Figure 1.--This American family about 1910 is involved in piece work for the garment industry. Mother is working and supervising the children. This was done to suplement the father's income, or if the father was missing or incapciated might be the sole means of support. The children would work after school or even be made to stay home from school. Notice the boy hear is wearing a tie while working. This family is making elastic garters/stocking supporters. Source: Library of Congress-- m198500870012>

Although not often thought of as a place of child labor, this was often the case for children, especially before the industrial revolution. Many families helpedmake ends meet by doing piece work in their homes and tenaments. Parents were paid by the piece for completing a wide range of work. this was epecially common in te 19th century before the advent of factories. Piece work is especially associated with the garment trade, but was not in the 19th century limited to it. As factories became increasingly important, piece work declined in importance. Even so there were many operations for which machines had not yet been invented. The fact that many families lived in desperate circumstance, meant manufactures could find people willing to perform the needed opearations at low cost. This discouraged the mnufacturers from making substntial investments in expensive machinery. Whole families were involved in piece work before the industial revolution. Gradually in the 19th century it became increasingly an activity perormed by women and children. The children might even be kept home from school to do piece work.

Elastic Garters (New York, about 1910)

This American family about 1910 is involved in piece work for the garment industry. Mother is working and supervising the children. This was done to suplement the father's income, or if the father was missing or incapciated might be the sole means of support. The children would work after school or even be made to stay home from school. Notice the boy hear is wearing a tie while working. This family is making elastic garters/stocking supporters. A reader writes, "I'm curious about this picture. Do we know where it was taken? The boy seems to be wearing a yarmulke. Is the family Jewish?" Unfortunately, HBC has no additional information about the phorograph. I supose it could be a yarmulke. It certainly looks like a cap and we question if mother would have allowed her son to wear his cap in the home. Somehow I have it my mind that yarmulkes were knitted with patterns. This looks to be a solid color. If I was to guess, I would think that the photograph was taken in New Yorl City, because the garment industry was so important there. It could, however, be a tenament in any large northern city. Of course Jewish immigrant families were heavily involved in the garment trade. Remember the Triangle Shirt Waist Fire which occurred about when this photograph ws taken. Many of the girls who died were Jewish. A reader writes, "Modern-day yarmulkes are often plain black skull caps, sometimes made out of velveteen, but sometimes also with embrodiered patterns. I have observed them at Jewish funerals, often supplied by the funeral home. I suspect that the boy in this photo is wearing a yarmulke, but I'm not sure what they looked like in 1910. I agree that the setting is probably New York City." I am not sure, but boys wearing yarmulkes was not very common in the early 20th century, or t least that is the impression I get from available photographs. I am not entirely sure why. Given the level of anti-semtism, manyboys may not have anted to draw attentin to the fact that they were Jewish.

Elastic Garters (New York, 1912)

This photograph was taken in 1912 and throws some light on the labor practices of 1912 in New York City. The Jewish father was out of work, so he enlisted his whole family (wife and children) as well as neighbor children in helping to make children's pin-on hose supporters--an item that nearly every child, male and female, wore in 1912 up to at least age 14 since long stockings for children at that time were virtually universal. The popular color for supporters was black because of their not showing soil, although supporters could also be bought in white. We don't know the name of the family, but we do have a few details about their work habits. The younger children worked several nights a week until 9 PM (their bedtime)--those ten or younger--while the older children stayed up until 11 PM working on the garters. This was take-home work from a local business (perhaps Stein?) that manufactured the supporters and advertised them very widely in newspapers and magazines. The families took unfinished hose supporters home from the factory in large cloth bags, finished them (notice the large basket for the completed garters on the floor) and then returned them to the factory when the work was done the next morning. Notice the girl's large hairbow, the older boy's dark flat cap (worn indoors according to Jewish custom), and the girl's sailor suit.

Created: December 31, 2003
Last updated: 6:04 AM 9/29/2008