Sewing At the Triangle Waist Factory...
.: Groups .:. Search .:. About :.
User Password
Register Now! Lost Password?

Sewing Discussions - A group that is not as it seams. 

Page 1 of 4       1 2 3 > last >> Bookmark this page:  YahooMyWeb Yahoo!  Google Google  Windows Live Favorites Windows Live  del.icio.us del.icio.us  digg digg  Add to Netscape Netscape
Subject Author Date
Sewing At the Triangle Waist Factory... Phaedrine 07-16-2006
If you were  Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Posted by Phaedrine on July 16, 2006, 12:26 pm

I thought all you sewists might be interested in a new book called
"Triangle". It's a novel written about the great fire in New York
City's Triangle Waist Factory where many women and girls died, unable to
escape. As many of you already know, the terrible incident was merely
one of many in New York and scores of other cities of the early 20th
century where women and little girls worked and were abused in
horrendous slave/sweat-shop conditions.

Their plight eventually led to the formation of the International Ladies
Garment Union. As a sidebar, I'd also point out for historical
posterity that there were no child abuse laws in those days either.
Incredibly, the first child abuse cases in the US were tried under the
SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) laws. Truth is
stranger than fiction. Here's web page with a sample chapter from the
book and an audio file of the interview with the author. BTW, the site
refers to the "shirtwaist" factory instead of "waist" because most
people have no idea anymore what a "waist" is.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5560321>


Phae

--
I fear me you but warm the starved snake
Who, cherished in your breasts, will sting your hearts. (Henry VI,Shakespeare)

Posted by Pogonip on July 16, 2006, 1:58 pm
Phaedrine wrote:
> I thought all you sewists might be interested in a new book called
> "Triangle". It's a novel written about the great fire in New York
> City's Triangle Waist Factory where many women and girls died, unable to
> escape. As many of you already know, the terrible incident was merely
> one of many in New York and scores of other cities of the early 20th
> century where women and little girls worked and were abused in
> horrendous slave/sweat-shop conditions.
>
> Their plight eventually led to the formation of the International Ladies
> Garment Union. As a sidebar, I'd also point out for historical
> posterity that there were no child abuse laws in those days either.
> Incredibly, the first child abuse cases in the US were tried under the
> SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) laws. Truth is
> stranger than fiction. Here's web page with a sample chapter from the
> book and an audio file of the interview with the author. BTW, the site
> refers to the "shirtwaist" factory instead of "waist" because most
> people have no idea anymore what a "waist" is.
>
> <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5560321>
>
>
> Phae
>

This is a good reminder of why we now have unions, labor laws and OSHA.
--
Joanne
stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.alternate-universe
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/

Posted by cea on July 16, 2006, 6:13 pm

Pogonip wrote:
> Phaedrine wrote:
> > I thought all you sewists might be interested in a new book called
> > "Triangle". It's a novel written about the great fire in New York
> > City's Triangle Waist Factory where many women and girls died, unable to
> > escape. <snip>
> > <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5560321>
> > Phae
---
> This is a good reminder of why we now have unions, labor laws and OSHA.
> Joanne
---
Not that any of the above does much good, Joanne. Sweat shops and
horrific conditions are rampant, even in the US. The Feds are always
busting another shop which specializes in what amounts to slave labor,
usually involving illegal aliens. It's appalling that such conditions
exist nowadays--we prefer to think of the world as more enlightened,
but it really isn't. There are too many greedy people out there.
Phae, I believe I saw a tv show, might have been based on the book
you noted. During that period, the whole 'lower classes' were
considered little better than animals, so it's not too far-fetched that
lower class children were rescued by the SPCA, or summat similar.
Childhood as we know it is a relatively new concept; kids were
considered noth9ing special-- just another mouth to feed, and had to
bend their wee backs to the same labor as adults did.
If you remember the world has been agrarian until fairly recently, it
makes a bit of sense. You no pick, you no eat.
Cea


