.^rr.:- '--.••.■'r.'?;j--?iflU dSfO USHT UC-NRLF $B 2fiD afib Facts Versus Fables About the Present Cost of Good Clothing r- 00 CO m >- Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from- IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/factsversusfableOOhousrich Facts Versus Fables About the Present Cost of Good Clothing Published 1920 by The HOUSE of KUPPENHEIMER <:,<^^° ^^-6^^ A II statistics presented by Charts effective as compiled May, IQ20. Copyrighted 19S0 by The Home of Kupjjenheimer AV' THE PROBLEM ONLY five dollars' worth of wool in a suit of clothes ! Only five dollars* worth in a suit that sells for sixty dollars. Who gets the rake-off ? Where is the leak ? Says the far- mer, **I sell you my wool for five and have to pay you back that five, and fifty-five more before I get my suit.** Says the man in the street, **I don't know who gets it, whether the farmer or the clothier; I only know that clothes are too high.** Where is the Leak? Who got that fifty- five? Who profiteered? **I didn*t,** says the retailer. *4 didn't,** says the cloth manufacturer. **We didn*t, ** say the cutters and the tailors and the buttonhole makers and the thousands of other shop work- ers. Well, then it must be the manufacturer who killed Cock Robin and pocketed the fifty- five. But, don*t be too hasty. More necks are broken by jumping at conclusions than by hanging or falling down elevator shafts. Let*s look for the facts and save on necks. Wool Plus Genius First off, we*ll grant that only five dollars' worth of wool goes into an average suit, though 42 li 06 perhaps two dollars more is nearer the exact truth. Never mind, face the facts at their worst. What then? Well this. When you say wool, do you say all that goes into a suit? No, perhaps not, you answer, a little evasively. What else then? Oh, silk linings and a few buttons. Is that all? By no means. A dozen other things are needed to build into the clothes that a modern man would be willing to wear in the sight of his friends. But there's another thing more important still which isn't a thing at all, but without which you'd get no clothes for love or money. And that's labor. An amazing amount of human labor intervenes between the sheep's back and yours. Thousands of fingers handle that precious wool before it transforms you from a "forked radish" into a well dressed gentle- man. More than that, those things and this labor have to be fashioned and directed and assembled. The power to imagine and design and assemble and direct is creative genius and genius costs money. Fables Already we have gone far enough to see that good clothes do not grow on bushes. Some people talk as if they did. Some of our ancestors once upon a time had a quaint sup- erstition that in a far-off country lambs grew on trees. Here is a picture which an old chronicler used to prove it. 6 If it were only true! Here is the moral to this fable: If the farmer could grow wool that easily and the clothier could pick finished garments from his berry patch, the two together would deal a body blow to our great common enemy — the High Cost of Living. But we live in an age of Fact, and not Fable. Mere wishing will neither grow wool nor make clothing. Let us get back there- fore from the Middle Ages and down to sober Nineteen Twenty Facts! Fact Number One Sheep^s wool is clothing for sheep but not for men. If you don't believe it, try walking down the main street of your town with a sheep skin draped over you like the legendary shepherd . '^ UHeSficpHordofOld The morals police and the insanity squad have a benighted perhaps but a very active prejudice against legendary shepherds and their ways. Frankly, your choice is forcibly limited, let us say, to a good three-piece suit or 8 G)pyright I92Q. The House of Kuppenheimer Ufiej^rt of Vh^ay an overcoat, any one of the ingenious creations of the Clothes Artist. Wear one of these and the authorities credit you with good sense and good taste and perhaps other virtues as well. 9 Fact Number Two Wool cannot by magic be presto! changed into good clothes, Ali Baba had his "Open sesame." And in old Grimm we used to read the charming fairy tale about the magic table to which you had only to say, ''Table be spread/' and behold, a banquet. But those fairy tales were either the day dreams of youth or the rosy fancies by which hungry or lazy people satisfied their longings. At any rate, the only magic we can depend on in these days is the magic of hard work plus directive genius. Fact Number Three Good wool is scarce, and all wools are expensive. Moreover, they go through expen- sive processes before they become w^oolen cloth or clothing. The general opinion pre- vails that wool supplies are large both in America and abroad. This is only true in part, however. For while there is an abund- ance of low grade wools and grades that are not generally