A Cloak maker worked in the garment industry,[1] often in an enterprise whose workers were represented by a union.[2]
In the 1920s, there were more than 50,000 people employed as cloakmakers.[2]
Much of this industry was centered in NYC.[3] While most of the cloakmakers were Jewish women,[1]: p.191 [4][5] the next largest group, although much smaller in number, were Italian women.[6][7]
Cloakmakers were a part of those known as clothing-workers, including those who made cloaks, suits and skirts.[2][8]
Other areas where this industry was strong included Chicago[9] and Cincinnati.[10]
This occupation involved making or repairing garments that contained animal fur. The high end of this profession focused on
fur coats. A
1915 New York Times article about 75,000 garment workers said "Cloakmakers take the lead."[15]
The garment industry's strikes were neither rare nor long-lasting.[16][17]
References
^
abcSally M. Miller (December 1978). From Sweatshop Worker to Labor Leader: Theresa Malkiel, A Case Study. p. 190.
^60,000 to 70,000 cloakmakers in New York City in 1910
Oscar Handlin; Charles Reznikoff. Introduction: Louis Marshall, Champion of Liberty. p. xxi.
^Hadassa Kosak (2000). Cultures of Opposition: Jewish Immigrant Workers, New York. p. 202. The preponderance of Jews among cloakmakers ... 1885
^contrast two strikes: 20,000 "mostly female" vs. a different strike in the same 1909/1910/1911 period: 1,200 men in one strike and 2,000 men in another.
"History of the ILGWU: Early Struggles".
^S. Luconi (Summer 2010). "Crossing Borders on the Picket Line: Italian-American Workers and the 1912 Strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts". Italian Americana. 28 (2): 149–161.
JSTOR41426589.
^The Ladies' Garment Worker. 1918. p. 25. It was understood that money collected from Italians ...
^only "half of all women working in the garment industry between 1909 and 1919 belonged to unions." Debran Rowland (2004). The Boundaries of Her Body: The Troubling History of Women's Rights.