tfl>cOCCCN»O© i>©iO00COl>-t>iOiOiOcOiOi— It^lO i^©~CO~00"cC<^CO"©~©*©*"'^©%l'" OO^HN(D(NCSN(N01HlMtOO TtOiO© C^CO ^ , * © ^ i-Teo"*'-"' i-TTtTr-T lo"*Ch~ C©COCO T#03©7-l^©i-HJ>Tt< ©^c^^io©jN©^roc^ ^~r^©~co*©"Wio (NOTi-H^^OOCO^OO ^©©l-KNrHCJSOOlO t>©i-H00COiOCO COl>i-Hl>©CO©t^t>CM'*C0iO©© CO ^CO^C^OO^t^C^CO^r-^r^r-^O^CJ^lO^OO^ cd , cft> > TH'o* i c^oo*~o6* , o6~©*"crr-rco*'i--r'!ir ©O00^HI>©00I>-©O'*-^'*©rl< ^^^^^©lOiO^^iOCO^©^^?^ t^©"©"l^t>rc>foo''co"''-H''c3r ffiCOO>OtDNIN!0 C0rHC^(NC0C0-*t^OI>>O"*l oo^co^^co^oo^oV^cTcTcrco''-^ (NCOtDOOCJOiNININiON^ NHNMNHHHHiOOlO ^ T-^rH^rH'i-H'i-rC^i-rC^t^ i-T NffliOffiMCNOHW iQcDTtlrti> i-lrJH lO -# >o (MN r-Tr-T i> co i-H i-4 (NiO OOOOOCO^HOiHNCOH 'T-Too~cTcri-H~io~-*~T-H'i>rTir 00CDi-Ht>0505OC0rH00 ^t6~cI>NTtH|>TtlCO«O00tO CDOOO^HrflcoOCSH t- C^OO^rH i-^C^CO^"*^ i-Too*~^c" (MiOOOt^t^t^OOfN^IM 00 "OO© t^COrH^ eor^io ©COCO i-It-HC»00'^roo"»o~»o'orcrt>r OOt)O 00 »OP3J>0 t^r^tf^Cfc OO^O >o ^ 1-4 r* 1-4 1-4 T* 1-4 Of OO" T-T 1OIO00 00N05 1OO00OI l>t>COi-!COCOcD00CO00 oj o^o^oq^co^roc^oq^T^o^ &<^<&*&OtDd>aDcoi-4 «DNOKI05NOa>i0 00 COIOCO(NOCO ONO ooToT ■**! OS ^ HMNHr|(mHr)lcO00ffiin !>.-*Cat^OcDOOC5-<*ICOTtHCl co lo^a^o^co^cot^io^co^c^t^o^ ^co"«o~«d'»o'td , i>'ort>r'>#*xo~cr OOOCCOHNiCMNOJINro Ttlr-lTtlCOOOlNCOi-tOOlOCDlN cii>aJcoooiOi-HTticoi> (Mt^t^-t^TiHcOINCOt^OO 00 CO^^rH^O^O^CO^t^lO^C^ C3 00 00rHCD-*O5COJ>00 01 Ttl 00 "3 00 00 OS ^"-J^ 0~~ LASTING TACK. -CLINCHING POINT ^STITCH o A 14- 3 h a g 3 s 3 z T3 4) jsjs 4J ft) bo C s S o , (A -0 u en ■y o M 0) *> i^ a h *> Ifl crt ft) H >• 3 ft) 09 c J5 4) u u 1 «*« * > 09 ft) t 4J 4) CO .fl at H 8,2 £a S* os ua m co eo cs oi M® ^ t^ CO © *# ■* o^e^coj^eqt-;^ t^rcTcTi-rco'i-H'eo' i-f 00 U3 00 Oi i-( CO COCi MO(ON ONIO eo"T-Tor CO i—l CO eo 1>tHTfH0O 00rtON CO lO CO Ol 00 Ol O i-Tc o6' OS i-l "of ■^ooeooMOO co oo oo u^eo^oq^ i>'coco'co"eo"i> , '<*" MHO) Oi•■* OQCO t>ooo "bo o JT3 03 d 2? S « 03 o * 'O 0> - i oo 9 >> „ 2 « -^ « 53 "Sis ^ o (132) Chapter VIII THE UPPER LEATHER DEPARTMENT (133) CHAPTER VIII The Upper Leather Department The Importance of Detail in Shoe Manufacture. It is the purpose of this and the following chapters to present actual factory processes and employment opportunities in their order. Most shoe operators are restricted to work on particular single machines and processes. In a few cases, especially in the smaller and older factories, an operator may per- form several related processes; or, in other words, several related or consecutive processes may be combined in one or done on a single machine. ^An average style shoe in the making must pass through over one hundred different pairs of hands and about one hundred and fifty different machines, involving over two hundred processes, according to the methods of particular factories. It is clear, then, that the details of manufacture are of the highest importance, and that every factory department must observe absolutely the specifications of each lot of shoes. The divisions shown in the following chart are the natural divisions of the upper leather department, as will appear in this chapter. Trimmings and lin- ings need not be separately presented at length. (135) 136 The Shoe Industry Pattern making, which has been treated separately in Chapter IV, is sometimes made the first division of the upper leather department, where patterns find their chief use. It may be said here, also, that the general plan and system of this department and of the other departments of shoemaking are the same in all factories, and that practically the same machines are in use everywhere, but that details and minor processes are so numerous that variation in them is to be expected. It will not be wise or necessary, then, to go into the minutest details of manufacture in these pages. Only processes and methods that are general or typical need be presented. Action upon Receipt of an Order. The making of a pair of shoes begins simultaneously in the cutting department and in the sole leather department. When an order is received in a modern and well- organized factory the order department records in the order book all the details regarding the samples upon which the order was secured. The shoe must be made upon these specifications in its course through the factory, and when finished it must conform to them. ^ In the order department each lot is given an order number. Tags bearing this number and the details regarding the preparation of the shoe upper, with one tag for each two dozen shoes, are sent to the foreman of the cutting room. Other tags containing details about the sole leather to be used are sent to the CHART OF THE UPPER LEATHER DEPARTMENT UPPER LEATHER DEPARTMENT Sorting Department Trimming, Cutting, and Dinking Department Lining and Cloth Cutting Department Upper Cutting Department Counting, Marking, and Skiving Department Assembling Department *9 (137) 138 The Shoe Industry foreman of the sole leather department. A third lot of tags is prepared for the direction of the foreman of the making or bottoming room, where are brought together, for assembling, the various parts of the uppers prepared in the cutting and stitching rooms and of the bottoms prepared in the sole leather room. The methods of making out the tags or tickets which are used as guides in the various rooms of the shoe factory vary in some factories. A clerk in the cutting room, for instance, may prepare them upon an order sent to him from the order department. In all cases, however, the essential points given in the tags are the same. The tag specifies the sole, heel, upper, kind and quality, the stitching, the style of last, bottom finishing, treeing, and packing. On the following pages is presented a typical tag used in the shoe factory. The Day Sheet. The despatch department has charge of the passing of work into the factory and of following it up through the factory. From the tags received by the order department the despatch office prepares schedules or bulletins called day sheets. These sheets show accurately the details of each and every lot of shoes passing into the factory on a given day and also the scheduled time when the last lot of each day's work should pass a given point in the factory. The day sheet contains also supple- mentary information showing the exact quantity of each of the various special items of product com- posing a particular day's work. The sheets are made READ THIS TAG Cuumtr'i Stock Ho.. WlonShlp Vamp Pgfag HP VampUn, D. Vamp Lin. Site Stay Top hdsg Qlj lining 2 1 31 1 3 34 i u 10 15 20 35 30 351 » 46 Back Stay M S H T 71 8 hIK)|«| 70 j TSJ so CUTTING AND FITTING BOTTOMING TopPao. Tap Vamp Posing, Tip BkStay TIP TICKET. Edge F. 8. Fndgj Top Po. OanHo. FOXING TICKET Sad Pat. So. Stitch So. Bad: Stay Pts. | Width l|lj 2 |aj 3 3J 4 |4J B | 5-! { 6 64 7 74 8 1 l»|» 20 j 25 J 30 j 35 ( 40 j 45 j 50 | 55 1 SO 65 | 70 76 80 1 MM M VAMP TICKET CasoHo. TIP Pat. So. Pro. |width| 1 |u 2 | 2} | 3 J 3* | 1 | 44 | 6 | 5< | 6 | 63 1 7 » 3 | 1 10 1 16 2o|j5 30 36 1 *OJ 15 50 66* | 60 65 70 75 SO 1 II II II 1 1 II II 1 II Case So. Kind Pat. Ho. 'stitch So. Fori. tongas Bit Stay i Pre. | Width 1 11 2 |3*| 3 J 34 j 1 J4l| 6 | Si 6 6-1 7 |7i| S 1 J XC j 15 | 20j 25 1 30 j 35 | «| 15 [ 50 j 65 | 60 j 65 | 70 | TSJ 80 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 II TRIMMING TICKET. Ca»Ho, .Stum} . ^ Side Stay 4r. L So. Pre. | "Width l.|ll| 2|2l| 3 j 31 1 1 14 6 64 6 64 7 74 8 ' j 10 | 15 j SO [ 25 | 30 j 35 1 4D | 45 | 50 j B5 [ 60 1 65 70 | 75 SO I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 LINJNG TICKET. Case So. fat. Vp. T.inltifl Sock 7.* w * w ff ,SO. Pre. | Width 1 |lj| .3 2* | 3 34 4 |ll 6 54 6 64 1 7 74 8 ! | " 10 j IS j -20 j 25 | 30 | 35 j 40 16 j 50 | 66 | 60 | 65 | 70J 75J 80 i 1 II I i j i M ! ! 1 i ! ! SOLE WEATHER TICKET.. J Can Ho. Lan Connter . Shank Outer [Sole Hod Slip Tap Finish Pis. 1 Width 1 14 2 2J 3 34 | 4 44 6 54 1 6 | 64 | 7 7» 8 ! 1 10 15 ! 20 25 30 35 40 46 60 ' 56 60 1 65 1 70 75 80 1 ' 1 1 11 1 LI l-l ! 11 1 II \ 1 Caso So. INSOLE TICKET. End Last Pro. | Width 7J17 2 j 2i | 3 j 34 J 4 44 | 5 | S a | 6 | 64 | 7 | 74 S J 10 1 15 SO [ 25 1 30 ] 35 1 40 46 | 60 | 55 -60 65 | -70 75| 80 1 II 1 1 II 1 II 1 1 1 1.1 r tfiUBgUM STRAP TICKET. - _ Oman CaasNo. Pn. 1 Width l|ll|a|.2,|s|St|-l |«|s|Bi|«|6i| 7[.7i|8 | |l0|l6|.2fl|25 |30|35|«)-16 SO | 55 j GO | 65 | 70 75] 80^ ! 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 A Typical Shoe Tag (139) moon raooa jomo raooa jomo :> raooa jo *no c <3 raooa jo mo raooa Surapws jo mo raooa Smjmo jo mo mpiM %ffei E O M H « O m H •ojk aa^o •om s.jeraojBno SJIBd JO "ON (140) The Upper Leather Department 141 in duplicate. One set is kept in the office and upon it are checked off records of the work as it proceeds through the factory. This sheet also contains the name of the customer for whom the shoes are being made, their price, and the name and commission of the salesman. Other sets go to the various factory rooms as guides and records of the day's work. The sheet used in the cutting room contains the specifications which constitute the cutting in- structions, such as the kind of the upper stock and linings to be used, the price, and the number of square feet. On this sheet are recorded, also, all the details of the work of cutting as the cutting is done. The use of the day sheet is quite universal in shoe manufacture and it has done much to pro- mote efficient methods. On page 140 is presented a typical shoe factory day sheet. The Upper Leather Room. The upper leather room is that division of the upper leather department in which leather stock is measured and sorted for the cutting room. The department includes the care, sorting, and cutting of the leather and other materials that enter into the upper of the finished shoe, and has three divisions, leather, linings, and trimmings, each being usually called a department or room. n^ Measuring Upper Leather. About two hundred different kinds of upper leather are now in use. They usually come from the wholesale houses or store rooms of the factory in boxes to the upper 142 The Shoe Industry leather room. There they are taken from the boxes, counted, measured upon a machine, and stamped with the number of square feet in each piece. The machine used in measuring the upper leather is very sensitive to heat and cold, and must be adjusted every morning for the day's use. It records the exact number of square inches in the skin. The operator of it must be very careful and trustworthy. Upper leather constitutes a large part of the cost of shoe manufacture, and its econ- omic use is absolutely essential in a factory. The Leather Sorter. Leather sorting follows measuring and is equally important. The cutting room tags calling for particular kinds of leather for particular lots of shoes are given to the leather sorter. He must be able to judge by experience exactly the amount and quality of leather required to cut each order, though the quantity may be figured in the office. He tests its quality by doubling a skin along the back and passing his fingers over the folded edge. He rolls the skins selected or sorted for each lot of shoes into a bundle, attaches the ticket which he has used, and sends the bundle to the cutter. The leather sorter must himself have served several years' apprenticeship as a cutter, so as to become used to the kinds, feel, and cutting value of leather. After sorting, the upper leather is sometimes weighed out by thickness into lots of definite weight, and placed on shelves in the room until needed for orders from the cutting room. The Upper Leather Department 143 The Lining Sorter. There is usually, also, a sorter of the various kinds of cloth, such as twills and drills, used for the linings of shoes. These are in- spected for their weave, strength, and chemical qualities. They are inspected both for acceptance by the factory and for grades for particular kinds of shoes. They are marked and labeled and put away in grades corresponding to intended uses. The lining sorter must usually have had training in a textile school. The Positions in a Sorting Department. In the small factory one or two persons only may be em- ployed in the work of measuring and sorting leather. Very many shoe factories, however, in which large and valuable quantities of stock are used daily, have a fully organized sorting department. The positions in a modern sorting department are as follows: 1. The Inspector, who examines the material selected by the sorters for particular uses, to see that it is rightly chosen. 2. The head sorter, who has charge of sorting. 3. Several or more leather and lining sorters. 4. One or two weighers of the sorted lots of leather. 5. Men who put up the work called for by the cutter's tags, selecting the leather according to the price given upon the tag, and placing the bundles in their proper places for passage into the cutting room. 144 The Shoe Industry 6. Girls who figure the allowances of leather called for by the tags and keep the cutters' accounts. This work must be accurately done and demands considerable ability. - The Lining and Cloth-Cutting Section. The cutting of cloth tops and linings was formerly done largely by hand. The hand worker places a pattern upon the cloth and cuts quickly around the edge of the pattern with a knife. He may cut the cloth in the single piece or in layers, up to eight thick- nesses. Such cutting is never accurate, and with the increased use of textiles in shoemaking it proves too slow a method. The dieing or dinking machine is being used more and more for the cutting of cloth parts. The die made in the shape of the usual pat- tern is accurate, and from twenty-four to forty thicknesses of cloth may be cut by it at one time, increasing the work of the section many fold. The cost in cases of die cutting is reckoned at about one-tenth of that by hand cutting. Hand dieing or dinking is in practice to some extent. As has been pointed out, the dieing or dinking section works entirely according to the specification of tags for each lot of shoes. Lots go through the room in pairs varying from one hundred and eight to one hundred and fifty in number for hand cutting, and about four hundred for machine dieing. The usual lining parts to be cut or died out are, quarter lining, top band, inside stay, fly lining, back stay, and tip. The Upper Leather Department 145 Patterns and dies are selected not only for each of these parts but for the particular style of shoe called for. The Positions in the Lining and Cloth Cutting Section. The usual positions connected with the cutting of cloth tops and linings are, the Foreman, the hand cutters, the machine dinkers, the hand dinkers, the pattern boy, the cloth and lining folders, the "piece sorters, the inspectors, the cripple cutter, and the stock man. There may also be an instruc- tor, to aid the foreman in teaching new employees. After about one year's service on cloth and linings cutters may go to the outside or leather cutting room. The Cutting Room. The cutting room is that division of the upper leather department in which the leather is cut, by hand or with a die, for the upper parts of the shoe. It is the most important section of the large department. The cut parts finally go to the assembling room along with the linings from the lining room, and are there put together ready for the stitching room. The Hand Cutter. Cutting the upper parts of the shoe by hand was the method preceding the introduction of machinery, and is still in use, especi- ally in the smaller and older factories, or in factories that handle small skins. It is an expert process demanding years of practice for the finest work, and has been so satisfactory that it gives way but slowly to the use of machinery. The particular 146 The Shoe Industry advantage of hand cutting, in addition to the more economical use of leather, is that the hand cutter is more likely to place his pattern so that the different parts of the skin may be cut according to the quali- ties needed for the different parts of the shoe. With the improvements in the tanning of leather so that more uniform qualities are obtained, and with the increased demand for speed in cutting, large establishments are tending gradually to the use of machine dieing. -J Hand cutting is done upon hard wood blocks made especially for the purpose, or thick "cutting boards" arranged at a convenient height for the workman to stand before them. He uses a short- bladed, keen edged knife. It is a part of his training to know how to keep his board smooth and oiled regularly and his knife sharp. The leather cutter is sometimes called "outside cutter," to distinguish him from the cutter of linings and trimmings. ^A The cutter receives a bundle or lot of leather with its tag from the sorting room, and the patterns called for by the tag from the pattern room. He lays out his patterns conveniently at hand in the order of large, medium, and small. He places one skin at a time upon the block. Placing a particular pattern upon it, so that the part selected is best suited to the corresponding part of the completed shoe, he draws his knife skillfully around the metal edge of the pattern. This involves several or more A Skin Showing how Patterns are Placed in Cutting (147) 148 The Shoe Industry motions, with the dangers of cutting away from the pattern and of cutting the fingers. The cutter uses his patterns alternately, or with variation of sizes and positions, so as to cut the skin most eco- nomically. Usually the waste parts are very small and unsuited to other purposes in the factory, except for such trimmings as back straps and vamp stays. They are generally sold to be consumed in making leather substitutes, or for the oil they contain. The cutter lays out all his cut parts in lots and marks the upper piece by pattern, size, width and style. He ties up these lots with the tag and a sticker attached showing the case number, the number of pairs, and the size. The work of the cutter is checked up in the sorting room, making an exact efficiency record for each workman, and the totals of cutting are placed upon the cutting room day sheet. The outside cutter learns his trade by work upon cloth and linings or by service in leather cutting in a small factory, s^ The Clicking Machine. As has already been indicated, large shoe factories are coming to use machines for cutting leather, in some factories both the hand method and the machine method being found side by side. The machine, which performs a process formerly thought impossible except by hand, has a cutting board or block like that of the hand worker. A strong arm or beam swings from side to side over this block. A skin is placed upon Operating the Clicking Machine 149 TheI Upper Leather Department 151 the block and the operator of the machine sets a die upon the leather, just as the hand worker would place a pattern upon it. He then swings the arm of the machine over the die, which is pressed through the leather by the automatic action of the machine. The arm then returns automatically to its full height. Dies may be used alternately as in hand work, so as to cut the skin economically. They are mad« in various designs and sizes, with one die for each design and size. Thus it will be seen that machine cutting calls for a very large number of dies. Each is about three-quarters of an inch in height, so that the operator can see clearly where he is placing it upon the leather, and of such light weight as not to injure the leather. Cutting is done upon one thickness only. One movement of the arm of the machine, guided by the operator, accomplishes what it would take the hand cutter considerable time to do in passing his knife entirely around the edge of the pattern. All pieces cut by a die must be identically the same, while in hand cutting there would necessarily be some variation in size. The dies used for the vamps mark the location of the toe cap and Blucher foxings that may be added later. The cut parts are treated as in hand work, and sent on to the next operations. The die cutting machine is called the "clicking machine," and is one of the most important recent innovations in the making of shoes. An illustra- tion of this machine is on page 149. 