The Boot and Shoe Industry in Massachusetts as a Vocation for Women. October, 1915 Volume 6 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915 Excerpt: ...among the factories, some assuming much and some very little. A few are so fortunate as to have a steady supply of skilled operatives trained in the neighboring shops, a condition found chiefly in small shoe centers where one shop pays better or is "nicer" than the others and consequently attracts the best workers. Where the trade is picked up, or learned at odd moments, the cost to the employer is very small, as a machine can be used only if it has been vacated by some one else and the learner can "try" only in the free time for which she is drawing no pay. On the other hand, the employer who trains all his help does so at heavy cost, made up of the wear and tear on machines, the power necessary to run them, the waste of materials, the wages of the teacher, and the wages of the learner. The value of the learner's product certainly does not balance this, while the training is made still more costly by the fact that a large number of the girl learners leave after they have reached the point at which they become valuable. A generally alleged reason for leaving is that they are " discontented." More definite explanation discloses various causes: Frequently they can not learn the process they wish; often the girl claims a high wage when she has mastered an operation, without realizing that she has not gained the speed which makes her production valuable; sometimes, too, the learner is put on piecework almost at the beginning, and as her output is very small she becomes disheartened and leaves. 3881--Bull. 180-15 4 The time necessary to learn processes in the factory is difficult to estimate, varying as it does with every operation and with every learner. To quote the skilled worker: "It all depends upon how smart you are.&quot...