wanted, higher grades of wool are very scarce, partly at least because the rising taste of the public expresses itself more and more in the demand for the finer grades of clothing. The American public tends to become better dressed. There is no such thing as cheap wool now- adays. A comparison of wool prices for 1915 and 1920 (as shown by Chart I) makes 10 $ 5.00 - 4.00- 3.00- COMPARISON OF WOOL PRICES 1915 AND 1920 The white bars represent money prices in 1915; the shaded bars 1920. Percentage increases appear at the end of shaded bars. Fine Australian 1/2 Territory 3/8 So. American 1/4 So. American Fine Australian Worsted Yarn 1915 .60 .70 .40 .30 1.16 1920 Tio" 1.75 1.35 0.00 5.00 331% Fine Aus~ 1/2 Terr- 3/8 So. 1/4 So. Fme Austral, tralian itory American American Worsted Yarn 11 plain the high rise in the cost of certain staple grades of wool. Fine Australian jumped from sixty cents to two dollars a pound — an increase of 233%; }/2 Territory rose from seventy cents to a dollar seventy-five — an increase of 150%. Other grades rose from 100% to 138%, while fine Australian worsted yarn soared from a dollar sixteen fo five dollars a pound- — a leap of 331%. This increase, by the way, as will be seen later, far outstrips increases in the cost of high grade clothing or of farm products. Moreover, it overtops by 100% the increase in wages to the clothing workers. High Cost of Converting But disregarding the fact of the huge increase in the cost of wool itself, attention should be focused on the cost of preparing and manufacturing this raw wool into staple cloth. It is not generally known, even to the clothing trade, and has not been sufficiently explained apparently to the public, that the raw wool must pass through eight or ten different processes before it is converted into clothing. There is the cost of transportation, of storage, of factory equipment for convert- ing raw materials, of labor, of designing, sell- ing, taxes, insurance, and other items to be reckoned with; and these costs, like other aspects of modern business, have been mounting rapidly. 12 CHART II. COMPARISON OF MILL COSTS OF A YARD OF 12 OUNCE SERGE IN 1915 AND 1920 $6.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 .80 .60 .40 .20 The white bars represent 1915, the shaded bars 1920 costs Materials Labor Fuel Soap Dyes Supplies Total 1915 1920 1.01 .23 .02 .01 .04 .04 $1.35 4.35 .50 .05 .03 .12 .08 $5.13 An increase of 280% Materials Labor Fuel, Soap, Dyes Supplies Total 13 COMPARISON OF MILL COSTS OF A YARD OF \\V2 OUNCE WORSTED IN 1915 AND 1920 $6.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 2.00 1.00 .28 .60 .40 .20 The white bars represent 1915, shaded bars 1920 costs Materials Labor Fuel Soap Supplies Total 1915 1920 1.02 .28 .02 .01 .04 $1.37 4.74 .625 .05 .03 .08 $5,525 An Increase of 3037o ' nTTTTT] Materials Labor Fuel, Soap, Supplies Total 14 An examination of Charts II and III will yield an interesting insight into just one phase of this converting process and will prove that every item, whether labor, fuel, soaps, dyes or other supplies, has doubled or even trebled in cost from 1915 to 1920. For example: it costs 280% more in 1920 to pro- duce a yard of 12-ounce serge, and 303% more to produce a yard of 11 J^-ounce worsted. These are not fairy tales, but facts borne out by an elaborate analysis of mill costs. Fact Number Four The Romance of Manufacture There is nothing unique in the fact that finished clothing represents a big increase in cost over the price of raw wool. If wool could by magic be turned into clothing with- out the intervention of labor and artistic crea- tion, the wearer of clothes would only have to pay the salary of the magician. Even then, the magician might demand a high royalty for his services. There is absolutely no escape from the high cost of thinking, that is, of artistic and administrative ability; and there is no escape from labor, a lot of labor and expensive labor, in the manufacturing process. In every art and in every industry which turns out a fine product, we run up against the same problem of the difference between raw material and the finished crea- tion. A diamond, for example, when you 15 come to think of it, is only a pinch of coal dust, but that pinch of dust has undergone a very elaborate manufacture during countless ages in nature's laboratory, so that a fraction of a penny's worth of raw material takes on a value running into thousands and millions of dollars. A square yard of canvas plus four sticks of wood, plus a little paint makes a picture which will cost from twenty-five dollars to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, depend- ing not upon the cost of canvas, not upon the cost of paint, not upon the four sticks of wood, but upon the artistic ability of the painter. A violin is only a dollar's worth of wood and varnish from