152 The Shoe Industry The Counting, Marking, and Skiving Department. In a small factory many of the minor operations of shoemaking are done in some part of the rooms in which the related major processes are performed. Such minor operations may employ but few people. In the larger factories, however, they become very important because of the large number of shoes made daily. They then employ many persons and are carried on in separate rooms and departments. Such is the department in which the counting, marking, and skiving of the pieces coming from the cutting room are done. The cutter, or some other employee in the cutting room, has marked only the top piece of each lot. In this department girls untie the lots, count them to see that the number called for by the tag is present, and mark the size upon each part. The employees of this department, except for a machinist who has charge of the ma- chines, are regularly girls and women. The entire department is sometimes called the skiving depart- ment, from the chief process in it. Skiving. The edges of the upper leather which are to show in the finished shoe are "skived," or beveled to a thin edge which can be folded in so as to give a more finished appearance to the completed shoe. This work is done by girls upon skiving machines. Such edges on thick leather are some- times stained the color of the leather itself instead of being skived. The skived edges are covered with The Upper Leather Department 153 a coating of cement, and placed in a machine which folds and presses them at the same time. Nicking. All curved edges of upper leather parts are nicked or cut with little notches by girls upon nicking machines. This is done so that such parts may be folded in evenly and smoothly in stitching the shoe. Sometimes edges which will show in the completed shoe are scalloped. Dleing Out Straps. Straps for Oxford shoes and button flies are usually died out by hand, by the use of a mallet, in this department, rather than by the cutter in the cutting room, where, being the smallest parts, they cause some delay in cutting. Positions in the Skiving Department. The posi- tions in the skiving department are, the Forewoman; floor girls, who give out work, gather it up, and check it off as it leaves the room; counters and markers; skivers; nickers and scallopers; edge stain- ers, and the machinist. Assembling Department. The upper parts of the shoe come on trucks from the skiving room to the assembling department. Here are many boxes in which the lots are placed according to numbers, with four tags for each order, the tag for the outer, upper part of the shoe, for linings, for trimmings, and for tip. In each box are placed all the parts necessary for the complete upper, by adding to each lot what its tag calls for. Linings are marked upon a stamping machine with size, width, and case number. When all parts have been assembled they 154 The Shoe Industry are divided for the various sections of the stitching room. For instance, quarter linings, top bands, button flies or side stays go to the tip-stitching sec- tion; tips go to the tip-stitching section; and the outside parts, vamps, vamp linings, and tongues, go to the vamping section. Positions in the Assembling Department. The positions in the assembling department are, the Foreman, floor girls, girls for casing up, for stamping linings, and for arranging tags in order of precedence, and a stock boy. Time and Pay Statistics in the Cutting Depart- ment. At the end of this and other chapters on factory departments are presented statistics selected from Bulletin No. 178 of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, showing average wages, weekly earnings, and hours per week in boot and shoe manu- facture throughout the country from 1910 to 1914, and by states for 1914. The figures here given are for a selected number of establishments, but may he regarded as repre- sentative of the entire industry, as according to the census of 1910 more than ninety-seven per cent, of the total number of employees in the industry were found in the states from which the information was secured. Among other things, it will be observed by Table VII, on pages 156 and 157, that hand cutters, whose work is more exacting than that of machine cutters, received in 1914 thirty-six and three-fifth cents per The Upper Leather Department 155 hour, or $19.66 a week; while machine cutters re- ceived thirty-two and one-half cents per hour, or $17.93 per week. It will be seen, also, that male skivers in 1914 received twenty-nine and nine- tenths cents an hour, or $16.13 a week; while female skivers received twenty and nine-tenths cents an hour, or $11.30 a week. In Table VIII, on page 159, may be seen the variations of earnings in these operations in the great shoe manufacturing centers of the country. *io a h a 7, £ Ul g to h a & < fed J2^ Q O C3[3 2 .S cS .2 > h "TJ 03 D p a U 09 09 -^P -rm pnB 2,5 iq lapun IB f g I9AQ fS ^g jap -nn pxre xg Xg lapim puis 8f iaAQ sSninjBa ^ppaM. anriviPJ aSBJaAy .moq iad BaS^Ai jo ac^Bi aS^iaAy CO (MI>tHO«5I> O50iooi>a5co»oi>i> COCO»Ca>00© r-H T-H cooocol>l>t>l>05050505 COC5ai"*l50t>©«OCO I>I>t^t^l>l>t^t^t>» O5I>CO(N(MtH(N00CD cococococococococo i-lQC0O5COCO(N00iO ©©r-l.-HrHCqCOt~C^ lOOtOOCSOONiCH <£><£>© Ci © CT> O^t^OO^ i— Ti-Tc^f r-Tt— I t-H I— I rH i— I ncooocsooooN M(NNOC»'*CCQ 00i-IOil>-*101010C0C0i©C0 ffiOffiOOHHHH CO Tj( (N ® N © O r(l OS 00H05(»00OiOO0> tNCO H CI NNNfflfflOOHO rH H T-H T-, i-H t>aoc©t»ioco s | > •0.2 S ft 05005IMOO i-l (N iH 00(NO CO fe- o * £ ,2 B » ® ^3 is o H •1 a-g s ~ TO -U I'll S (158) NOONOH i-H tH r-l r-l tH t-I O S 02 (1«9) Chapter IX THE STITCHING DEPARTMENT (161) CHAPTER IX The Stitching Department N| Definition. The stitching department is that division of the factory in which the outer parts of the upper of the shoe, the linings, and the trimmings are sewed together upon machines, ready for putting upon the last. In some factories this division is called the "fitting room." Female employees gen- erally work in this department, but at present men are being employed more and more on the vamping machines and other heavy parts of stitching. In a factory having 5,000 employees about 1,400 are found in the stitching department. The machines used in the stitching room are similar to the ordinary sewing machine used in the home. ^ Variations in Stitching Room Processes. Methods and details in the stitching department differ more than in the cutting and other departments of the shoe factory, because of the many parts composing the upper of the shoe. There are more processes involved in the making of women's shoes, with the constant striving after style and effect, than in men's shoes, in which plainness and serviceable qualities are desired. Processes may be modified, also, in making children's and infants' footwear. Different (168) 164 The Shoe Industry kinds of shoes, as high, low, and pumps, require variations in the methods of sewing the various parts of the upper. Altogether the stitching depart- ment involves a large number of processes of minute detail and possibility of variation. The generally prevailing methods are here presented. The Number and Divisions of the Parts to be Stitched. For the uppers of an ordinary pair of button boots, as an example, there are forty-four different pieces of material. The stitching is done upon many of these parts simultaneously before the upper is ready for lasting. The size is marked upon every part. The linings and the trimmings are given to one division of operators, the outsides to an- other, and the vamps and tips to still another division. All these parts meet again when each has been sewed, and are inspected and sent on to the lasting room. ^ The Divisions of This Department. The natural divisions of this department are shown in the follow- ing chart. They are, the Lining department, the tip department, closing and staying, foxing, top stitching, or closing on and top stitching, and the button hole, vamping, and toe closing department. The Lining Department. In the lining depart- ment various parts of the lining are pasted and sewed together in preparation for the top stitching department, where the lining as a whole will be sewed to the upper of the shoe. Each operation here spoken of may be a single process or may CHART OF THE STITCHING DEPARTMENT STITCHING DEPARTMENT Lining Department Tip Department Closing and Staying Department Foxing Department Top Stitching Department Button Hole Department Vamping Department Toe Closing Department (165) 166 The Shoe Industry represent several minor processes. First the lining is closed or sewed in a seam, and taped, or stayed up and down the heel. The top band is sewed on. The button fly, which has a reinforcement in the man's shoe, is also stitched on. A lining is stitched upon the tongue for some shoes. The vamp lining is cemented merely to hold it in place for later sewing. Labels are stitched on the lining of the inside of the heel for Oxford shoes, and on the inside of the top of the lining for boots. The more common kinds of boots, for instance, are, the button, the Polish, the Blucher; of low shoes, the Oxford and the pump. Positions in the Lining Department. The usual positions in the lining department of the stitching room are, the Superintendent, the forewoman, the inspector, operators on the closing .of linings, on the staying of linings, on sewing of top bands, and on attaching labels, the floor girls, and a cripple girl who attends to all imperfect work. — [ The Tip Department. The tip department is that section of the stitching room in which the tip receives special preparation for its place in the com- plete upper, and in which it is sewed to the vamp. Tips come from the cutting room tied in bunches separate from the other parts of the shoe. In the tip department they are skived, perforated, and fitted with linings according to use on particular vamps, or, in other words, on shoes of particular styles . Usually a box to give reinforcement and style The Stitching Department 167 to the tips is cemented inside of it before the lining is inserted, and before the tip is stitched to the vamp. The tip may be skived and folded in, perforated, nicked, scalloped, or plain, each process involved belonging to this department. The lining is cemented in, taped over seams, and pressed firmly in place upon a machine, and the whole is top-stitched on a machine, through leather and lining, just below the line of perforation. Then the tip is stitched above the perforation to the vamp of the upper; and this part of the upper is ready for the vamping department. "** Perforating. Perforating deserves special mention since it gives style to the tip, and is of itself an interesting process and a good example of intricacy in shoe making processes. A series of ornamental perforations is stamped by a combination of small dies upon the "power tip press" or upon the "per- forating machine." The holes thus stamped take particular styles which are known in the shoe fact- ories by numbers. For instance, perforation "num- ber 69" consists of a large hole and a small one alternating in a line near the edge of the tip, over the top, thus: ooooo, and "number 70" consists of a large hole alternating with two small ones, thus: o o o o o o o. The size of the holes may vary. If you will look at the tip of your shoe you will probably find one of these styles or a variation of them. The machine feeds itself automatically, dieing the full perforation accurately at one stroke for each 168 The Shoe Industry tip, as the tips pass through in line upon a moving band of paper, which prevents dulling the die. This machine is used also for perforating larger parts of shoes, such as vamps, foxings, and ornamental "winged tips." Positions in the Tip Department. The positions in the tip department are numerous and may be shown more clearly, as will other departments having many positions in the following pages, by a numbered list as follows, using the terms which are common in the factory: 1. The Superintendent, in a large factory. 2. Forewomen. 3. Quality Inspector. 4. Lining Closers. 5. Stayers. 6. Toe Piece Ironers. 7. Tapers. 8. Reinforcers. 9. Tip Markers. 10. Toe Lining Reinforcers. 11. Tip Pressers. 12. Vamp Pressers. 13. Vamp Perforators. 14. Box Cementers. 15. Stitchers of tongue to vamp. 16. Tip Perforators. 17. Tip Blackers. 18. Stitchers of tip and vamp. 19. Floor Girls. The Stitching Department 169 20. Cripple Girls. 21.' "Hustle Girls," who look up the dates upon the tags and keep orders moving in their proper sequence. The Closing and Staying Department. The clos- ing and staying department deals with cementing, sewing, and securing the seams of the top of the upper, the part above the foxing and toe of all kinds of shoes, following the work done upon the linings and tips." First, the button fly is pressed, then closed or sewed to one quarter, and the two quarters of the top are sewed together. The top piece is ce- mented on the inside of the large quarter, which bears the button fly, and the quarter is stayed. The top of the button Oxford is ironed out at the heel seam, and a reinforcement ironed upon the button fly. The Blucher Oxford is nicked and pressed. A paper reinforcement is ironed upon the inside of the top of the circular pump. Bows of various kinds and colors are made by machines for Oxfords, and fastened upon them by a machine which drives a metal reinforcement into the bow. Canvas stays are put in the top of Oxfords. A long vamp is re- inforced for eyelets, and a stay is cemented in when blind eyelets are to be inserted. Perforations are sometimes covered with imitation reinforcements on the inside, or stitched around the outside. Per- foration upon the top has tape placed on the inside and stitched underneath. Buckle straps and instep straps are attached to some styles of shoes. There are many such operations in this division 170 The Shoe Industry of the stitching department, according to the par- ticular kinds of shoes made in a factory. Each style is kept separate in going through the depart- ment. Stitching machines are now made for use upon certain styles and parts of shoes only, special- ization in machinery extending to the most minute parts of processes throughout the factory. Positions in the Closing and Staying Department. The usual positions in this department are as follows : 1. Forewomen, or assistants to foreman. 2. Inspectors. 3. Teacher for new help. 4. Closers. 5. Label Girls and Cementers. 6. Button Fly Pressers. 7. Button Fly Reinforcers. 8. Stayers. 9. Toe Piece Reinforcers. 10. Cementers and Pressers. 11. Floor Girl. 12. Checker Girl, who checks off all numbers of lots so that it may be known when the parts are all done and have gone to the next department. The Foxing Department. The foxing department is one of the smallest divisions of the stitching room. The foxing is a little piece of upper leather below the quarters on each side of the heel, put on all kinds of boots and Oxfords. Foxing is used on both the high and the low styles of footwear. It is both plain and ornamented, according to the style and The Stitching Department 171 quality of the shoe. Back straps and fly stays are stitched upon the quarters to which the foxing is attached, and then the foxing, ornamented with perforations in this department, if need be, is stitched upon the quarters, sometimes with one row of stitching and sometimes with two rows. The operations are the same with canvas as with leather uppers. The work when done and checked off on the day sheet goes to the top stitching department. The ordinary Polish shoe, not the Blucher, and the Oxford shoe, both Blucher and common, have a long vamp and no foxing. Several related or similar operations, also, are performed in the foxing department, such as sewing loops at the top of the back of the shoe, on men's shoes, and sewing on buckle straps. Positions in the Foxing Department. The usual positions here are these: 1. Forewomen, or assistants to foreman. 2. Teacher. 3. Inspector. 4. Perforators. 5. Back Strap Stitchers. 6. Side Stay Stitchers. 7. Binders. 8. Button Fly Face Stitchers. 9. Foxing Stitchers. 10. Floor Girls. 11. Cripple Girls. 12. Checker Girls, •n 172 The Shoe Industry The Top Stitching Department. The top stitching department is the division of the stitching room in which the tops, the leather upper part, coming from the foxing department, and the linings, from the lining department, are sewed together. Quarters and linings are first matched upon tables and tied together in bundles, according to tag numbers. This work is done by floor girls, who give the bundles thus matched to the machine operators. In some factories vamps are sewed on at the same time as the tops and linings are sewed together. The methods of the department vary, as in other sections of the factory, according to the style of shoes being made. Generally the top and lining are put together back to back, or wrong side out, and stitched along the edge of the top. Then the top is turned and the seam is pounded out so that the edge of the leather on the right side comes out true and flat. Then this part goes to the top stitcher, who sews it all around except at the bottom where the vamp is still to be attached. The side of the quarter on which buttons are to be sewed on the button shoe is pinked or notched upon the edge in case of a raw edge of the lining and the leather sewed together. Usually in the case of canvas shoes vamp- ing is done in this department before top stitching. More men are found in this department than in the other divisions of the stitching room because the work is sometimes heavier and more exacting, calling for considerable strength when followed The Stitching Department 173 from day to day, as well as for skill. The parts must be sewed, carefully turned and thoroughly beaten, and sewed again in finished form, making altogether, perhaps, the most difficult work of the stitching room, and the department is the largest division of the stitching room. Positions in the Top Stitching Department. The positions in this section are the following: 1. Forewomen. 2. Teacher. 3. Inspector. 4. Operators of closing on machines. 5. Operators for turning and pounding top. 6. Top Stitchers. 7. Vampers. 8. Floor Girls. 9. Cripple Girls. The Button Hole Department. The button hole department includes the making of button holes and the inserting of eyelets. The tops of button and of lace shoes come from the top stitching de- partment to this department. The small quarter under the button fly is pinked, and the fly is marked for button holes by means of a perforated pattern through which the places for buttons are marked by hand with a pencil or yellow crayon. Then the button holes are inserted by a power machine which cuts the hole and works it around at the same time. In eyeleting the upper is marked by hand for the eyelet. Then the eyelet is inserted on a machine. 174 The Shoe Industry A machine has recently come into use which inserts eyelets in both sides of the top at the same time. In the case of "blind eyelets" a hole is stamped through the leather, lining, and reinforcement. The leather is then held back by the operator and eyelets are stamped through the lining and the re- inforcement, the leather only showing on the outside of the hole. In some factories blind eyelets are inserted as a single process on an automatic machine. In men's high lace shoes hooks are inserted by a machine above the rows of eyelets. Raw edges are blacked or colored so as to make the edge of the lining resemble the leather. Pairs of tops are now examined for matching and are tagged by sizes ready for vamping. Positions in the Button Hole Department. The usual positions in the button hole section are as follows : 1. Forewoman. 2. Teacher. 3. Inspector. 4. Quarter Pinkers. 5. Button Hole Makers. 6. Button Hole Workers. 7. Machine Eyeleters. 8. Button Hole Finishers. 9. Button Hole Trimmers. 10. Operators for Cording the cloth button shoe. 11. Edge Blackers. 