Posted by Pogonip on July 16, 2006, 9:09 pm
cea wrote:
> Pogonip wrote:
>
>>This is a good reminder of why we now have unions, labor laws and OSHA.
>>Joanne
>
> ---
> Not that any of the above does much good, Joanne. Sweat shops and
> horrific conditions are rampant, even in the US. The Feds are always
> busting another shop which specializes in what amounts to slave labor,
> usually involving illegal aliens. It's appalling that such conditions
> exist nowadays--we prefer to think of the world as more enlightened,
> but it really isn't. There are too many greedy people out there.
>
But now it _is_ illegal, and the law _can_ do something when it's
reported. Back then, there was nothing to report. It was business as
usual.
--
Joanne
stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.alternate-universe
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/

Posted by Phaedrine on July 17, 2006, 12:59 am
wrote:

> cea wrote:
> > Pogonip wrote:
> >
> >>This is a good reminder of why we now have unions, labor laws and OSHA.
> >>Joanne
> >
> > Not that any of the above does much good, Joanne. Sweat shops and
> > horrific conditions are rampant, even in the US. The Feds are always
> > busting another shop which specializes in what amounts to slave labor,
> > usually involving illegal aliens. It's appalling that such conditions
> > exist nowadays--we prefer to think of the world as more enlightened,
> > but it really isn't. There are too many greedy people out there.
> >
> But now it _is_ illegal, and the law _can_ do something when it's
> reported. Back then, there was nothing to report. It was business as
> usual.

I read some hearing transcripts from 1911 when the Triangle fire
occurred. It was certainly a chilling expose of the era. The all-wood
buildings which housed these factories or sweat shops were usually 10 to
15 story wood structures called loft buildings. They usually measured
about 75 feet across and 75 to 100 feet deep. The building in which the
Triangle factory was housed was 100x100 and had from about 250 to 400
workers on each floor. They packed them in like sardines. Triangle had
18 *inch* aisles, all the windows and most of the doors were kept
locked, and boxes were usually stacked in front of secondary exits
leaving only a single exit for an entire floor of people. There were
inspectors but whether or not they actually found and reported anything
was pretty much a matter of their individual judgment.

Apparently the sewing machines required a great deal of oil to keep them
going and the employees complained vigorously about the horrible smell
and lack of fresh air. Combine all that oil with all the wood and you
had tinderboxes which needed very little to get a fire going. The
Triangle fire starting under a cutting table in a pile of cuttings and
lint. There were no fire alarms. Most of the laborers were immigrants
(legal immigrants).

You may recall a fire at a chicken processing plant a couple of years
ago in which employees died because the doors had all been locked at the
order of the owner. This kind of thing is against the law but is
happening at increasing frequency due to the failure of certain
government institutions to enforce the law or act on complaints in favor
of greedy owners who make large campaign contributions. The dissolution
of so many unions hasn't helped any either. OSHA requirements have been
greatly rolled back as well. How quickly people seem to forget the past
and fail to learn from it.

Phae

--
I fear me you but warm the starved snake
Who, cherished in your breasts, will sting your hearts. (Henry VI,Shakespeare)

Page 1 of 4       1 2 3 > last >>
Similar ThreadsPosted
Supplying sofabed, futon, dining set, coffee table factory with good price January 20, 2006, 11:24 am
waist line NOW August 20, 2008, 2:58 pm
pants with elastic waist June 4, 2007, 12:57 pm
DH's pants waist. April 9, 2008, 11:03 am
Guide to opening up waist band on trousers? December 22, 2005, 2:26 am
how to make my childs pants have an adjustable waist? August 18, 2006, 7:30 am
Newbie questions on a sewing machine and a simple sewing project. March 5, 2007, 9:45 pm
Need Sewing Machine recommendation for sewing Sunbrella outdoor fabric July 7, 2007, 10:27 am
Difference between alt.sewing and rec.crafts.textiles.sewing? February 27, 2006, 3:34 pm
Short summer sewing poll on sewing.com June 19, 2006, 10:24 am

Contact Us | Privacy Policy
Sewgirls.com XML SitemapXML Sitemap