the standpoint of raw materials, and yet a good violin costs from one hundred to five thousand dollars. A violin bow with perhaps fifty cents' worth of raw materials was valued at five hundred dollars the other day. Not wood or horsehair, but Art ! The steel in a sledge hammer, or the rubber in a rubber valve, or the lead in a lead pipe, or the brass in an ordinary rough casting, represents a large part of the selling price of the manufactured article. But the steel in a razor or in a watch spring, or the rubber in a fountain pen, or the brass in an optical instrument or the glass in a telescope lens or a pair of spectacles, is only an inconsiderable item in the value and price of the finished article. One hundred fifty thousand watch 16 screws can be made out of a pound of steel. For use in the Waltham 73^ Ligne Ladies' watch, eighty four thousand hair springs are made from a pound of steel. The Waltham Company states that this raises the value of that pound of steel from five dollars to thirty thousand dollars. Thirty thousand dollars for five dollars' worth of steel ! Sixty dollars for five dollars' worth of wool ! The point is clear that it is not the raw material, but what you do with the raw material which not only makes the raw material serviceable, but increases its value. This is not the fable of the Golden Fleece, but the Romance of Modern Manufacturing. It is not magic, but genius and hard work. Fact Number Five Dislocations and Sprains Fine cloth is not a matter of politics. A comparison of Charts IV and V will show a close relationship between the rising curve of four staple cloths and three staple grades of raw wool. It is true there were some fluctua- tions in the price of piece goods under our varying tariff policy from 1891 onward. But the real skyward tendency of the price of cloth did not manifest itself fully until after America went into the war. The history of the dramatic shift in prices it is not necessary to rehearse here. It is sufilicient to say that the 17 CHART IV FLUCTUATtON IN PRICE5 OF STANDARD UINE5 OF PIECt G00D5 SINCE 1891 ♦ * S TARIFF CHANCES t « «920 18^0 89 S 1900 I90«r 1910 1915 JANFEB 6 25 J ~r 1 ' 11 L i ' 6.00 U- LEGEND 1 i y ^ ^^ 5.00 iC z: "T^rz i^MfKlNlEY BILL iB^O -1^-^- J WltSONSlli '9J4 r x^2r ;» OiNCcev auL 1897 ^ X I PAVNE AtOAICH BiU t^QJ ^^x 325 JUMOERWOOO eiLU 'JiJ -^t^ X -1-+""-^ ■ t^ J. 00 1 -t-Cni 1 .±. :: : :__tt / ..JO 1 __,,_,^_j____tt t^.i 111 ir" ^A./V ^it- "s. 7 - - -| — i #1- ' /<*' ""i"i;sz^2^ y'l 1 ^i^- / 1 o i ' ! ' '' "" -- . 1 • 75 ~ ! 1 ! I , i4_ ' 1 'i 1 1 18 CHART V FLUCTUATIONS IN WOOL PRICEi" - JINCE 1907 )7 I50J IJII IJI3 IJIS 1917 /9l> 1920 1 1 •5 2.S0 2.40 Z30 Z20 2 10 2.00 190 l.«0 1.70 160 ISO 140 liO 120 I 10 100 50 80 TO .60 JO 40 30 20 10 JAN «» MAR APR - I.ECEND FINE &TAPIC scounro /^ ^ "" PINKCIOTHINC ICOURfO 'M BtoooTcooReo y ^ <^ — ^ L 7^ // If 1 ! '"* I i / I r I' ''^ S^ V ' "-V /! S"" V- J^ N i ^ / ^ 1 19 cost of cloth was dislocated like the costs of other commodities, because the world's atten- tion was focused for five years upon the manu- facture of destructive munitions and army equipment. Raw materials were thrown into the hopper wholesale to feed and clothe and shoe an army for battle. An artificial vacuum was created. The law of supply and demand began to operate on a dramatic scale. Raw materials, finished materials and wages soared incontinently. And we are still feel- ing the effect of that tremendous dislocation. But in addition to the depletion of normal manufacture caused by the rush to supply the warring Governments, and beyond the expensive shifts and changes and expansions of productive machinery which the war demanded, it is safe to say, with the United States Commissioner of Labor Statistics, that by far the most important cause of increased prices is the enormous additions to the circu- lating medium, money and its substitutes, during the past four years. This is not the whole explanation of the increased cost of clothing, but it is one very significant side- light thrown upon it. Fact Number Six The Game of "Follow the Leader" Wool is not the only thing that enters into the manufacture of fine clothing. A dozen other important materials are used, and every 20 CHART VI. DIAGRAM SHOWING INCREASED COSTS OF COTTON LININGS, CANVAS ALPACAS, ETC. FROM 1914 TO 1920 $1.15 1.10 1.05 .1.00 .95 .90 .85- .80 .75 .70 fti;- 1 1 1 1 Canvas MMM Sleeve Sateens Alpacas Inside Vest Lin. Silesia 1 1 1 1 !/ / / / . '-y / .60 / / / / .39 .50 .45 .40 .35 .30 .25 .20 .15 .10 .05 f/ / / ^y^ I / ^ y / / / > / / // k^ / / / // ..^^'^^^ ^'^ ■ .-^ 7 . / ^-'' ^ .-<" /<^ "' .s^^— ^ . — — y . . .^\ -^— - ;;Z---^ '^ " 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 21 CHART VII. DIAGRAM SHOWING INCREASED COSTS OF SILK LININGS, BUTTONS AND SPOOL SILK FROM 1914 TO 1920 tin nn $17.00 - $16.00 - $15.00 - $14.00 -