12. Girls for Matching and Tagging pairs. The Stitching Department 175 13. Floor Girls. 14. Cripple Girls. 1 The Vamping Department. The vamp is the lower, front part of the shoe upper. It is the most important part of the upper and should be cut from the best of leather. The "cut off vamp" extends only to the shoe tip. The whole vamp extends from toe to heel with a seam at the heel only. Vamping consists in stitching the vamp to the quarters of the top. While some vamping may be done in the top stitching department, the process itself is an important one, and is a separate section in a factory. Vamps are first centered by being folded and marked in the center of the throat. Then the vamp is stitched to the quarters, each style of shoe calling for its special process. Usually leather parts only are sewed, the lining being held back. ^ Vamping is the most painstaking work of the stitching room and the best paying. Judgment and carefulness are absolutely essential to the operator. Three-fourths of the vampers are men. Hand strength is necessary in the heavier kinds of vamping, to pull and hold parts in place while they are being stitched, and to guide the work through the machine. Positions in the Vamping Department. The few positions of the vamping department are, the Superintendent, foreman, man instructor, inspector, vampers, floor girls, cripple girls, and checker. The Toe Closing Department. The toe closing department is the final division of stitching. The 176 The Shoe Industry toes of all linings are made in two pieces. When the toe closing department is reached tops and linings have been stitched together and vamps have been sewed to the tops. In the toe closing depart- ment the leather vamp is held back and the two parts of the toe lining, one being laid flat upon the other so as to avoid a thick seam, are double stitched. This is a quick and easy operation. Several other processes best done at this stage of shoemaking are performed in this department. In button shoes the side of the top which is to bear the buttons is marked for the buttons through the holes of the other side, by hand. Then the buttons are sewed on by a machine operator. Then comes the process of barring, or inserting a few stitches on a machine just below the buttons and above the vamp. Button Oxfords are fully buttoned, high button shoes only part way, in preparation for lasting. Laced shoes are laced by hand or on a machine. Lots are made ready by tags and numbers for the lasters. Positions in the Toe Closing Department. The positions in this division are, the Superintendent, forewoman, inspector, toe closers, markers for but- tons, button sewers, operators of barring machines, girls for buttoning and lacing shoes, floor girls, cripple girls, and packers who sort cases of lots of shoes for lasting. Operating Stitching Machines. The stitching department deserves special mention on account The Stitching Department 177 of its magnitude, intricate processes, and peculiar machines. nj Machine operators in the stitching room generally learn on inside work, as linings, or by work upon cheaper leather parts, or by low grade work. In cer- tain seasons of the year there is a transfer of operators from department to department, according to need. Some operators know how to run a number of ma- chines, frequently being taught to run a second one as if just entering the factory. The difficulty of handling a power sewing machine, as of a power machine in general, is to know when to start and when to stop the machine. On all machines the start is made by pressing the toe, and the stop by pressing the heel. Sometimes a factory has a special room where not only the processes of stitching take place but all other processes as well, for the making of special "hurry orders" of shoes, sj Some automatic machines produce in operators, especially in the case of girls, the particular move- ment of the machine so that the operator responds to the motion, swinging or jumping the entire body or exhibiting a nervous, spasmodic action. 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This department is called also the bottoming department and the "gang" room, the last name arising from the earlier custom of work in this department under the gang system. Here the uppers of shoes, prepared in the cutting room and stitching room, and the soles, fitted in the sole leather room, are brought together, lasted, and made into shoes ready for finishing. This depart- ment falls into natural divisions as follows: 1. The Lasting Department. 2. The Welt Bottoming Department. 3. The McKay Bottoming Department. 4. The Heeling Department. 5. The Turn Shoe Department. 6. The Standard Screw, Nailed, or Pegged De- partment. These divisions are not clearly drawn and through them all runs the large general method of bottoming, modified only by the variations necessary for attach- ing uppers to the bottoms of certain styles and kinds of shoes, as has been already explained at length in Chapter VIII upon "Methods in Shoe Manu- facture." There are many processes in the making 201 The Shoe Industry room, about fifty, for instance, following through any one method, and many more made necessary by the multiplication of methods. The Lasting Department. There are two methods of lasting, by hand and by machinery. The first, like most other processes in shoemaking, is giving way rapidly to the machine method. Adjusting the upper of the shoe to the last is the beginning of the work done in the bottoming depart- ment. The box toe is put in its proper place between the lining and the upper, and the counter in its place at the heel, between the lining and the upper. Then the upper is drawn over the last upon which has already been tacked the insole, which conforms exactly to the shape of the last, and is tacked to hold it in place. The Pulling Over Machine. As the parts of the shoe have been cut to conform to the shape of the last they must be accurately attached upon it. The pulling over machine has pincers which act exactly like the human fingers. These pincers grasp the leather at various points around the toe and draw it closely against the wood of the last upon the inner sole. By an adjustment of levers all parts of the upper are drawn in evenly and tacked ^securely in place. Toe and Heel Wiping. The toe and heel are the most difficult parts to last properly. These are drawn in by a series of wipers upon the lasting machine, so evenly that no wrinkles are left, and Operating the Rex Pulling Over Machine 203 The Making Department 205 held in place by a strip of tape, fine wire, or by tacks. Tacks except at the heel, where they are clinched on the inside, are driven only part way in so that they may later be withdrawn to leave the inside of the shoe perfectly smooth, the distinctive feature of the welt method. > The Upper Trimming Machine. The surplus upper leather drawn over the bottom at the toe and heel and sometimes at the sides of the shoe, is re- moved upon the upper trimming machine in which a knife cuts the extra parts away very smoothly and evenly, while at the same time a small hammer pounds the leather smooth along the sides and toe of the shoe. The shoe then passes to another machine by which the leather and counter around the heel are beaten into conformity with the last, making the entire bottom ready for the welt bottoming processes. Positions in the Lasting Department. The chief positions in this department are, the Superintendent, foreman, .operators of the pulling over machine, the lasting machine, and the trimming and pounding machines. The Welt Bottoming Department. The welt method of bottoming is coming increasingly into use because of producing a smooth inside bottom of the shoe, and because of the ease with which a welt shoe can be repaired after being worn. After the lasting operations the shoe is ready to receive the outsole. *13 206 The Shoe Industry Welting. First the welt which is distinctive of this method of shoemaking is attached. The welt is a narrow strip of leather so prepared that it may be sewed first to the lip of the inner sole and to the upper leather and later to the outer sole, no stitching passing entirely through the bottom of the shoe as in the McKay method. The welt extends in front of the heel entirely around the shoe. This process was a very difficult one in the days of hand shoe- making, but as performed upon a machine it becomes simple and rapid. It is claimed, indeed, that this particular machine process has been the leading factor in the great development of shoe manu- facturing in recent times. After this process the surplus parts of the lip, upper, and welt are trimmed off by the inseam trimming machine. s Welt Beating. The next process is welt beating upon a machine in which a small hammer with rapid strokes beats the welt down evenly at the side of the shoe. The insole and the welt are now coated over with rubber cement. At the same time the outsole receives a coating of cement. 1 Sole Laying. When this has dried slightly the process of sole laying takes place. The sole is put in place and pressed firmly upon the shoe and welt in the sole laying machine, remaining in the machine a sufficient length of time for the cement to set firmly. O Rough Rounding. Next comes the trimming of the sole and welt so that they will extend a uniform distance from the upper leather. This process is Operating the U. S. M. Co. Lasting Machine 207 The Making Department 209 called rough rounding and is one of the most im- portant, exacting, and arduous processes found in the entire factory. A machine gauges the distance at which the cutting shall be done from the last, cutting usually wider on the outside of the shoe than on the inside and reducing the width of the shank. In any lot of shoes, large or small, passing through the hands of the rough rounder there must be tne same variation of margin according to size and design. The rough rounding machine cuts also a little slit or channel along the edge in the bottom of the sole. This channel was formerly cut by hand. Its purpose is to allow a covering for the stitching that follows. "H Heel Seat Nailing. The process of rough round- ing deals simply with that part of the shoe in front of the heel to which the welt has been sewed. The heel portion of the outsole is next fastened by nailing securely through to the inner sole. The surplus leather around the heel is now trimmed off on the heel seat rounding machine, which cuts a channel also. This channel is opened evenly to provide for stitching. Sole Sewing. The outsole is now stitched to the welt entirely around the shoe upon the outsole lockstitch machine, a process very similar to welt sewing. This stitching, however, is finer and very durable. It shows on the upper side of the welt around the finished shoe. 210 The Shoe Industry Channel Laying. The lip of the channel is now cemented upon a machine, partly dried, and is rolled smoothly and evenly back into place upon the channel laying machine, completely covering the stitches which would otherwise show on the bottom of the shoe. Leveling. The shoe is passed beneath a vibrating roller under heavy pressure in the automatic sole leveling machine. The roller passes completely up and down each side of the shoe, canting first to the right and then to the left and removing every unevenness on the bottom. Welt Finishing. The edge of the fore part of the shoe was left in a slightly rough condition after the process of rough rounding. This roughness is now smoothed away upon the trimming machine, which has a set of rapidly revolving cutters. The edge and welt of the shoe receive a coat of blacking, and the stitches showing on the upper side of the welt are separated upon a machine so as to present an even appearance. The indentations thus made are burnished upon a machine. The edge of the shoe is burnished upon the edge setting machine by means of two rapidly vibrating hot irons. The surface of the top lift of the heel is leveled upon the top lift sanding machine, and the breast is scoured on a rapidly revolving disk. Other Finishing Processes. From this point on there are various processes of finishing the heel and the bottom of the shoe, which may be performed in Operating the Goodyear Welt Sewing Machine 211 The Making Department 213 the bottoming department or in a separate finishing department. Some of these, such as tip repair- ing, are quite separate from the work of the bottoming department. The more important of the finishing processes may be presented here. The heel and the edges of the shoe are blacked or covered with the dressing suitable to the leather used on shoes other than black, and finished on burnishing machines. The bottom of the shoe is buffed upon revolving rollers covered with sand- paper, to remove the marks of handling in various processes. It is then buffed to a finer degree on the Naumkeag buffing machine upon a pad of rubber covered with fine emery paper, revolving still more rapidly than the first buffing machine. The bottom of the shoe is now "hard finished" by receiving coats of stain or other material, and by polishing. In some cases the bottoms are blacked in whole or in part, and some receive a dull finish on the forepart, while the whole is thoroughly polished upon re- volving brushes. Positions in the Welt Bottoming Department. The more usual positions in the welt bottoming department are as follows: 1. The Superintendent. 2. Foreman. 3. Assistant Foreman. 4. Tack Pullers. 5. Welters. 6. Inseam Trimmers. 214 The Shoe Industry 7. Welt Scarf ers. 8. Welt Beaters. 9. Shank Nailers. 10. Bottom Fillers. 11. Welt Cementers. 12. Sole Cementers. 13. Sole Layers. 14. Heel Seat Nailers. 15. Rough Rounders. 16. Channel Openers. 17. Goodyear Stitchers. 18. Channel Cementers. 19. Channel Layers. 20. Wheelers. 21. Randers. 22. Levelers. 23. Heelers. 24. Sluggers. 25. Heel Shavers. 20. Heel Breasters. 27. Edge Trimmers. 28. Heel Scourers. 29. Heel Jointers. 30. Edge Setters. 31. Burnishers. 32. Blackers. 33. Buffers. 34. Hard Finishers. 35. Polishers. 36. Floor Persons. Operating the Goodyear Rough Rounding Machine 215 The Making Department 217 The McKay Bottoming Department. The McKay bottoming department is that division in which the upper is attached to the sole by a machine which sews directly through the outsole, upper leather, and insole. The upper parts come to the McKay room from the lasting room; the outer soles come from the sole leather department, having been kept in humidifiers so as to be moist and ready for use. Processes Connected with the McKay Method. First the toes of the uppers, already upon the lasts, are buffed upon an emery wheel which grinds off the surplus leather and nails, so that the outer sole will lie even upon the shoe. The outer sole is then "layed" in place and nailed or tacked in the toe, shank, and heel upon a machine. The lasts are now pulled or withdrawn from the shoe by hand, and the McKay stitching process is performed upon the McKay machine. This is a very particular and exacting process and is found in most shoe factories at the present time. For comparison between this and other methods the reader is referred again to Chapter VII. The usual processes following the McKay stitch- ing are, Heel seat nailing on a machine, channel lifting or opening and cementing, wetting the bot- tom of the shoe upon a brush revolving in water, channel laying upon a steel roller which by a cor- rugated lip draws the channel in smooth, beating out the bottom on a machine and by hand to make 218 The Shoe Industry it smooth and give it proper lines, drying, and heel attaching. Before relasting McKays and sending them on to finishing, the bottom lining must be inserted, a work generally done by girls. Linings of thin leather or leather substitute, which were dinked out in the upper cutting department, are selected by sizes. The inside of the bottom of the shoe is cemented by a brush, and the linings are inserted by hand and smoothed down by means of a stick. Wooden lasts or "followers" are now inserted upon a machine. Positions in the McKay Bottoming Department. The positions in this department are generally as follows : 1. The Superintendent. 2. Foreman. 3. Buffers. 4. Sole Layers. 5. Last Pullers. 6. McKay Stitchers. 7. Heel Seat Nailers. 8. Channel Lifters. 9. Cementers. 10. Bottom Wetters. 11. Channel Layers. 12. Inside Bottom Cementers. 13. Lining Inserters. 14. Lasters. 15. Floor People. Operating the Goodyear Stitching Machine 219 The Making Department 221 The Heeling Department. The heel is now at- tached to the shoe upon the heeling machine. The shoe is placed upon a jack in the machine and an arm bearing the nails is swung automatically over the heel, driving the nails through the heel, outsole, upper leather, and insole, where they are clinched upon the inside. Blind Nailing. The heads are left extending far enough outside the heel to receive the top lift. This is made from the best of leather, and is sub- jected to great pressure to harden it. Previously prepared, and with a coating of glue, it is now placed in position, with the shoe still in the machine, and driven down over the protruding nails. This is the process of "blind nailing." Slugging. Short nails, or "slugs," of brass or other metal are now driven into the top lift by the slugging machine, to increase the wearing qualities of the heel. Heel Trimming. The top lift is made in the exact size of the finished heel, and is a guide for the operator of the trimming machine, which by means of a rapidly revolving knife cuts away all the sur- plus leather on the outside. The breast or front is trimmed evenly across on the "heel-breasting" machine. The outside of the heel is scoured or smoothed by rolls covered with sandpaper, on the heel scouring machine. Heel trimming, like the rough rounding of the sole, is an exacting process, calling for strength and 222 The Shoe Industry skill. It sometimes produces in the operator what is called "broken wrist," or a weak wrist, as the shoe, held firmly in both hands against the knife of the machine, must be turned nearly through an entire circle, both turning and twisting the wrist joints. When the effect upon the operator be- comes marked he usually changes to some other process. Positions in the Heeling Department. The chief positions in this small department are, the Superintendent, the foreman, and the operators of the nailing, slugging, and trimming ma- chines. The Turned Shoe Department. The turned shoe or slipper is made with an ordinary upper, usually of light weight, and with a single sole of flexible quality. Soles are prepared or fitted in this depart- ment one day in advance of their use. The main processes in the preparation of the soles are the following : The soles are channeled and placed in humidi- fiers over night. In the morning the shank is trimmed out, the heel scarfed or trimmed off, and the sole is moulded into shape. Lasting the Turned Shoe. In lasting the sole is placed upon the last upside down, and the upper is drawn over the last, inside out. The counter is put in wrongside out. All parts are tacked care- fully in place. The sewing of the upper to the sole now takes Operating the Sole Leveling Machine 223 The Making Department 225 place upon a special turn shoe machine. Tacks are withdrawn and the selvage trimmed off, and a small steel shank is sewed in the space between the heel and the ball of the front. The last is then withdrawn and the shoe is turned by hand over the toe upon an iron support. The last is then put back in the shoe and the lining smoothed out around the heel part, which is then leveled and prepared for the heel which is to be added, either of leather, leather substitute, or of wood. This is glued, clamped on firmly and left to dry, and finished later. Usually three nails are inserted to hold it perma- nently. A lining or heel piece is inserted for smooth- ness. Positions in the Turned Shoe Department. The usual positions in this department are as follows: 1. The Superintendent. 2. Foreman. 3. Inspector. 4. Stock Fitter. 5. Laster. 6. Stitcher. 7. Tack Puller. 8. Trimmer. 9. Shank Soler. 