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Registry No. 226-1-04 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

FOR THE 

NOTTINGHAM 

LACE CURTAIN INDUSTRY 

U. 

AS APPROVED ON NOVEMBER 1, 1933 

BY 

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT 

.. ----

~'~~o. Order 

2. Letter of Transmittal 

3. Code 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1933 

\I I { I 

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(II) 
EXECUTIVE ORDER 

CoDE OF FAIR CoMPETITION FOR THE NOTTINGHAM LAcE CuRTAIN 

INDUSTRY 

An application having- been duly made, pursuant to and in full 

compliance with the provisions of title I of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, approved June 16th, 1933, for my approval of a 

Code of Fair Competition for the Nottingham Lace Curtain Industry, and hearings having been held thereon and the Administrator 

having rendered his report containing an analysis of the said code 

of fair competition together with his recommendations and findings 

with respect thereto, and the Administrator having fomid that the 

said code of fair competition complies in all respects with the pertinent provisions of title I of said act and that the requirements of 

clauses (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of section 3 of the said act 

have been met : 

NOW, THEREFORE, I , Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of 

the United States, pursuant to the authority vested in me by title I 

of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16th, 1933, 

and otherwise, do adopt and approve the report, recommendations 

and findings of the Administrator and do order that the said code 

of fair competition be and it is hereby approved. 

THE W IIITE Hou sE, 

Novembe1· 1, 1933. 

Approval recommended : 

HuGH S. JOHNSON, 

Administrator. 

18026 °----188- 123----33 

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. 

(III) 
To the PRESIDENT: 

INTRODUCTION 

Submitted herewith is the report of the Hearing on the Code of 

Fair Competition for the Nettingham Lace Curtain Industry in the 

United States, as submitted by the National Association of Lace 

Curtain Manufacturers, conducted in the small ballroom of the 

Raleigh Hotel in \Vashington, D.C., on Sept€mber 22, 1933, in accordance with the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery 

Act. 

The following papers are included and annexed: . 

1. The Code as finally proposed. 

2. Notice of H earings. 

3. By-Laws of the National Association of Lace Curtain 

Manufacturers. 

4. Statement of procedure. 5. List of witnesses. 

6. Transcript of records. 

7. Statistical analysis. 

8. Report of Deputy. 

In accordance with the customary procedure every person who 

had filed a request for an appearance was freely heard in public, and 

all statutory and regulatory requirements were complied with. 

The Code which is attached was presented by duly qualified and 

authorized representatives of the Indu try, complying with the statutory requirements, as representing 100% of the Industry. 

PosiTION OF THE INDUSTRY AND CoDE PROVISIONS 

The industry is of moderate size, employing upwards of three 

thousand . (3,000) people, and doing an annual business ranging 

between .five and ten million dollars. Skilled crafts are highly 

organized. 

The code provides for a forty-hour week and a minimum of thir- teen ($13) dollars on a parity with other Textile Codes. There are 

only eleven firms in the field. The increase in employment is only 

estimated to be about 9 percent, as the industry had been working 

on a schedule of forty-eight hours and had been running fairly 

slack. 

The code make a number of provisions with respect to trade practices. Provisions governing reporting cannot be construed as anything more than open-trade provisions. vVhile not completely unanimou_s,_ the industry as a whole ha clearly expressed desire for these 

prOVlSlOnS. 

The relationship batween the operatives of Nottingham machines, 

known as weavers, and the workers, is fully covered by collective 

bargaining. It constitutes no part of this code: Auxiliary workers 

(IV) 
v 

are only unionized in part and there is considerable disparity with 

respect to their wages and condition of employment as between 

plants. Collective bargaining within each plant has not resulted in 

any uniformity throughout the industry. Their wage levels should 

in part respond to the provisions for "equitable readJustment of pay 

schedules." 

Objection to this code as finally submitted is with respect to the 

omission of provisions governing wage rates in any greater detail 

rather than to any provisions contained. 

FINDINGS 

The Administrator finds that : 

(a) This code complies in all respects with the pertinent provi-. 

sions of Title I of the Act, including without limitation subsection (a) of Section 7 and subsection (b) of Section 10 thereof. 

(b) The National Association of Lace Curtain Manufacturers 

to be truly representative of the Nottingham Lace and Lace Curtain 

Industry. The Bylaws of this association provide no inequitable 

restrictions to member hip. 

(c) The code is not designed to promote monopolies or to eliminate or oppress small enterprises and will not operate to discriminate 

against them and will tend to effectuate the policy of Title I of the 

National Industrial Recovery Act. 

(d) The Ad vi ory Boards did not raise objection to any of the 

material contained in the code, any differences of point of view 

being, as aforesaid, confined to the omission from the code of additional provisions which in fact are more properly covered by collective bargaining under contracts being put into effect concurrently 

with the code. The Legal Department has checked it as to form 

and has approved it. 

I recommend that the code be approved. 

HUGH s. JOHNSON' 

AdministTator. 

CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION FOR THE NOTTINGHAM 

LACE CURTAIN INDUSTRY 

PREAMBLE 

To effectuate the policy of Title 1 of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, the following provisions are established as a Code 

of Fair Competition for theN ottingham Lace Curtain Industry. 

ARTICLE I-DEFINITIONS 

The term "Nottingham Lace Curtain Industry" or "Industry" 

as used herein is defined to mean the manufacture of all articles, 

goods, and fabrics made in whole or in part of animal, vegetable, or 

mineral matter made on the Nottingham Lace Curtain l\1achine. 

The term "employee" as used herein shall include all persons 

employed in the conduct of such operations. 

TI1e term "employer" as used herein, includes anyone for whom 

such an employee is so engaged. 

