Sweatshops
Sweatshop workers rolled cigars, ironed clothes or sewed clothes. The wages for rolling cigars was $3.75 for every thousand rolled cigars. A family could only roll about three thousand a week. The seamstress, a person who sews for a living, would be bent over a sewing machine for hours at a time. The garment or clothing industry was growing so the seamstresses were needed but earned very little. Sometimes these small sewing shops did so well they were able to open a larger clothing store. Children would do the simpler tasks such as removing extra threads from a piece of clothing or bringing the finished goods to the factories or clothing shops.
Sweatshop workers rolled cigars, ironed clothes or sewed clothes. The wages for rolling cigars was $3.75 for every thousand rolled cigars. A family could only roll about three thousand a week. The seamstress, a person who sews for a living, would be bent over a sewing machine for hours at a time. The garment or clothing industry was growing so the seamstresses were needed but earned very little. Sometimes these small sewing shops did so well they were able to open a larger clothing store. Children would do the simpler tasks such as removing extra threads from a piece of clothing or bringing the finished goods to the factories or clothing shops.
Small
garment shops were also established because clothing factories became
crowded and couldn't keep up with the work. It was cheaper for the owners
of the factories to have the garment shops produce the work. The garment
shops could make immigrants work longer hours with much less pay. Again,
the rooms were small and over crowded.