10. Second Laster. 11. Heel Laster. 12. Leveler. 13. Finisher. 14. Heeler. 226 The Shoe Industry 15. Cover Sewer, who sews a cover over white shoes to keep them clean while passing through the various processes of the de- partment. 16. Floor Boys. The Standard Screw, Pegged, and Nailed Depart- ments. Various kinds of heavy working shoes are manufactured by the standard screw method, by pegging, or by nailing the outsole and insole to- gether, thus fastening the bottom of the shoe to the upper. By the first method a wire with screw thread upon it is driven through the bottom and automatically cut off by the machine, piece after piece, rapidly around the bottom. This is practi- cally a wire sewing in place of McKay stitching. The pegged shoe is made in about the same manner, a machine inserting wooden pegs instead of the sections of wire. The use of pegs was once very general, but is now gradually giving way to other methods. Nails when used are generally clinched on the inside. These three methods give strong and firm but inflexible and heavy bottoms to foot- wear. The other processes connected with these special kinds of footwear are similar to the general processes of welt and McKay manufacture. Finishing does not, however, call for so high a degree of per- fection. Aside from the operators of the special machines used for inserting the wire screws, pegs, and nails, Operating the Heeling Machine 227 The Making Department 229 the positions in general are the same as in the welt and McKay departments. Work in the Making Department. In the early days of American shoe factories the bottoming of shoes was quite generally let out to men on con- tract, as has been indicated earlier in this volume. Such contract work was performed by gangs of men who went from factory to factory. And we find the gang* system in use to a degree in factories at the present time. It is easier, for instance, for several men to work together upon a process or group of processes involving operations that must be done together in a very brief space of time, working at one bench or upon a complicated machine. This department involves the heaviest and most exacting processes of shoe manufacture, and the major processes are regularly performed by men, who in the main must be strong and active. Boys, girls, and women assist in the minor processes and in the handling of materials. In the bottoming or making room the machines are always ranged along the sides of the room, next to the windows, so that there may be good light for the many intricate operations necessary. Shoes in process of making are arranged upon racks along the inner spaces of the room. 1 (S ? 60 (8 h 4) c * . 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In a large shoe factory the magnitude of manufacture calls for separate departments of considerable size for the finishing and treeing of the shoe, and for the packing and shipping of the completed product. There will be found in especially large establishments, also, various other departments, or even small factories, manu- facturing particular supplies or doing particular work. Such are departments or factories for the manufacture of leather parts of shoes, for the prep- aration of accessory materials, and for the provision for work that would otherwise have to be given to outside companies or individuals. We have already spoken of the heel, toe box, and counter depart- ments and factories. The second division is seen in cases where the great shoe manufacturing cor- poration conducts its own sawmill and factories for the making of wood shipping cases and paper cartons in which shoes are sent out to the trade. An example of the third division is the printing de- partment or shop now being added to many factories because of the great cost of printing the many busi- ness forms necessary for office and factory use, and 247 248 The Shoe Industry because of the continual increase in the output of advertising material. All such factories, departments, and shops provide numerous opportunites for employment according to the trades involved, but with little interchange of labor between them and the shoe factories except where the manufacture of shoe parts is involved. Then, of course, it is a matter of employment in a subdivision of the shoe industry. Finishing. It has already been said that in a large shoe manufacturing establishment the finishing processes detailed in the preceding chapter would constitute a separate department. In a small factory, however, the only part of the finishing that would be distinctly separate from other operations is tip repairing. The Tip Repairing Department. In the passage of the shoe through the factory we have seen the vamp, the linings, the toe box, and the tip brought together in the completed toe of the shoe. Some- times, also, oiled paper is added as a protection against injury in the handling of the shoe. All of these parts give a thickness of about one-half inch to the toe of the ordinary shoe. In lasting so many thicknesses it is especially hard to draw the tip evenly over the last without injuring the leather of the tip. This danger is considerably increased by the use of patent leather, which is easily broken or scarred, for tips. The use of patent leather is so general that tip repairing is a problem of consider- Finishing, Treeing, Packing, Shipping 249 able magnitude in all factories. In the general handling to which a shoe is subjected in passing through the various departments of the factory, tips are likely to be scratched and broken. In the case of ordinary leather scratches, scars, or other marks can be quite easily disposed of by rubbing down, by hand or upon machine brushes. But patent leather, having a varnished surface, is re- paired with greater difficulty. If the injury is con- siderable the old enamel or varnished surface is sandpapered entirely off, and a new coat of varnish is applied by hand. This is allowed to dry and is polished, giving usually an entirely fresh and perfect surface. This work is mainly a hand process, usually done by women, though recently a tip repairing machine has been introduced in some factories. Tip repairing calls for careful observation, pains- taking application to a process often requiring con- siderable time upon a single shoe, deftness of touch, and good judgment. The Treeing Department. Treeing is the method of making the shoe conform perfectly to the shape of the last, and of restoring the finish belonging to the leather, after its passing through many hands. The last is removed in this department, or before reaching this department, to allow for the processes of treeing. The shoe is first examined for tacks or other imperfections inside. Bottom linings or heel pads are put in by girls, when this has not been done *15 250 The Shoe Industry in the making room. The shoe is then placed upon the tree arm, there being several arms revolving upon a machine, so that one shoe may be worked upon while others are drying. The department is sometimes called the treeing and dressing room. Nearly every kind of leather or shoe material requires a distinct method of handling and of dressing or finishing. Dirt or other materials that have ad- hered to the surface of the shoe in making are removed by a brush which is adapted to the surface of the leather, or by washing with different cleaners. Then an oil lubricator or dressing is applied to fill the pores of the leather. The covers of fabric shoes and of shoes made of delicate shades of leather are removed by hand, cutting with a knife closely around the sole so that no trace of the cover remains and no injury results to the shoe. The operator may have to restain some leathers as well as to fill the pores with oil, so as to bring out the richest effect of the surface. There are many special processes in various factories, according to particular styles of shoe and kinds of finish used. Embossing. Then on the bottom of the shoe or upon the lining at the top a trade-mark or the name of the maker of the shoe is embossed or stamped. Ironing. When the surface of the upper has been fully restored the shoe is ironed upon the tree to give it perfect and permanent form. Rubbing over with the warm or hot iron is a very important and careful process, and is done regularly by men. Finishing, Treeing, Packing, Shipping 251 Inspecting. Slight repairs not made before the processes of treeing are made after it, and the shoe is inspected before passing out of the department. Shoes intended for samples or display in store win- dows have a wooden form placed in them, rather than a last, to keep them in shape. The "treeing man" should be familiar with the nature and tanning of leather, and with the processes of shoe making, so that he may correct defects in leather or poor workmanship in the earlier processes of the factory. Positions in the Treeing Department. The posi- tions usually found in treeing and dressing are the following : 1. The Superintendent. 2. Foreman. 3. Instructor. 4. Inspectors. 5. Embossers. 6. Toe Crease Stampers. 7. Lacers. 8. Repairers. 9. Treeing Men. 10. Floor Boy. 11. Cripple Boy. The Packing Department. The great advance in shoe manufacture during the last half century is seen not only by studying machinery and processes, but by observing the excellent condition in which boots and shoes are sent out to the trade. Before 252 The Shoe Industry the useof speciarcartons,whiclris distinctive of^the present day, shoes were tied in bundles or packed loose in barrels and boxes, often reaching the customers in wrinkled and battered condition. Now a single pair, except in the case of heavy and cheap J grades, is packed in a pasteboard box or carton. For packing, shoes are first brushed upon the heels and bottoms, inspected, and placed out on tables in pairs by sizes. The labels on the ends of the car- tons are stamped in a machine with style, stock number, size, width, kind of leather, or other dis- tinguishing term. Then the shoes are wrapped in tissue paper and placed carefully in cartons, which are packed securely in wooden or fibre-board cases, usually with thirty-six pairs to a case, ready for shipment. Positions in the Packing Room. The work of this room is done mainly by girls and women, and the few positions are, the Superintendent, foreman, brushers, inspectors, carton stampers, packers, and floor girl. The Shipping Department. From the packing room shoes are sent to the shipping department where they are placed in "assembling aisles" in alphabetical arrangement, according to the names of customers orders and styles. Copies of original orders as received by salesmen are kept in the ship- ping department, and shoes are checked off upon one set as they come from the packing room, another Finishing, Treeing, Packing, Shipping 253 set of orders being used for shipping. The cases of shoes are sent out to the freight offices accompanied by bills of lading as the time for filling each order approaches, and shipment is made so that the goods will reach each customer on a specified day. Foreign shipments require a great amount of detail, since they must have a different form for bills jof lading and different weights and measures. Large shipments go out by freight, small ones by express, and by parcel post. After the bills of lading which are to go with ship- ments are made out, special tags bearing full par- ticulars about each shipment are sent to the book- keeping department so that the proper charges may be entered in that department. Positions in the Shipping Department. The po- sitions of the shipping department are as follows: 1. The Superintendent. 2. Foreman. 3. Checkers. 4. Assemblers. 5. Men for casing up, sealing, nailing, and stack- ing goods. 6. Truck Boys. 7. Shippers. 8. Clerks and Assistants. .5 >» u. 4 » Id H < UJ Q >'S -a * c &•* 5 o 2 75 ll 09 09 lapnn pnB^s ^g lapnn pnB f g J9AQ fS ^g igptm pus jg ^g japan Cir-iOOioococoT-ico 001>i-ICO-ffiO>05ffiO)0>00> a> . a : a • e+H T3 13 d cc 09 02 02 02 d 02 02 02 ri d •^ cd += -e +2 -e 03 15 -U -R -*s +3 d d d d d d CD a> CD CD o> CD CD CD a a a a of d a a a e 5a -^ ,a Si ,3 si fa^ ,d .a j Si S-Ji a 9^ a 2-° Si JO -D Si 2-^ .c ^2 jQ s> .53 a S3 e3 o3 a .a * 03 03 o3 crt -t= -*j += -u -4-i s$ 03 03 0> 03 $ tj 02 o ® 0> CD 02 CD 02 0> CO co o o m<>0 T-l CO CM or £■* co 1> t» 00 H 1-4 T-< T— 1 H (254) H Z Id u Q O z 2 en .r fc. cp 0) * 3 3 £&-2,§ o h Z id s H OS < cu Id Q J -J CO Id id >- O J Cm Id OS td s H O ( 256) MHONOH O ■<* 05 OJ Oi-< iCOOMOJH (NNHIMHN ■*WO^o H t>~,-re>rcr»o io i-t t> i-t i> o NH ,-1 CO ;§§ZZOO CO COOC* 00 -tf OCO--HOOOO t^CO lOCO 050 CD !"H 00 ■"# O »-H J3 is ft p a -a to i> o ® a [fa 'h (257) Chapter XIII EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS AND SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL (259) CHAPTER XIII Employment Conditions and Supplementary Material The Sex Division of Employees. In a shoe factory making both men's and women's shoes of the ordinary kinds, substantially the following per- centages of labor are found: ^VEale employees, sixty-nine per cent. -Female employees, thirty-one per cent. Boys under eighteen years, one-seventh or fourteen per cent, of male employees. Girls under eighteen years, one-twenty-fifth or four per cent, of female employees. These percentages may be given as fairly exact for the average shoe factory and for the boot and shoe industry as a whole. In factories making mostly heavy shoes or men's wear, however, the proportion of male employees runs somewhat higher than the sixty-nine per cent, and that of female employees lower than the thirty-one per cent. On the other hand, in factories making women's, children's, and infants' footwear, there will be found some increase in the percentage of female employment with a corresponding decrease in the male. (261) 262 The Shoe Industry In studying the departments of shoe manufacture we have seen that the more difficult processes and the operation of heavy machines are given regularly to male employees. This is especially true in the cutting department, in some divisions of the stitch- ing department, in the sole leather department, in the gang room, and in treeing. On the other hand, the lighter processes and the simpler machines are regularly given to girls and women, especially in stitching, finishing, dressing, and packing. Further statistical information upon employment in the shoe industry, in comparison with other leading industries, is given in Table XX on page 290. \i The Divisions of Employees Among Departments. To enable a factory to work as a whole with all operatives in all manufacturing departments equally busy each day, the division of employees among departments must have about the percentages following : In the cutting room, twelve per cent, of all operatives. In the stitching room, twenty-seven per cent. In the sole leather room, twelve per cent. In the gang room, twenty-three per cent. In finishing, eight per cent. In treeing and dressing, ten per cent. Small numbers of employees, making perhaps seven or eight per cent., are found in minor depart- ments of the factory. At the same time the business offices employ from Employment Conditions 263 fifteen to twenty per cent, of the total number of people connected with the industry. ^ Shoe Manufacture Highly Specialized. Shoe manufacture has become more and more highly specialized in recent years. Each factory can pro- duce a larger output with smaller costs when making only a single or a few kinds of footwear. The large American market has greatly aided in this special- ization; an increased trade abroad, in about ninety different countries at the present time, makes it still more profitable for the American shoemaker to devote his plant to a single line of product in the assurance that he will find a steady market. We find, then, factories, for example, making men's heavy work shoes, leg boots, walking shoes, or shoes for dress wear; and other factories making foot- wear for women, children, and infants, exclusively. At the same time we find the long list of factories manufacturing special parts and findings. Seasons. One of the chief objections to entering into shoe manufacture is the fact that it is a sea- sonal employment. The busiest seasons are the fall and winter; the least busy season is the summer, with an average idle period of from three to eight weeks, coming usually in or around the month of July. As has been said earlier, the progressive shoe manufacturers are making great efforts to obtain orders far enough in advance, and to study trade conditions, so that a year's steady employment may be provided for the factory. Large concerns capa- 264 The Shoe Industry ble of handling extensive contracts may do this more easily; the small concern with a limited trade must adjust its output to its volume of trade and suffer usually from an idle season. In a few rare cases factories having large contracts or accumulations of orders make a twenty-four hour day, with three full shifts of employees work- ing in eight-hour periods. Shoemaking a Trade. Shoemaking is a trade, with many specialized divisions. Some of these divisions, such as the simpler operations in the various rooms, are distinctly unskilled trades; others, like cutting, welting, and trimming edges, are highly skilled trades. The first kind calls for a very brief period of learning, sometimes a few days only; the other division includes processes requiring in many cases, several years for learning. The operator may learn several related processes, but in the large factory he remains essentially a worker or an expert in one. Entering Upon Work in a Shoe Factory. In a small shoe establishment, and quite regularly in a country town, inexperienced persons may be taken in to learn most processes. Persons thus learning branches of shoe manufacture quite often enter the large factories as experienced operators. In the large factories, especially in the great shoe centers, inex- perienced persons are taken in only for the minor processes, and more often in the stitching than in other departments. There is quite a steady move- Employment Conditions 265 ment of the more highly skilled shoe operatives from factory to factory, and from one shoe center to another. Promotion. The operator who can perform several processes in shoemaking is usually kept upon the process in which his work is most needed at any time. Frequently a worker showing a special aptitude for an advance process is put forward to learn it, and given permanent promotion if he be- comes expert in it. There is not, however, such a gradation of operations in the departments of the shoe factory as to offer promotion regularly or to the many. The most conspicuous promotion is that of a workman who comes to understand the work of a room fully, with ability to direct others, to the position of assistant foreman or foreman. Securing Skilled Labor. "The desirability of securing employees that are skilled in their respec- tive branches of work is appreciated in every in- dustry, and in none more so perhaps than in the shoe industry. The truth of this assertion is evidenced by the methods of securing employees in different shoe manufacturing centers. "In some of these centers shoe manufacturers co- operate through their local association in keeping records as to the workmanship and character of their employees which have some bearing upon future employment. In other places each factory may have a bulletin board on which it makes known the classes of employees that are desired, but in *16 266 The Shoe Industry both cases the kind of an operator that is wanted is specified, and this in itself is an indication of the desire of the concern to engage a skilled employee for that particular operation. "We are sometimes told by thoughtless persons that the amazing improvement in shoe machinery that has been witnessed in the last fifty years has practically eliminated the skill of the shoe operative. It would perhaps be more proper to say that the larger use of vastly improved machinery, subdividing the labor of shoemaking as it has, has simplified shoe- making to the extent that it is much easier to manu- facture skilled employees in the shoe factory of today than it was in the shoe factory of fifty years ago, when it was necessary to teach the shoe operative much more of the shoemaking art than he needs to know at the present time."* Schools and Courses for Shoemaking. In several large shoe centers private schools for shoe workers have been established. The work upon which operators learn usually consists of low grade shoes made by the school for factories, on a contract basis, or upon shoes manufactured from materials of second quality, bought at a low price from supply factories or from shoe factories. Persons wishing to learn a process of shoemaking are taken on rather as helpers at first in that process, giving their time and paying a fixed tuition, such as thirty or sixty or eighty dollars, without special * Superintendent and Foreman, Boston, August 26, 1914. Employment Conditions 267 regard to the time required for learning. The time spent in learning, however, may run from one to seven or eight months. Operators run the same machines, though sometimes second hand, as are used in the shoe factory, and generally become capable of entering factories as fairly efficient workers. A few towns and cities, in co-operation with shoe and leather manufactures, have established courses in shoe and leather subjects in the public school system. These courses, however, are mainly at- tended by persons already working in factories and leather houses and seeking additional training to increase their efficiency and earning capacity. The instructors are superintendents and experts in the trade who have been given special training for teaching. The establishment of such courses marks a great advance in the shoe and leather industries. Superintendents and foremen sometimes conduct classes at the factory for employees under them. Quotation from a Report Upon Industrial Educa- tion in Shoe Manufacture. The report of the Com- mittee on Industrial Education of the National Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Association, at the annual convention of the association in New York on January 13, 1915, contains the following: "The subject of industrial education in the shoe manufacturing industry, which was referred to the undersigned Committee, is in our opinion 268 The Shoe Industry a matter of great importance to our trade — so important indeed that, disturbed by the prevail- ing business conditions, in common with the other manufacturers in our country, we have been unable to give to it the careful investigation that it deserves. This report, therefore, may be considered as merely one of progress, designed to lead to a broader investigation of the subject later. "That there is need of higher efficiency, based on a broader knowledge of, and a greater en- thusiasm for, the work in which they are engaged on the part of the employees in our American shoe factories, and especially the young begin- ners in the industry, is sufficiently obvious to re- quire no argument. "This same need has been recognized in many other manufacturing industries, not only in this country, but in many foreign countries, and in the case of several of the latter notable progress has been made during the last ten or fifteen years. "We therefore find that not only is industrial education of various grades being generally carried out in the older countries, like England, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzer- land, and Denmark, but that even the great Orient countries, just now awakening from their centuries of conservatism, and incidentally opening up encouraging vistas of future trade opportunities for our United States manufact- urers — China, Japan, and India — are also ser- iously taking up this question of higher efficiency in industry. Canada, one of the most progress- ive of all the world's countries, has established a National Commission for the investigation of Employment Conditions 269 this question, and its report will be awaited with much interest by the friends of modern educa- tion. "The more active campaign along this line in the United States has extended over the last ten years, and already has brought forth some valu- able results. At the present time the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Edu- cation is making an exhaustive national survey of* the field, somewhat similar to that under- taken by Canada; and naturally the conclusions that may be reached by this organization will have a far-reaching influence on the future of industrial education. "In so far as our American shoe industry is concerned we find that some excellent prelim- inary work already has been accomplished by one of our leading organizations, the New England Shoe and Leather Association. "This Association had the merits of the Ger- man and English system of continuation, or part-time, industrial instruction brought to its attention by representatives of the Boston School Committee, and arranged to co-operate with that Committee in the establishment in 1910 of what we understand was the first shoe and leather continuation school in the United States. "The first class brought together numbered thirty-nine pupils, representing twenty-nine dif- ferent concerns in various branches of the allied shoe and leather trade, mainly boys and young men between the ages of fifteen and twenty, employed in offices, warehouses, and manufac- turing departments, etc., of the shoe factories, 270 The Shoe Industry tanneries, and other establishments. Since that time, there have been graduated from this school more than two hundred pupils, each of whom has received an official certificate of his tech- nical ability, and in this way there has been laid a splendid foundation for the larger scheme of industrial education that is now being consid- ered by the Association. "The working method of this Boston Shoe and Leather Continuation School Class, briefly, is the holding of a series of two-hour sessions on two afternoons a week, covering a period of twelve weeks. "The School Committee provides the class- room and the instructor, who, of course, has specialized in this particular branch of in- dustry; and the Association and the trade it represents co-operates by furnishing competent lecturers, and other experts, who from time to time give the pupils formal or informal talks on the subjects in which they are experts. "Incidentally various trips of inspection are made to nearby shoe factories, tanneries, and other plants, the result being that the boys not only acquire a broad idea of the fundamentals of tanning and shoemaking, together with its rami- fications of foreign-trade extension, advertising, and general efficiency, but, what perhaps is as important as anything, they graduate with an interest and enthusiasm for their chosen voca- tion that will mean more than half the battle for them in their future life. "This lack of real interest on the part of so many young beginners in our industry, which springs largely from the existing narrow vision Employment Conditions 271 of their work that lies before them, in any one department of it, is one of the greatest handi- caps to both the youths and to the manufacturer who employs them; and if the continuation school did nothing more than inspire them with a real interest in what they are doing day by day for a livelihood, it would well repay all that it costs. "There is no charge for tuition in the Boston Shoe and Leather Continuation School, except that non-resident pupils are charged a nominal fee, so that the only expense entailed is the four hours or so per week of the pupils' time that the employer donates to the good cause. "In conclusion your Committee would strongly recommend: "First. — The establishment of shoe and leather continuation schools, similar to the Boston School, in every shoe manufacturing city and town in the United States that is in a position to support one, in this way possibly laying a foundation for a broader scheme of industrial education in the trade. "Second. — That the National Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Association establish a Standing Committee on Industrial Education to make a careful survey of the question and report to each annual meeting; and "Third. — That the Association co-operate in every feasible way with the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education." The Shoe Superintendent. The superintendent of a shoe factory or of a department or room must be first of all a manager. He need not necessarily have 272 The Shoe Industry exact knowledge of processes, but he must know much of resources, materials, equipment, employees, and of methods of efficiency and improvement in employment conditions. He must be able to work through subordinates and yet keep a firm and help- ful hand on the activities of manufacture. The superintendent usually comes to his position from the business side of the industry. Young men are trained for this work in some factories by a period in office service, of from six months to several years, followed by service in the factory long enough to make them familiar with the general features of manufacture. The superintendent may be a member of the firm or corporation, a stockholder, or simply an employed officer. His salary, as in other great lines of manufacture in present times, may vary from some hundreds of dollars in a small factory or department to many thousands of dollars in the great corpor- ation. The Shoe Foreman. The shoe foreman, on the other hand, rises from the bench or is promoted from the machine. He must have intimate knowledge of processes and be able to train employees in them; he must be able to select operators for his depart- ment and to make their work efficient; he must be a master of method, of handling men at work, and of maintaining discipline in his room, tactful, firm, friendly with all, yet not forfeiting their obedience and respect. Employment Conditions 273 The position of the foreman is exacting. He stands between the superintendent and the operator and is responsible for the work of his department. He must keep every employee occupied and the work passing through on schedule time. His pay is usually about the same as that of the most expert operators in his room, varying from $15.00 upwards a week, reaching $50.00 or $60.00 in some cases. Forewomen are employed in divisions of the stitching room or in small departments in which the employees are mostly girls or women. The superintendents and foremen of a factory usually hold weekly meetings for the discussion of topics of mutual interest and helpfulness. Assistant superintendents and foremen receive salaries graded below the amounts given, accord- ing to the responsibility and service demanded. There is considerable change of foremen among shoe factories, more, probably, than of other officers or employees. In every shoe journal advertise- ments like the following are constantly appearing: "POSITION WANTED as foreman of sole leather room. Experience on welts, turns, and McKays, and can operate all machines. Also, expert on new economy insole. Best of refer- ences. Address, , care of American Shoe- making." The Quality Man and the Quantity Man. Some factories have, in addition to superintendent and fore- men, a person whose special duty is to examine all 274 The Shoe Industry work being done in a department for its quality of workmanship and another person who observes all work for its quantity, so that each room is held up to the standard set by the factory both in grade and volume of product. These persons are practically assistants to the foremen, yet responsible to the factory management only. With them, the fore- man can give his time more fully to training and supervising employees. On the other hand such a multiplication of supervisors, — superintendent, fore- man, and inspectors, — is likely to bring uncertainty as to authority and confusion of oversight. The quality and quantity men have about the same rank and pay as foremen. The Efficiency Engineer. Some large concerns employ a person skilled in efficiency methods. His work in the factory consists in studying methods and processes so that the best results may be ob- tained with the least expenditure of time, with the least wear of machinery, and with the most econ- omical use of materials possible. When his duties deal with the operations of manufacture he is usually called an efficiency engineer. He is a specialist in work belonging more naturally to the foreman, and attended to by the foreman or his assistant in the smaller establishments. The efficiency engineer must have a very accurate knowledge of the nature of machine operations, of the qualities of materials, of the factory schedule, of the mental and physical qualities of the operative, Employment Conditions 275 of the effect of monotony and routine, and of the value of encouragement and incentive for the worker. nJ The Monotony of Shoemaking. Like those of many other kinds of manufacture the machine processes of shoemaking are monotonous. The hand processes are in general of a lighter and less wearing nature, and are not so distinctly characterized by monotony. Operating an automatic machine, how- ever, upon which materials or parts of shoes must be placed and controlled in an unvarying time period, is depressing and wearing for the operator. In a sense he becomes a part of the machine until he may almost seem to have little mental or physical activity aside from it. There are several possible offsets to monotony in shoe manufacture. One is an incentive to speed, which, while in itself a wearing element for the workman, has a speeding up effect upon him in the case of payment by piece. He works faster, and in many cases accomplishes a full day's work in less than a full day's time, thus gaining for him- self some hours of the working day to spend out- doors or at home. It is a common thing to enter the gang room of a shoe factory, for instance, to- wards night and find some machines idle because the operators upon them have performed their work on the lots of shoes passing through the room on that day. A second offset is found in the advantage to the 276 The Shoe Industry operator of learning to run more than one machine, so that at times he may be transferred from one to another. It is a relief and often a pleasure to the mind of the worker to have to handle leathers and other shoe materials of high grade and finish. Another means of lessening monotony lies in the operator's being able to care for his own machine, to understand its parts, or to suggest improvement upon it. This kind of ability, which is much sought after in the shoe factory, often leads to promotion and to work upon more important machines. Quotation Upon Efforts in Some Factories to Lessen Monotony. The following quotation indi- cates the tendency of the present time to ameliorate the effects of monotony: 'Tn some German factories the routine of the day is broken by a recess in the morning and in the afternoon. In a western factory, which makes supplies for the shoe trade, there is a morning and afternoon recess for employees. Lunch is served during the recess. Some of the employees work as waitresses. In a number of shoe factories there are now rest rooms for women. "In some high-class American manufacturing establishments, the grounds about the factories are made attractive. When an employee looks out the window, he sees a cheerful prospect. This breaks the monotony of his task. It is possible that the American shoe factory system Employment Conditions 277 requires too steadfast an application of the worker to his machine. The enthusiasm with which shoemakers demand factory legislation, particularly short working hours, is a sign that this is so. Perhaps shoemakers would be more steady and more efficient if they had ten or fifteen minutes of recess in the morning and in the afternoon. The idea may seem radical, perhaps preposterous; but it's pretty certain that something will be done the next few years to break up the monotony of the task of shoemaking."* Social Service in the Shoe Factory. Some large factories conducted under modern conditions take measures for the occupational and social welfare of their employees. They provide classes for training, in some features, at least, of the work of the factory; separate rooms for rest and recreation, dancing, and social clubs for male and female employees; libraries equipped with books and magazines relating to shoe manufacture, and with general literature; restau- rants conducted on a co-operative basis, or at low rates, so that employees may afford to patronize them; medical attendance and equipment; and some- times elaborate parks and playgrounds. Quotation from a Government Study of Social Service. The best summary of social service, or welfare work, as it has long been called, in the shoe industry, is to be found in the report upon Employers' Welfare Work, published by the * American Shoemaking, Boston, October 18, 1913. 278 The Shoe Industry Bureau of Labor Statistics at Washington in 1913, as follows: "The Shoe Co., has done much to improve working conditions for its 5,000 employees. The huge factory is built in the form of a hollow square, so that all the workrooms are well lighted. On the top floor, where the shoe leather is cut, the roof has saw-tooth skylights to increase the light. The ventilation throughout the building is admirable, and every effort is made to keep down dust. The lavatories are very sanitary and clean. Indi- vidual lockers of perforated iron are placed about in the workrooms near the machines, and are turned over to employees on their making a small deposit — enough to cover the cost of the key. There is a check-room for umbrellas and wet garments. Separate elevators are installed to transport the women employees to the upper floors. The company has a lunch counter for the employees, where food is sold at cost. Em- ployees who bring their lunches eat them in the workrooms. "Apart from good workroom conditions the company conducts recreation work — the name it gives the usual welfare work. The ground around the building has been converted into a noonday-rest park for the employees, with a beautiful, trim, green lawn and flowers. There is besides a roof garden covering over half of the roof space. Part of this is reserved for women and part for men, with separate stair- ways leading to each section. A dance hall for women open at noon and on special oc- Employment Conditions 279 casions in the evening, a pool room and bowling alleys for men, open every evening after work- ing hours until ten o'clock, give the much- needed amusement. The men pay a small fee for the use of the tables and the alleys. A handsomely furnished reading room, with at- tractive ferns and flowers from the company's greenhouse, has been opened to the employees. There is a branch station of the City Public Library here, besides books owned by the com- pany and numerous weekly and monthly periodicals. "A woman physician, constantly in at- tendance, has the medical care of the employees under her supervision. There are rest rooms and an emergency hospital, with a nurse regu- larly employed, in the building. Twice a week an oculist spends the forenoon at the factory and may be consulted free by the employees. He fits them with glasses at very reduced prices. "The company, with the aid of employees' dues, maintains the Relief Fund Department. Out of this fund, sick, accident, and death benefits are paid. There is at present over $5,000 in the treasury. The dues are ten cents each week for adults and five cents for employees under twenty years of age, and they are de- ducted from wages by the paymaster's de- partment. In case of sickness or accident the members receive $7 and $3.50 a week. No member can draw benefits longer than seven weeks in one year. Benefits do not become due until the member has been incapacitated one week, except in case of severe injury. At death $100 or $50 is paid the beneficiaries of 280 The Shoe Industry the deceased, according to the amount of the weekly dues. A medical examiner is employed to report upon the condition of disabled members and to decide upon the members' claims for bene- fits. The administration of the relief fund is entirely in the hands of the company, and all the receipts of the fund are held by the com- pany in trust for the relief department." General Sanitary Conditions Observed in Boot and Shoe Factories.* The general sanitary con- ditions, dangers, and injurious processes in shoe factories have been clearly presented in the report of the Massachusetts State Board of Health for 1912, upon the Hygiene of the Boot and Shoe In- dustry in Massachusetts. As this State has always been the center of the industry in this country, and as its factories, some six hundred in number, are typical of the American shoe factories, the facts presented in this report may be considered fairly typical of the industry at the present time. The following is taken from the report: "The construction, location and interior con- ditions of the shoe factories of Massachusetts vary so widely, even in the same community, that it is difficult to formulate general state- ments which would be applicable to all of them. Not a few of these factories are located in small country towns and are operated by employees descended from generations of shoemakers. * Hygiene of the Boot and Shoe Industry in Massachusetts State Board of Health, 1912. Employment Conditions 281 These factories are generally isolated and, be- cause of the absence of neighboring structures, quite well lighted. On the other hand, in the cities, where all available space is utilized, the buildings are at times crowded together, im- pairing the lighting conditions of the workrooms. It should be remembered, however, that, unlike the textile industry, the operatives in shoe factor- ies work at machines or at benches placed along the sides of the rooms near the windows. The only exception to this may be found in the stitching rooms, where the operatives work in all parts of the room. This room, however, was as a rule found well lighted in all estab- lishments visited. "It is to be noted that the modern buildings constructed for the shoe industry have been so placed that neighboring structures cannot shut out natural illumination. This feature of con- struction has proved a valuable asset to those who have constructed these buildings. Note has already been made of the use of electricity as an artificial illuminant. "The laws of Massachusetts require that all factories be kept clean and well ventilated, and these laws are well observed. "The odor of leather is inseparable from the art of making shoes, as is the odor of wool and of cotton in the textile industry. "One of the most vexing problems that has arisen in the inspection of shoe factories has been the maintenance of proper toilet facilities. This question, by no means common to the shoe industry, can only be met through repeated inspections and the education of the manu- 17* 282 The Shoe Industry facturer. It is not that the manufacturer is not willing or does not desire to maintain proper toilet facilities, but he is oftentimes careless and leaves this part of the work to others who fail in their duty. A decided improvement in these conditions has, however, been noted." Conditions in 483 Factories, as to Light, Ven- tilation, and Water-closets: Light: Excellent 30 Good .... 441 Moderately bad Distinctly bad . . 2 . . 10 483 Ventilation : Excellent 7 Good .... 468 Moderately bad Distinctly bad . . 3 . . 5 483 Water-closets : Excellent 6 Good .... 415 Moderately bad Distinctly bad . . . 7 . . 55 483 For further information on health conditions in shoe manufacture, the reader is referred to the re- port from which the preceding quotation has been Employment Conditions 283 made. In that report he will find an exhaustive discussion, with numerous diagrams, of the injurious features of the occupation. There is danger in operating most machines, which can, however, be avoided with due care on the part of the operator; there is danger, also, from the fumes of naphtha, from cement used in the stitching room and making roomj and while dust removers are in general use, under the compulsion of state legislation, there is considerable menace to the health from dust which is produced by nearly all processes of work upon the bottoms of shoes, such as edge trimming, bottom scouring, buffing, and bottom finishing. Piece and Time Payment. Two-thirds, or about sixty-six per cent, of the processes of boot and shoe manufacture, are paid for on a piece basis, usually at a fixed rate per dozen pairs. Such processes are those in which good work can be done at high rate of speed, and in which the possibility of increased earnings produces a larger volume of work from the shoe operator. On the other hand, where accuracy and care are required, as in the cutting room, and where work is of a routine nature, as in shipping, pay rests upon a time basis. The Best Paying Processes. Some of the best paying processes in the factory are, cutting, stitching, lasting, wiping in, welting, rounding, trimming, and edge setting. The pay in these processes ranges from $15.00 to $35.00 or more per week. 284 The Shoe Industry Wages and Variation in Employment. Wages have been given in statistics at the ends of the chapters on factory departments. Additional fig- ures are presented in the following tables, and pay is so associated with variation in employment that the two are properly treated together. The material here given is drawn from "Wages and Hours of Labor in the Boot and Shoe Industry: 1907 to 1914," United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wash- ington, 1915. Following are explanatory statements from the report: "This report, based on information obtained from representative establishments, shows the full-time weekly earnings, the full-time hours of labor per week, and the rates of wages (or earnings) per hour in the principal occupations of the boot and shoe industry of the United States. Figures relating to full-time hours of labor per week and rates of wages (or earnings) per hour are presented for the years 1907 to 1914, inclusive, and for full-time weekly earn- ings for the years 1910 to 1914, inclusive. "In addition, this report presents material relating to the variations in the amount of em- ployment furnished by this industry in the year ending in February, 1914. "Earlier reports of this bureau have pre- sented wages and hours of labor in the industry from 1890 to 1913. "Summarized briefly, the average full-time weekly earnings of the employees in this indus- Employment Conditions 285 try in 1914 were the same as in 1913, eight per cent higher than in 1912, six per cent higher than in 1911, and nine per cent higher than in 1910. '"The average full-time hours of labor per week in 1914 were one per cent lower than in 1913, two per cent lower than in 1912, and three per cent lower than in 1911 or 1910. "The average rates of wages (or earnings) per'hour in 1914 were one per cent higher than in 1913, nine per cent higher than in 1912, ten per cent higher than in 1911, and twelve per cent higher than in 1910. Owing to the reduction of hours, the increase in full-time weekly earn- ings between 1910 and 1914 was not so much as in rates of wages per hour. "A summary of the rates of wages and hours of labor in 1914 in the principal occupations of the industry is presented in the table fol- lowing." "In this table it is seen that in 1914 the average full-time weekly earnings of males engaged in the industry, represented by twenty-seven specific occupations, varied from $15.37 for assemblers to $27.68 for Goodyear welters. "The average full-time weekly earnings of females in 1914, represented by ten specific occupations, varied from $9.12 for treers or ironers, hand, to $13.14 for vampers." The average earnings of shoe factory employees, as given in the census, vary from about $375.00 per year to about $530.00 per year, according to local conditions in the different shoe manufacturing states. 9tmVHI1J 9SB19Ay OOOOOHHHOMNa lONSKOtoms 60 J3 .a " 19A0 puB s^trao OS J9AO puB s^trao o^ OO^H-HONCO japnn puB QS •8*o of lapun pac OS s»o 02 iapun puB gx •s^o OS aaptm pnB q% •s*o gx jgpun puB gx •W OS japan puB 9x t-H OS OS CO CO •e?o gx wpnn OOr-)OOlN-*«OOCO CD "* ■* © ©CM CO t-h ©CO t- CO CN (286) .9 .a o a u 03 s> o &> d 1 _CL3 03 aa •I | as g a a Is leg! 03 ^ r) 77 > 03 53 S 03 g m in q J9AO ptre S^O OS ■e%o 05 j^pnn pnB o^ 050iro(M000502lO'--ICOOiOt>- japun puis 08 iO5DOO)00NiONC0OiSOOOOMlN©00>': -•tflrtflOOOOOO CO CO i-H CO i-H i-H i-H Cd CO ■* C3 ■* T-i IN 01lOi-HCOr|H COCO(Nt>0>CO(Nt^-Oi i>i-ii-iTtHi>ooo>coiot^oo(Ni>t~Thi-*'*»o<©co i-llM00«O0000iO-*TtlT-l(NC0CO(NT-H>'*(Ni-HCO ONiOOfOOTtl-^HINTtliilTlliOaffiHMOH l>t>l>Tj-*0000000000CO"*l>-!^i-lCO • 0) s-8 a a 1 * o g s 8 of ©~ o o o 2,0-0 rt ° ° os p ? 'a -S 0,2 S fl 33 S 2 £ $ a g 03 oS S -,0 §3^ S3 ^ ^ S a 5s {a "S ei 8 ggiss^a* as£ v w&'&'b'z c3 --. +s bJO bC O O O 03 O O OT3T3 O O oS oS 03 a; g fl^-O "3 . ,o ,8 a c3 o -o ggg"l g o © -^ 33 WT* rj =3 3 © £ 3 q3 o h3 ►* 288 The Shoe Industry The accompanying graphic chart is based upon the percentages of figures gathered from eighty- three representative establishments throughout the country. APR. MAY JUNE JULY CENT 1.40 'I ■ I 1 1 1 1 1 1 - i 1 1 1 -»-— ^v . ^ '•ujjj^ c^ ptx C -..jjj. 'X "^e- \/r [" N '.\ v __ EMPLOYEE? ..._ .. TOTAL RAY ROLL. BIWEEKLY EARNINGS PER EMPLOYEE | i i , i i , , 1 CENT 140 JUNE JULY SEPT OCT NO" DEC Variations in Number of Employees, Total Pay Rolls, and Biweekly Earnings Per Employee* In some establishments the regular pay-roll period covers two weeks. Of this twelve-day work- ing period the factories whose number of employees and pay roll were the basis of the preceding chart, were in operation 11.4 days. This was in the pro- portion of ninety-five per cent, of the working days of the year ending in February, 1914, or 48.4 weeks, leaving the equivalent of an average idle period of 3.6 weeks. It will be observed by the chart that the number of employees does not vary greatly throughout the * Wages and Hours of Labor, 1907 toil914 — Boots and Shoes. TJ. S. Depart- ment of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment Conditions 289 year from the normal of one hundred per cent., but that the pay roll and earnings do vary considerably, according to seasons, being highest in March, August, December, the latter part of January, and February, and lowest in April, July, September, October, and the early part of January. In the busy season individual earnings are at a maximum; in the dull season, with fewer hours, they are at a minimum. , Sex and Age Distribution of Wage Earners in the United States by Leading Industries: 1909. Table XX shows, for the forty-three leading industries, the number and percent, of distribution, by age and sex, of wage earners as reported for December 15, or the nearest representative day. It does not include salaried persons. As a means of judging the true importance of the several industries as em- ployers of labor, the average number employed for the entire year is also given in each case, this number, in the case of seasonal industries, being much smaller than the number on the representative day. The per cent, of distribution for all industries combined, based on the average number employed, is also presented. In all industries combined, seventy-eight per cent, of the average number of wage earners were males sixteen years of age or over, 19.5 per cent, females sixteen years of age or over, and 2.5 per cent, chil- dren under the age of sixteen. 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J-all" rt s ® ■ h c^ ri ^ O&hPhPh (291) g A CO o fn II •-H as M.a * «t3 s •H {J M 0,0 § co a?o.a i 03 CO fe „ o o ^a-S '43 o3 cjC+5 a^ a s £3-2 a T3 g 03-3 « : it . 03 ! of . O . O . bfi O CO CO g co-s 03 1 1 1 i a e3 w g '■3 ^ «© "a5 * So a s o^ 292 The Shoe Industry of males sixteen years of age or over are shown are those in which the work is of a nature requiring considerable physical strength or a high degree of skill. The proportion of women and children, naturally is larger in those industries in which the processes require dexterity rather than strength. The importance of the shoe industry as a field of employment, in comparison with the other staple industries, may be seen by this table. The average number of wage earners employed in the industry during the year is 93.7 per cent, of the total number employed on the day taken by the Census Department as properly representative. Of those sixteen years of age or over, 62.6 per cent, are males, and 33.3 per cent, are females. The percentage under sixteen is 4.1 of the whole number. The Shoe Repairing Industry. Besides the repair work done by the individual shoe cobbler in every community, repairing has become an important and well organized shop industry in recent years. A brief and comprehensive statement of this develop- ment is the following, from American Shoemaking for June 12, 1915: "The industry of repairing shoes has grown swiftly in the last few years, and now is of such size that it may be recognized as a special branch of the great shoe industry. There are about 45,000 shops in this line, and they do a Employment Conditions 293 business of about $100,000,000 annually. Be- sides there are many retail stores that have repair departments. Of the 45,000 shoe repair- ing shops, about 18,000 are equipped with machinery. The machinery of the modern repair shop corresponds to that of the factory, save that it is simplified. Necessarily, it is simple because it often must be operated by unskilled workers, or at least by workers who have had scant experience in operating shoe machinery. Commonly, the machines are all set on one motor-drive shaft, along one side of the repair shop. There is a lock-stitch machine at the head of the shaft. This machine has about 260 parts. It is easy of adjustment, and it is capable of good all-around work, such as changing quickly from a woman's flexible sole shoe to a boy's stiff-soled shoe. It will stitch anywhere from four to sixteen stitches to the inch. Along the shaft there are machines for finishing the sole after it is sewed on. Among these machines are levelers, sanders, trimmers, edge setters, stitch cleaners, burnishing rolls and polishing brushes. Besides there are tool boxes, shelves for the work, and fans. "The largest of the modern shoe repairing shops handle from 60,000 to 70,000 pairs of shoes a year. They employ from twenty-five to thirty-five men. They use a tag system, some- thing like that of the regular factories. They subdivide the work. In the small shops, one or two men may do all the work. One man may run all the machines on the shaft, operating one after the other. Or, seven men may work at one time on the machines on one of the 294 The Shoe Industry longest of the shafts, say one of the twenty-two- foot shafts. "The main thing in the modern shoe repairing business is to build up patronage. Salesman- ship is as necessary to success in it as is good workmanship. Somebody must go out and convince customers that they should have their shoes re-soled, or otherwise repaired. This selling work may be carried on in big cities, small cities, in towns, or out in the country. "In the business district of one large city some bootblacks put some repair machines in their back shop. One of them went among the offices of the neighborhood asking for shoes to be repaired. He offered to give tickets good for six free shines with every pair of shoes that he re-soled. By this means a repair business was built up among occupants of the offices suffi- cient to keep four men employed. Besides, the shoe shining business nourished. 'Tn the small cities and towns, the repair men send agents in autos, or on motorcycles, along the highways, to call at door after door and collect shoes to be repaired and returned. In some western communities the steam laun- dries have started shoe departments, and their wagons collect shoes to be shined or repaired, and to be returned with the regular basket of laundry. "The rapid increase in the repair business has probably cut into the sale of new shoes. But it has opened a new field for enterprising men in the starting of repair shops, and in selling goods to repair shops." Employment Conditions 295 Earnings in the Repair Shop. In the small shop, employing few workers, and doing mostly hand repairing, the earnings may vary from two to five dollars or more a day. In the large shop, in which repair work is done mainly by machinery, the operative earns about the same as he would in the same processes in the shoe factory. Employ- ment in repairing is fairly steady through the year in most communities, but it is somewhat reduced in the large town or city during the summer season. The Shoe Factory Chemist. There are numer- ous chemical companies which produce the materials used in tanning leathers and in finishing shoes. In recent years, however, some large shoe factories have drawn chemists from such establishments or from other sources to work steadily in the factory. The duties of such chemists are twofold : To examine all leathers purchased to see that they have been properly tanned and cared for, and to examine all finishing materials, to see that they are of the right quality. A few factories have laboratories in which the chemist makes finishing materials from formulas which can be purchased or from his own or the fac- tory formula. The salary of the shoe factory chemist, whose service is of high value in shoe manufacture, ranges from $20 or $25 a week upwards. Chapter XIV AN EXPLANATION OF THE TERMS USED IN SHOEMAKING (297) *18 CHAPTER XIV An Explanation of the Terms used in Shoemaking The Need of Knowing These Terms. For an intelligent reading or study of factory departments and processes it will be found necessary to know the meaning of the chief technical terms used in connection with leather and shoe manufacture. An explanation of a process in popular language only would prevent an exact and clear understand- ing of its nature. It is well to describe industry to one who wishes to enter it, either temporarily or as a life occupation, in such a way as to show it in its real setting and to use "shop language" as far as may be necessary to a right presentation of it. One should, if possible, see a machine in operation and hear the workman who operates it explain the working of the machine. The language of the trade is simple but expressive, and not at all difficult to understand. Throughout the pages of this book processes and machines are spoken of in technical terms and explained in popular language, so as to give the reader who may not be able to visit the factory an accurate and helpful picture of modern shoemaking. Terms relating mainly to leather are (299) 300 The Shoe Industry given in Chapter V on Leather. Herewith, in Chapter XIV, is presented an explanation of the more common terms used in shoemaking. Acid-tanned. Tanned by a mineral acid, instead of by a vegetable substance such as the bark of certain trees and plants. Adjustment. The fastening by which the shoe is adjusted to the foot, such as button, strap and buckle, webbing or lacing. Aloft. (See "Stitched Aloft"). Anatomic. Referring to the conformity of the shoe to the natural shape of the foot. Arch. The bony framework of the foot between the heel and the toes. The "broken arch" is a settling of this part of the foot due to a yielding of the muscles and ligaments. An "arch-support" is a mechanical contrivance placed in the shoe beneath the arch of the foot to keep it in its natural position. The term arch is used also for the cor- responding portion of the shoe bottom. Assembling. Putting together the various parts of the shoe as they come from separate departments of the factory. It includes the tacking of the inner sole to the last, inserting the toe box and counter of the shoe, and putting the upper part of the shoe on the last. Backstay. A strip of leather covering and strength- ening the back seam of a shoe on the outside. Back Strap. The strap or loop by which the shoe is pulled on the foot. Bal. An abbreviation of Balmoral, the original English name for the shoe. A front-laced shoe of The Terms Used in Shoemaking 301 medium height, as distinguished from shoes ad- justed by other fastenings, and also from other patterns of shoes, such as Blucher or Oxford. Ball. The fleshy part of the foot back of the toes, or the corresponding part of the shoe or of the last. Beading. Folding in the skived edges of the upper leather; or making an impression by a wheel around the sole of the shoe above the heel. Fre- quently called "seat wheeling." Sometimes re- ferring to the beads placed on the vamps of women's slippers. Beating Out. The term used for leveling the bot- tom of the shoe. Bellows Tongue. A wide folding tongue sewed to the sides of the top for the purpose of making it water tight, as in the case of heavy shoes for working or tramping. Belting. That part of bark tanned cowhide, rubber, or canvas used for machinery belts. Bench-Made. Applying to shoes made by hand at the cobbler's bench. Bend. The main or best portion of a side of leather. Blackball. A mixture of grease and lamp-black used by hand shoe workers to polish the edges of soles and heels. Blacking the Edge. Dyeing the edge of the sole or welt after the shoe has passed through the making room. Blind Eyelet. An eyelet inserted on the inner side of the eyelet facing, the hole on the outer side being left raw-edged. 302 The Shoe Industry Blocking. The cutting of a sole into rough or approximate shape, suitable for rounding. Also cutting top or vamp into form suitable for the use of the pattern. Blucher. The name of a high shoe or half boot originated by Field Marshall Blucher of the Prussian Army in the time of the first Napoleon. Its distinguishing feature is the extension of the quarters forward to lace across the tongue. The name now applies to any shoe having this ex- tension. Boot. A term usually and properly restricted to high-cut foot wear with tongue of firm leather, and sometimes laced, as in hunting boots. Form- erly high footwear with no fastening. Often re- stricted to women's high-cut shoes. Bottom Filling. The filler for the low space in the bottom, between outer and inner sole, in the fore part of the shoe, as ground cork or tarred felt. Bottom Finishing. The final polishing, buffing, and other processes applied to the bottom of a com- pleted shoe. Bottom Scouring. Sandpapering the parts of the sole in front of the heel. Box. A reinforcement placed in the toe of a shoe to preserve its shape, made of leather, leather- board, canvas stiffened with glue or shellac, or other material. Called also "box toe." Brogan. A heavy pegged or nailed work shoe of medium height. Broken Arch. (See Arch). Brushing. Finishing the edge, heel, or bottom with a polishing brush. The Terms Used in Shoemaking 303 Buckram. Canvas stiffened with glue and used as a toe box or as a backing for shoe fabrics. Buffing. Scouring off the outer or grain side of leather. See bottom scouring. Button. The use of the button as a shoe fastening is of quite recent date, having increased very rapidly since about 1907. At the present time women's shoes have about one-half of the but- toned type. The latest tendency is to seek orna- mental effects through the use of special ma- terials for shoe buttons. Button Fly. The strip of leather in the front of the top of a button shoe having the button holes. Cabaretta. A tanned sheepskin of superior quality and finish. Calfskin. Skins of neat cattle, up to fifteen pounds weight. For trade convenience such are called "calfskin," those weighing from fifteen to twenty- five pounds, "kips," and all above twenty-five pounds are called hides. Calfskin makes a strong pliable leather highly susceptible to polish and to a dull, velvet or "Suede" finish, or to a patent leather finish. It has long been in use for all kinds of shoes. Calking Machine. An appliance to shape the inner sole of a shoe in conformity with the bottom of the foot. Carton. The pasteboard box in which each pair of shoes is packed. A comparatively late develop- ment in the trade. Formerly pairs of shoes were fastened together with strings at the heel; after that they were sometimes wrapped in pairs in ordinary paper. Standard sizes of cartons are 7 304 The Shoe Industry now generally used, for convenience in packing in cases and for uniformity in size when the cartons are placed upon shelves in the shoe store. Case. The box in which shoes are packed for ship- ment. Men's shoes are usually packed twelve pairs in a case; women's, twenty -four to thirty- six pairs. Channel. A slanting cut around the edge of the sole for convenience in stitching the top to the bottom of the shoe. The lip of the channel or the raised portion is cemented down after the stitching so as to preserve the stitch from immedi- ate wear. Channeling means preparing the chan- nel for the stitch. Channel Screwed. The bottom held to the upper by wire screws fastening in the channel. Channel Stitched. The soles fastened to the uppers by stitches which are concealed in the channel. Channel Turning. Raising the lip of sole leather, or channel, so that the stitching can be done be- neath it. Chrome-tanned. Tanned by the use of bichromate of potash and muriatic acid. Clicking. Cutting the uppers of shoes by a ma- chine. Closing On. Stitching the lining and outside to- gether at the top, wrong side out. Collar. A narrow strip of leather stitched around the outside of the shoe at the top. Colonial. A woman's low shoe with wide tongue and ornamental buckle. Combination Last. One having an instep of differ- ent width from that of the ball. Also a last that The Terms Used in Shoemaking 305 will allow both low and high shoes to be made upon it. Congress Gaiter. A shoe having rubber goring for adjustment at the ankles. Copper Toe. A copper outer boxing to protect the toe in children's shoes. Counter. The stiffening in the back or heel part of a shoe to support the heel and prevent the shoe from running over, usually made of leather, leather- board, felt, or canvas stiffened with shellac or paste. Cravenette. A proprietary name for a closely woven cloth used in shoe uppers. Creasing Vamp. Making hollow grooves or wrinkles across the front of the vamp. Crimping. Shaping any part of the upper to con- form to the last. Cushion Sole. An elastic or padded inner sole, usually of felt. Custom-Made. Made by hand to special order and measurement. Cut-off Vamp. One cut off at the tip and stitched to the toe cap, not extending under the tip be- yond the tip stitching. Dieing or Dinking. Cutting soles or other parts of the shoe with machine and die. Dom Pedro. A heavy single-buckle shoe with bellows tongue, usually of a cheap grade. Dressing. A process for restoring the finish of the upper. Also used for the materials for cleaning and polishing the shoe. Edge Setting. Finishing and polishing the edge of the shoe. 306 The Shoe Industry Edge Trimming. Cutting the edge of the shoe smoothly to conform to the shape of the last. Embossing. Stamping or carving figures and trade- marks on leather. Eyelet. A small ring of metal set in the lacing hole. The eyelet hole is sometimes worked with thread. Fabric. A general term for the cloths used in shoe- making. Facing. The leather used around the top of the shoe and down the eyelet row, inside. Fair Stitch. The stitching sometimes run around the edge of the sole to give the McKay the ap- pearance of the welt. Filler. A light, hollow, wooden form used to keep a shoe in shape. Called also "form." Findings. The small parts or accessories of a shoe, practically everything except leather and lining, such as laces, polishes, cement, nails, brushes, thread, and numerous other incidental articles used in the making and care of shoes. Finish. Polishing, buffing, or other final treatment of the soles of shoes. Fitting. The selection and adjustment of ready- made shoes to the foot of the wearer. In the old days of hand work, shoes were made to individual measurement. Such is still the case with the "custom shoe" where the added cost can be afforded. The factory-made shoe, of typical form, throws upon the salesman in the retail store the problem of fitting. Some adjustment can be pro- vided by stretching the upper or by moving but- tons, but it is chiefly a problem or right selection from standard patterns. The Tekms Used in Shoemaking 307 Fitting Room. The department of the factory in which the various parts of the upper of the shoe are stitched together, before going to the lasting room. Form. (See heel.) Used also for the bench of the hand shoemaker. Foxing. That part of the upper extending from the sole to the lacing or adjustment in front, and to^ about the height of the counter in the back, being the full length of the upper. More simply, the lower part of the quarter. French Size Marking. A cipher or secret method of marking concealing from the customer the exact size of the shoe. Many varieties of this system are in use. Gaiter. A term now applied mainly to a separate ankle covering. Gem Insoles. A cloth-reinformed leather insole for welt shoes. Golf Shoe. A low shoe with rubber sole used for out-door sports. Goodyear Welt. The method of attaching the sole to the upper by the use of a narrow strip of leather called the welt. Gore. A rubber elastic used on both sides for the adjustment of a Congress shoe. Grading. The sorting of soles for uniform thick- ness in the edges of finished shoes. Also selecting skins for shoes of different prices. Half-Sole. Half of a complete sole used under the front part of the out sole. Heel. The leather or other material attached to the back part of the sole, or "heel seat," to give 308 The Shoe Industry a desired height above the ground. The chief varieties are named after their style or shape. Their height is usually expressed in eighths of an inch. Heels are made in layers or lifts of leather, of wood, of leatherboard, and of substitutes for leather. The breast of the heel is its front face. The French heel is extremely high with a curved outline; the Cuban, high with a straight outline; the military, like the Cuban but lower; the spring heel is very low and formed by inserting a slip of leather between the out sole and the heel seat, so that the out sole forms the heel; the flange heel is made flaring toward the bottom. In women's fabric shoes heels are often covered with the same material as the upper. The "pitch" of a heel is its direction or inclination under the foot. Heels are attached to the heel seat by nails and cement- ing. The nails inside the shoe are covered by a small piece of felt or other substance called the heel pad. Heel Scouring. Sandpapering the outside surface of the heel. Heel Seat. The rounded part of the sole on which the heel is fastened. Heel seat nailing consists in nailing this part of the sole; heel seat trimming, smoothing this part. Heel Shaving. Shaping the heel by shaving off the surplus leather. Hemlock Tanned. Preserved by the use of hem- lock bark. Inseam Trimming. Cutting off surplus leather from the seam which fastens the upper to the bottom in the turn shoe and in the welt. The Terms Used in Shoemaking 309 Insole. The inner sole of a sewed shoe, which is first placed upon the last. The inner soles are attached to both the upper and the out sole. Inspecting. Examining shoes for imperfections. Ironing Uppers. Smoothing the upper with a hot iron. Lace. A string of leather or fabric used in adjusting and holding the shoe to the foot. Lacer Stay. A strip of leather reinforcing the eye- let holes. Lap Stone. An iron plate or stone upon which the cobbler beats sole leather or seams or folded edges with a flat faced hammer. Last. The wooden or metal form upon which the shoe is constructed, and which gives the shoe its distinctive shape. Lasting. Stretching the upper tightly over and making it conform to the last. Assembling and pulling over the parts of the upper on the last. Leveling. Shaping the sole to the bottom of the last by the use of heavy rollers or moulds. Lift. A single thickness of the material used in the heel. Lining. The inside part of the upper, made of fabric or of thin, light-weight leather. Low-cut. A general term applying to such low shoes as Oxford, pump, tie, colonial, slipper, and sandal. McKay Sewed. A mode of shoemaking named after the inventor. After the upper is lasted upon the inner sole the last is removed and the outer sole is attached by a thread passing directly through the upper and inner sole. The out sole 310 The Shoe Industry is generally channeled and the lining is put over the inner seam, on the inside of the shoe. This mode has lowered the cost of making medium- priced shoes. It is a less satisfactory mode than the welt process. Measurement. Taking the dimensions of the foot for custom made shoes. The chief points of measurement are, the ball of the foot, the waist, the instep, ankle, and total length. Moulding. Shaping the sole to conform to the bottom of the last. Naumkeaging. Smoothing up the bottom of the shoe with fine sandpaper after buffing on course sandpaper. Oak-Tanned. Preserved by means of oak bark. Regarded as the best tanning of sole leather. Oxford. A low-cut shoe in lace, strap, or button, made in men's, women's, and children's sizes. This style is said to have been first worn in Oxford, England, over three hundred years ago. Pasted Counter. Made of two pieces of sole leather pasted together. Pattern. Metal or cardboard model or form by which any part of the shoe upper is cut. Pegging. Attaching the outer sole with pegs. Perforating. Making decorative holes around upper parts. Also the term for the work done on the edges of the upper after skiving and folding. Polish. Ladies' and misses' front-laced, high-cut shoe, originating in Poland. Pressing. Applying a flat-press to heels and soles. Pulling Lasts. Removing lasts from shoes. The Terms Used in Shoemaking 311 Pulling Over. Drawing the upper over the last and tacking it into position. Pump. A shoe cut below the instep and having no fastening. Quarter. The rear part of the upper when a full vamp is not used. Rand. A strip of sole leather made thin on one edge and placed around between the heel and the sole, to fill empty space and balance the heel. Relasting. Putting lasts in shoes from which the original lasts have been drawn. Repairing. Filling cracks in patent leather on the finished shoe. Any cobbling work. Rolling. Passing leather between rolls to make it firm and durable. Also, polishing shoe bottoms on a roll bearing a brush. Rough Rounding. Shaping the outsole to the last, and channeling also in the welt-channeled shoe. One of the hardest of processes. Royalties. Sums based on production paid by shoe manufacturers for the use of machines when hired of the machine companies or for protected processes. Rubber Cement. A powerful, quick-drying solution of rubber, often used in leather shoemaking and shoe repairing. Rubber Shoes. Footwear in considerable variety from the sandal to the hip length boot. The low rubber overshoe is the most common. Rubber footwear consists of fabric coated with rubber. Rubber heels and soles are used more and more on shoes of leather or fabric tops. 312 The Shoe Industry Sample. In the shoe trade a single shoe to show the character of an entire lot. As a rule samples are made up by factories twice a year, in the spring and fall, and carried by the traveling sales- men on their routes. Shoes are then made in the factory from the orders received upon each sample. Sandal. A woman's or child's strap slipper. Screw Fastened. Having the bottom attached to the upper with wire screw nails, as in some heavy shoes. Shank. A strip of metal or other material used between the inner and outer sole, between the heel and the ball, to stiffen the sole of the shoe. Also, this part of the shoe. Shank Burnishing. Polishing the black shank part of the shoe with a hot iron. Shanks are finished in black or in colors. Shanking Out. Thinning and smoothing the shank part of the shoe. Size. The length measure of the shoe on standard widths. The length is expressed by numbers or the French cipher and the widths by letters. American and English sizes vary by one-third of an inch. The American size system runs from to 13 J, and then starts over again at 1. The infants' size runs from to 5; children's from 5 to 11; misses', from 11| to 13§ and then to 2 in the second series; women's, from 2§ to 8; little men's, from 8 to 13|; youths', from 1 to 2; boys', from 2§ to 5|, and men's from 6 to 12. Larger sizes are made on special orders. Skiving. Cutting sole leather to a uniform thick- ness. Shaving upper leather, especially, to a thin edge, in the cutting or stitching department. The Terms Used in Shoemaking 313 Slipper. A name for low footwear, other than rub- ber, without special means of fastening to the foot. Slugging. Driving slugs, or short nails, in heels. Sneaker. A rubber-soled canvas shoe for out-door wear. Sock Lining. The lining which covers the McKay insole. Soft Tips. Having no box toe under the tip. Soles and Sole Leather. The pieces of heavy leather, mainly, from neat animals and used in the soles of shoes. Sole Laying. The preliminary process of attaching the out-sole in position for stitching, nailing, or pegging. Sorting. The process of arranging out-soles or upper leather by grades. Split. A layer of a hide which has been cut into thicknesses. Spring. The deviation from a straight line at the toe or arch of a shoe. Stamping. Putting size and width on the inside of the shoe, or the name on the bottom, or marks on the carton. Stay. A piece of leather used to strengthen a part or seam. Stitch Separating. Marking indentations between stitches to make the stitching conspicuous. Stitched Aloft. Sewed without channeling, so that the stitches show on the bottom. The name comes from the manner of the holding of the shoe in the process, bottom up. *19 314 The Shoe Industry Stock Keeping. Caring for stock in storage, fol- lowing sales, and keeping a supply on hand. The manufacturer must know how his styles are selling and how large his supply must be to keep ahead of his trade. Accurate and proper stock keeping is very important in shoe manufacture. Stripping. Cutting hides into strips wide enough to make soles of a desired size. Style. The shape, model, or material determined by standards in use or in fashion, or by forms which manufacturers desire to put upon the market. A particular pattern or design, applying to the shoe as a whole or to any part which may be given special distinction. Tan. From the Norman-French word for oak bark. A yellowish brown color given by the bark used in tanning, finished without applying special colors. Tanning. Converting hides and skins into leather by astringent acids or mineral substances. Tap. An outer half sole. Tempering. Softening leather in water. Tip. The toe piece stitched to the outside of the vamp. Often of different leather than that of the rest of the shoe, as "patent tip." Tongue. A narrow piece of leather placed beneath the lacing or other fastening of a shoe. Top. The part of the upper above the vamp. Top Facing. The leather or band of cloth around the inside of the shoe top. Top Lift. The outer piece of leather in the heel. Top Stitching. Sewing across the top and down the side. The Terms Used in Shoemaking 315 Treeing. Shaping the shoe, smoothing it in the treeing room. Trimming Cutting. Cutting stays, facings, and other small parts of the shoe upper. Turned Shoe. A woman's fine shoe, of flexible sole, with upper stitched to the sole wrong side out, the shoe being then turned right side out. One of the three chief methods of shoemaking at the present time. Turnover. The gross amount of sales in com- parison with the gross amount of stock. Upper. A collective term for the parts above the sole and heel of a shoe. Vamp. The front or lower part of the upper. A "cut-off" vamp extends only to the tip. A "whole vamp" extends to heel without a seam. The vamp is the most important part of the upper and should be made of the best leather. Vamping. Sewing the vamps to the top. Viscolizing. A patent method of making sole leather waterproof by treating it with oil emul- sions. Welt. A narrow strip of leather sewed to the upper and insole, having the edge of the welt extending outward so that the outsole can be attached by sewing through welt and outsole around the out- side. This is the most modern and best method of shoemaking. "Goodyear Welt" is a welt sewed by the Goodyear welting machine. The three chief kinds of sewed shoes, from methods used in making, are the welt, the McKay, and the turned shoe. Welt Beating. Flattening out the welt, after sewing. 516 The Shoe Industry Welting. The material used for the welt. Also sewing the welt to the shoe. Wheeling. Running a corrugated wheel around the edge or bottom of a shoe, to give finish or to imitate stitching. Width. More properly the girth of the ball, waist, and instep of the foot or last. Widths vary in quarter inches of these measurements from "double narrow" to "double wide," through the series of sizes. Shoe and Leather Bibliography 317 SHOE AND LEATHER BIBLIOGRAPHY Aaron, Charles F. From Pasture to Pulley. New York v Leather Belting Co., New York, 1907. American Shoemaking Directory. Rogers and Atwood Publishing Co., Boston, 1916. Annual Report of the Massachusetts State Board of Conciliation and Arbitration for 1911. Public Docu- ment No. 40, Boston. Bennett, Hugh Garner. The Manufacture of Leather. Constable and Company, Ltd., London, 1909. Bolles, Albert S. Industrial History of the United States. The Henry Bill Publishing Co., Norwich, Conn., 1878. Dooley, William H. A Manual of Shoemaking and Leather V and Rubber Products. Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, 1912. Dreier, Thomas. The Story of Three Partners. United Shoe Machinery Co., Boston, 1912. Employers' Welfare Work. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, Miscellaneous Series: No. 4, Washington, 1913. Footwear of Soldiers, The. United Shoe Machinery Co., Boston, 1914. / Gannon, Fred A. Shoe Making Old and New. Fred A. Gannon, Lynn, Mass., 1911. Gold, Guy D. The Shoe City Reader. The New American Association, Brockton, Mass., 1913. Golding, F. Y. The Manufacture of Boots and Shoes./ Chapman and Hall, Limited, London, 1902. Goodyear Welt Shoes : How They Are Made. United Shoe Machinery Co., Boston, 1911. Hanson, William C, and William W. Walcott. Hygiene of the Boot and Shoe Industry in Massachusetts. State Board of Health, Boston, 1912. Hatfield, C. B. Boot and Shoe Patterns. Superintendent and Foreman, Boston, 1899. 318 The Shoe Industry v^Hill, Herbert, and Henry Yeoman. A Manual of Boot and Shoe Manufacture. Boot and Shoe Trades Journal, London. How to Dress a Store Window. The Boot and Shoe Recorder Publishing Co., Boston, 1908. Jorissen, Dr. Franz. Die Deutsche Leder-und Leder- waren-Industrie. Text dreisprachig: deutsch, englisch, franzosisch. Druck und Verlag: Vereinigte Verlagsanstalten Gustav Braunbek und Guten Verg-Druckerei Akt.-Ges., Berlin, 1909. Library of Factory Management, The. Six volumes. A. W. Shaw Company, Chicago, 1915. Munson, Edward L. The Soldiers' Foot and the Military Shoe. Agents U. S. Cavalry Association, Fort Leaven- worth, Kansas, 1912. Primer of Boots and Shoes, A. United States Machinery Co., Boston, 1914. Proctor, H. H. The Making of Leather. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1915. ^.Nichols, Fred Hammond, Compiler. The Building of a Shoe. Thos. P. Nichols and Son Co., Lynn, Mass., 1912. Redfield, Hon. William C. The New Industrial Day. 1914. Shoe and Leather Lexicon, The. Boot and Shoe Recorder Publishing Co., Boston, 1912. Women in the Boot and Shoe Industry in Massachusetts. Women's Educational and Industrial Union, Boston. Bulletin No. 180, U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1916. Small, Frederick L. Comprehensive Accounting Methods. The L. and S. Printing Company, Boston, 1914. Storm, Donald T. Fifty Lessons in Advertising. Boot and Shoe Recorder Publishing Co., Boston, 1911. Technology of Boot and Shoe Manufacture, The. The Burlington Publishing Co., Limited, London. Unemployment. American Labor Legislation Review, Vol. IV, No. 2, New York, May 19, 1914. Wages and Hours of Labor in the Boot and Shoe Industry. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, Wages and Hours of Labor Series, Washington: No. 4, 1890 to 1912; No. 13, 1907 to 1913; and No. 19, 1907 to 1914. Shoe anb Leather Bibliography 319 Wage-Earning Women in Stores and Factories. Vol. V, Keport on Women and Child Wage-Earners in the United States. Senate Document No. 645, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1910. What Constitutes a Good Salesman. Boot and Shoe Re- corder Company, Boston. Workmen's Compensation Laws of the United States and Foreign Countries. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. De- partment of Labor, Workmen's Insurance and Compensation Series: No. 5, Washington, 1914. SHOE AND LEATHER JOURNALS American Shoemaking, weekly. Boston. Boot and Shoe Recorder, weekly. Boston. Coast Shoe Reporter, monthly. San Francisco. Journal of American Leather Chemists' Association. Easton, Pa. Hide and Leather, weekly. Chicago. The Leather Manufacturer, monthly. Boston. Modern Shoemaking, weekly. Boston. New England Shoe and Leather Industry, monthly. Boston Shoe and Leather Facts, monthly. Philadelphia. Shoe and Leather Reporter, weekly. Boston. Shoe Retailer, weekly. Boston. Shoe Repairer and Dealer, monthly. Boston The Shoeman, semi-monthly. Boston. Shoe Topics, weekly. Boston. Superintendent and Foreman, weekly. Boston. Weekly Bulletin of Shoe News. Boston. ALPHABETICAL INDEX Acid-tanned, 300 Adjustment, 300 Anatomic, 300 Antinoe, city of, 26 Apprentice, in last century, 28 Arch, 300 Assembling, 300; department, 153; positions, 154 Astringent acids, 89, 99 Automatic machine, 177, 275 Backstay, 300 Back strap, 300 Bal, 300 Ball, 301 Barring machine, 177 Beading, 301 Beard, Thomas, 27 Beating out, 301 Bellows tongue, 301 Belting, 301 Bench-made, 301 Bend, 301 "Binding," 34, 58 Blackball, 301 Blacking the edge, 301 Blake, Lyman R., 58, 124 Blind nailing, 221 Blind eyelet, 301 Blocking, 302 Blucher, 164, 302 Boot, 302 Boots and shoes, value of prod- ucts for leading states, 1909 and 1899, 47 Boston Continuation School, 269-271 Boston School Committee, 269, 270 Bottom filling, 302 Bottom finishing, 302 Bottom scouring, 302 Bottom stock fitting, 188 Box, 302 Box calf, 97 Box factory, 113 Box toe department, 113 Breed, Ebenezer, and the shoe tariff, 36, 39, 90 Brockton, 45, 46 Brogan, 302 Broken arch, 302 Brushing, 302 Buckram, 303 Buckskin, 98 Buffing, 303 Business departments of shoe manufacture, 109; the usual officers, 109; chart of, 111 "Business Employments," the volume upon, 109 Business organization, 43 Button, 303 Button fly, 303 Buttonhole department, 173; positions, 172 Cabaretta, 303 Calfskin, 97, 303; special terms, 97, 98 Calking machine, 303 Canvas reinforcement, 191 Carton, 303 Case, 304 Census, first United States, 35; of 1909, 44 Census statistics: Boots and shoes, value for leading states, 47; table I, general statistics, 48; table II, boot and shoe cut stock, 49; table III, findings, 50; table IV, exports of boots and shoes, 51 ; leather, value for leading states, 103; table V, imports of hides and skins, 104, (321) Alphabetical Index 105 ; table VI, number of boots, shoes, and slippers made by each method of manufacture, 132; table VII, average wages per hour, weekly earning, and hours per week, by years, cutting department, 156, 157; table VIII, average wages per hour, weekly earnings, and hours per week, by states, cutting department, 158, 159; table IX, wages, weekly earn- ings, and hours, by years, fitting department, 17&-181; table X, wages, weekly earn- ings, and hours, by states, fitting department, 182, 183; table XI, wages, weekly earn- ings, and hours, by years, sole leather department, 197; table XII, wages, weekly earnings, and hours, by states, sole leather department, 198; table XIII, wages, weekly earnings, and hours, by years, lasting department, 230-232; table XIV, wages, weekly earnings, and hours, by states, lasting department, 234, 235; table XV, wages, weekly earnings, and hours, by years, bottom- ing department, 236-239; table XVI, wages, weekly earnings, and hours, by states, bottoming department, 240- 243; table XVII, wages, weekly earnings, and hours, by years, finishing depart- ment, 254; table XVIII, wages, weekly earnings ; and hours, by states, finishing department, and other em- ployees in all departments, 256, 257; table XIX, hours, wages, weekly earnings, and employees, in the principal occupations in 1914, 286, 287; variations in number of em- ployees, payrolls, and earn- ings, 288 ' K table XX, sex and age distribution by leading industries, 1909, 290, 291 Central administrative offices, 116 Chamois, 97 Channel, 304 Channeling, 190 Channel laying, 210 Channel screwed, 304 Channel stitched, 304 Channel turning, 304 Chemist, 295 Chrome-tanned, 90, 100, 304 Cities, leading, 44, 45 Clicking, 304; machine, 148; illustration, 149 Closing on, 304 Closing and. staying department, 169; positions, 170 Cobbler, 27, 34, 292 Collar, 304 Colonial, 304 Colonial times, 32 Coltskin, 99 Combination last, 304 Congress gaiter, 305 Copper toe, 305 Cordova, 26 Cordwainers' Company, Lon- don, 26 Counter, 138, 305; department, 193 Counting, marking, and skiving department, 152 Cravenette, 305 Creasing vamp, 305 Crimping, 305 Cripple girls, 169 Cross section, of a Goodyear welt shoe, 125; of a McKay sewed, 126; of a standard screwed, 127; of a pegged, 128 Cushion sole, 305 Custom-made, 305 Cutter, 36, 145-148, 191, 195 Cutting room, 145 Cut-off vamp, 305 Cut-sole industry, 101, 102 Day sheet, 138, 141; typical, 140 Dagyr, John Adam, 28 Designer, pattern, 79, 80, 83; assistant, 83 Alphabetical Index 323 Destouy, Auguste, 59, 124 Detail in shoe manufacture, 135; number of processes, 135, 136 Dickerson, Philemon, 90 Dieing, 305 Dieing out straps, 153 Dinking machine, 144 Dom Pedro, 305 Dressing, 305 Dry hides, 99 Edge setting, 305 Edge setting machine, 210 Edge trimming, 306 Efficiency engineer, 274 Efficiency methods, 274 Embossing, 250, 306 Employment conditions and sup- plementary material, 261-295 Employment department, 109; manager, 109 Employees, six division of, 261; processes given to male, 262; deivisions among departments, 262; records, 265; average earnings of, 285; chart of variations in number, 288 Enamel leather, 96 European war, 92 Executive officers, 109, 110 Eyelet, 306 Fabrics, 92 Facing, 306 Factory departments of shoe manufacture, 112; chart of, 114; additional, 247, 248 Factory hours, 42 Factory management, chart of, 115; offices, 110, 116 Factory manager, 80 Factory service and office ser- vice, 112 Fair stitch, 306 Filler, 306 Findings, 306 Finish, 306 Finishing department, 112 Finishing, treeing, packing, and shipping, 247-257 Fitting, 306; department, 113; room, 307 Foreman, 145, 154, 189, 272, 273; assistant, 273 Forewomen, 166, 168, 173, 174; 273 Form, 25, 307 Foxing, 307; department, 170; positions, 171 French size marking, 307 Gaiter, 307 "Gangs," 40 Gem insoles, 307 General manager, 109 General offices, 110 Golf shoe, 307 Goodyear, Charles, 59 Goodyear welt machine, 59; channeling machine, 190; stitching machine, illustra- tion, 219 Goodyear welt shoe, 124, 125; welt, 307 Gore, 307 Grading, 307; machine, 82 Green hides, 99 Gun metal, 98 Hand cutter, 145-148 Hand processes, 275 Half sole, 307 Heel, 307; department, 113, 194; processes, 194; positions in department, 195 Heel breasting machine, 221 Heeling department, 221; po- sitions, 222; machine, 227 Heel seat, 308; nailing, 209, 217 Heel scouring, 308; machine, 221; shaving, 308 Heel trimming, 221 Heels fastened by pegs, 56 Hemlock tanned, 89, 99-101, 308 Hides and skins, tannery divi- sion of, 93 Indenture paper, 28 Industrial education, quotation from a report, 267 Ingalls, Francis, 90 Inseam trimming, 308 Insole, 187, 309 324 Alphabetical Index Inspecting, 251, 309 Inspector, 143, 166, 168, 173 Instruction of operators, 64 Ironing, 250, 309 Journeyman, 34 Joyce, Joseph L., 61 Junk-board, 81 Kertland, Philip, 27 Kid, 96; varieties, 96, 97 Labor, distinction between capi- tal and, 39; division of in the factory, 40; securing skilled, 265 Labor statistics, U. S. Bureau of, 154, 284 Lace, 309; shoes, 129; stay, 309 Lapstone, 57, 309 Last, 309 Last, 36, 71, 309; shaping of, 71; material, 72; lathe, 73; model, 74; devices for reducing, 75; Arnold hinged, 75; storage, 75; worker, 76; standardiza- tion, 82 Lasting, 309; department, 202; positions, 205; machine, illus- tration, 207 Last-making, 71-76; hand, 72; modern, 73; machine, or lathe, 73, 74 Lasters, hand, 60 Leading industries, 289-292 Leasing system, 63, 67 Leather, its nature, 89; tanning, 89; American manufacturing, 90; increasing shortage of, 91, 92; substitutes, 92, 101; hideite, 93; a side of, 94, 95; divisions of in shoe factories, 94; varieties of upper, 94; sole, 99; oak, hemlock, union, 99-^-101; tanned, curried, and finished, value for leading states, 102 Leatherboard, 92 Leather sorter, 142 Leveling, 210, 309 Libraries, 277 Lift, 309 Lining, 309; department, 164; positions, 166 Lining and cloth-cutting section, 144; positions, 145; sorter, 143 Linings, 135, 153, 164, 166, 172, 218 Low-cut, 309 Lynn, first home of the industry, 44, 46 Machine, upper-stitching, 56; sole-sewing, 56; McKay, 41, 57, 58; welting, 56; pegging, 57; rolling, 57; Howe sewing, 58; Goodyear welt, 59; edge- trimming and heel-trimming, 59; lasting, 60; operating, 63 Machinery, introduction, 43, 60; invention of shoe, 55; devel- opment, 56; care of, 64; standardization, 67; in tan- ning, 91 McKay bottoming department, 217; processes, 217; positions, 218 McKay, Gordon, 58, 59, 63, 124 McKay insole department, 188; positions, 189 McKay sewed, 309; illustration, 126 Making department, 112, 113, 201-243; divisions, 201; work in, 229 Massachusetts State Board of Health, 280 Mathies, Robert, 58 Matzeliger, Jan Ernest, 60 Measurement, 310 Measuring upper leather, 141 Mechanics, 64 Medical attendance, 277, 279 Methods in shoe manufacture, 123-132; per cent, of each in total production, 129, 130 Middle Ages, 25 Moccasin of the American In- dian, 27 Model grader, 83 Modern shoe factory, 113-119 Monotony of shoemaking, 275 Moulding, 310 Alphabetical Index 325 National Boot and Shoe Manu- facturers' Association, 267, 271 National Society for the Promo- tion of Industrial Education, 269, 271 Naumkeag buffing machine, 213 Naumkeaging, 310 New England Shoe and Leather Association, 269 New England shoe and leather production, 45, 46 Nichols, John Brooks, 58 Nicking, 153 North Shore district, 45 Novelties, 91 Oak-tanned, 89, 99-101 Office manager, 109 Ooze, 98 Operations, machine, 55; hand, 55 Outer sole department, 192; positions, 192 Oxford, 164, 310 Packing, 112; department, 251; positions, 252 Pasted counter, 310 Patent leather, 96, 248, 249 Patent office, United States, 55 Patents on shoe machinery, 55 Pattern, 79; designer, 79; sample, 80; model, 80; number to a shoe, 81; material, 81; mak- ing, 82; standardization, 82; storage, 83; price, 83. Pattern-maker, 80, 81, 83 Pattern-making, 79; depart- ment, 80; machine, 83; posi- tions, 83 Peg, wooden, 56; machine- made, 57 Pegging, 310 Pennsylvania, 32, 33 Perforating, 167, 310 Piece and time payment, 283 Polish shoe, 164, 310 Porter, William, and Sons, 58 Power grader, 83 Power machine, 177 President, 109 Pressing, 310 Printing department, 113 Processes, number of in making an ordinary shoe, 55; best paying, 283 Promotion, 265 Pulling lasts, 310 Pulling over, 311 Pulling over machine, 61, 202; illustration, 203 Pump, 166, 311 Putnam, General, 35 Quality man, 191, 273 Quantity man, 191, 273 Quarter, 172, 311 Rand, 311 Randing, 190 Rebellion, War of the, 91 Receipt of an order, 136 Reinforced insoles, 190 Relasting, 311 Relief fund, 279 Repair shop earnings, 295 Repairing, 311 Repairing industry, 292 Revolution, the, 35 Rickerman, Isaac, 27 "Roadmen," 64 Rolling, 311 Romans, the, 25 Rose, William, 90 Rough rounding, 206, 311; ma- chine, illustration, 215 Rounding machine, 187, 188 Royalties, 311 Royalty stamps, facsimiles of early, 65 Rubber, 93; cement, 311; shoes, 311 Russia calfskin, 98 Sales manager, 80 Salesman, traveling, 79 Sample, 312 Sandal, 25, 312; ancient Egyp- tian makers, 25, 26 Sanitary conditions, 280-283 Schools and courses for shoe- making, 266-271 Screw fastened, 312 326 Alphabetical Index Seasons, 263, 289 Sex and age distribution of wage- earners, 289 Shank, 312; development, 62; burnishing, 312 Shanking out, 312 Sheepskin, 99 Shipping, 112; department, 252; positions, 253 Shoe factories, first, 39 Shoe factory, entering, 264 Shoe foreman, 272, 273; assist- ant, 273 Shoe and Leather Association, New England, 45 Shoe industry, magnitude of the, today, 44; capital invested, 1909, 44; number of employ- ees, 1909 and now, 44 Shoe laws, ancient, 33 Shoe manufacture, department of, 109; power in, 61; highly specialized, 263; report upon industrial education in, 267 Shoe repairing industry, 292-295 Shoe superintendent, 109, 166, 168, 271; assistant, 273 Shoe tag, 136, 138; typical, 139 Shoe tariff, 36 Shoemaker, 25, 43; itinerant, 33 Shoemakers, first American, 27; New England, 35; Dutch, 35; attitude of early towards the shoe factory, 42 Shoemaking, American, 28; era of machine, 58 Shoemaking a trade, 264; monot- ony of, 275; offsets to monot- ony, 275; efforts to lessen monotony, 276 Shoe shop of a century ago, 35; old time beside a modern fac- tory, 37 Shoe shops, first, 34 Shoes, ancient and mediaeval, 25, 26; English-made, 36; value of in Colonial times, 32 Size, 312 Skin showing how patterns are placed in cutting, 147 Skiving, 152, 312; positions in, 153 Slashing, 190 Slipper, 313 Slugging, 221, 313 Sneaker, 313 Social clubs, 277 Social service, 109, 277-280; quotations from a government study, 277 Sock lining, 313 Suede leather, 96 Soft tips, 313 Sole laying, 206, 313; leveling, 210; sewing, 209 Sole leather department, 112, 116, 187-198; employees, 196 Sole leveling machine, 210; il- lustration, 223 Soles, 187 Sorter, 142, 143 Sorting, 310 Sorting department, positions, 143 Spanish War, 91 Specialists, 43 Speed, 275 Split, 93, 313 Spring, 313 Stamping, 313; machine, 153 Stages in Goodyear welt manu- facture, 130; illustration, 131 Standard screw, pegged and nailed departments, 226 Statics (see Census) States, leading, 44, 45, 47 Stay, 313 Stitch separating, 313 Stitched aloft, 313 Stitching department, 112, 113, 116, 163-183; processes, 163; number of parts, 164; divi- sions, 164; chart, 165 Stitching machine, operating, 176 Stock keeping, 314; fitting, 42 Stripping, 314 Style, 314 Subsidiary factories, 102 System, factory, 39; quotation on contract, 41; organization, 43, 63, 67 Tan, 314 Tanners, American, 91 Alphabetical Index 327 Tanning, 89-91, 99-101, 173, 314 Tap, 314 Teacher, 173 Teams, 40 Tempering, 314 Terms used in shoemaking, 299- 316 Teutonic tribes, 25 Thebes, 25 Time and pay statistics in the cutting department, 154 Tip, 314; department, 164, 166; positions, 168; repairing de- partment, 248 Toe box department, 193 Toe boxes, 187 Toe closing department, 164; 175; positions, 176 Toe and heel wiping, 202 Tongue, 314 Top, 314; facing, 314; lift, 314; stitching, 314; stitcher, 172, 173 Top stitching department, 172; positions, 173 Training classes, 277 Treasurer, 109 Treeing, 112, 315; department, 249; positions, 251 Trimming cutting, 315 Trimmings, 135, 153, 164 Trowbridge, William F., 61 Turned shoe, 129, 315; depart- ment, 222; lasting, 222; posi- tions, 225 Turnover, 315 United Shoe Machinery Com- pany, 26 Upper, 315 Upholstering, 91 Upper leather department, 112, 116, 135-159; chart of, 137 Upper leather room, 141 Upper trimming machine, 205 Vamp, 175, 315 Vampers, 173 Vamping, 164; department, 175; positions, 175 Viscolizing, 315 Vice-president, 109 Wages and variation in employ- ment, 284 Welfare manager, 109 Welt, 315; beating, 206, 315; finishing, 210 Welt bottoming department, 205; positions, 213 Welt insole department, 189; positions, 191 Welting, 316 Wetting, 190 Wheeling, 316 Width, 316 Willow calf, 98 Wooldredge, John, 58 ^ V ■> 6 ^ ^0 o.