The term " productive machinery " as used herein is defined to 

mean Nottingham Lace Curtain machines. 

The term "Administrator " as used herein means the Administrator 

of the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

ARTICLE II-WAGES 

On and after the effective date, no employee, except learners during a six weeks' apprenticeship, shall be paid less than at the rate 

of $13.00 per week for forty ( 40) hours of labor. Learners shall 

be paid not less than eighty (80) percent of the established minimum 

wage; no employer shall include within the category of learners 

more than five ( 5) percent of the total number of his employrP.s. 

There shall be an equitable readjustment of wage rates in the industry which will maintain the traditional relationship of wea-vers' 

rates to the wage rates for different classes of workers. 

The foregoing provisions for a minimum wage established a guaranteed minimum rate of pay per hour of employment regardless of 

whether the employee's compensation is otherwise based on a time 

rate or upon a piecework performance. 

ARTICLE III-HouRs 

On and after the effective date, no employee, except repair-shop 

crews, engineers, electricians, firemen, office, supervisory staff (earning $30 per week or over), and shipping, watching, and outside 

crews, shall work or be permitted to work in excess of forty ( 40 ) 

hours per week. Productive machinery in the Industry shall not be 

operated for more than two (2) shifts of forty (40) hours each per 

week. 

(1) 
2 

On and after the effective elate, the maximum hour of labor :for 

office employees in the industry shall be an average of :forty (40) 

hour a week over each period of six ( 6) weeks, but in no event shall 

exceed forty-eight ( 4 ) hours per week. 

On and after the effecti' e date, the maximum hours of labor of 

repair-shop crews, engineers firemen electricians and watching 

crews in the industry shall, except in case of emergency work, be 

:forty (40) hours a week with a tolerance of ten (10) percent. Any 

such emergency time shall be reported monthly to the Code Authority hereinafter provided for. One and one third (11/3 ) times 

the normal rate shall be paid for all hours worked over 44 hours per 

week. 

The foregoing provisions for maximum hours established a maximum of hours of labor per week for every employee covered, so that 

under no circumstances will such an employee be employed or parmitted to work for one or more employers in the industry in the 

aggregate in excess of the prescribed number of hours in a single 

week. 

The work done by lace-curtain weavers in the Industry shall be 

restricted to five ( 5) days per week, from :Monday through Friday, 

including two (2) shifts of fort} (40) hours each per week and eight 

(8) hours each per day. There shall be no making up of time lost 

through nece sary repairs, holidays, or for any other reason, except 

as agreed between the Code Authority hereinafter provided for and 

representatives of the lace-curtain weavers. 

ARTI LE IV-CHILD LAnOR 

On and after the effective date employers in the Nottingham Lace 

Curtain Industry shall not employ any minor under the age of 

sixteen ( 16) years. 

ARTICLE V-REPORTS 

1. With a view to keeping the President informed as to the observance or nonobservance of this Code of Fair Competition, each 

member of the Industry will furnish duly certified reports to the 

Code Authority hereinafter provided for. These reports shall contain such data as the Code Authority may require, subject to the 

approval of the Administrator, and shall be in such form as the 

Code Authority may prescribe. The report furnished as aforementioned shall be deemed confidential and shall not be divulged 

except as part of general stati tics for the Industry. 

2. Every member of the Industry shall furnish to any government 

agency or agencie designated by the Administrator such statistical 

information as the Administrator may from time to time deem nece sary for the purposes recited in Section 3 (a) of the National 

Recovery Act, and any reports and other information collected and 

compiled by the Code Authority hall be transmitted to such government agencies as the Administrator may direct. 

ARTICLE VI-STRETCH OuTs 

Until adoption of further provisions of this Code that may prove 

necessary to prevent any improper speeding up of work (stretch-
3 

outs) no employee of any mill in the Nottingham Lace Curtain Industry shall be required to do any work in excess of the practices as 

to the class or work of such employee prevailing on July 1, 1933, or 

prior to the Share-the-vVork Movement, unless such increase is submitted to and approved by the Code Authority provided for hereinafter and by the National Recovery Administration. 

ARTICLE VII-OPEN PRICE PnoYISIO:N s 

"\\Tithin thirty days after the effe cti'e elate of this Code eYery 

manufacturer in the Industry shall file with the Code Authority 

hereinafter provided for, or its agent, a li t of his prices which shall 

become effective immediately. 

Before deviations below these prices may be made, the manufacturer must file a new price list embracing such changes, which shall 

not be effective until seven (7) clays after date on which such list 

was received by the above Code Authority or its agent, except that 

changes made to meet any competitor's reductions may be m~de 

effective on or at any time after the date such competitor's reductions 

become effective. 

ARTICLE VIII- TRADE PRACTICES 

The following principles are set forth for the guidance and betterment of the I ndustry and their violation shall be a violation of this 

Code of Fair Competition: 

1. Delive1'ies.-All goods shall be sold on the basis of F .O.B. mill. 

Deliveries may be made free of charge to common carriers and to 

cu tamers located in the city where the mill is situated. This permits the ale from warehouses where the freight from mill to warehouse and warehouse charges are included in the price. 

2. T e1"1ns.- Terms of sale of regular goods shall be cash discount 

two (2) percent (10) days, sixty (60) days, dating trictly from 

date of shipment. 

Terms of sale of dropped stock, including damages, second , and 

dropped amples, shall be net ten (10) clays, dating strictly from. 

elate of shipment. 

It shall not be permissible to allow the deduction of the ca h discount and the addition of interest for any time taken beyond the 

clue date of invoice. 

Anticipation for the number of day invoices are prepaid may be 

allowed at the rate of six (6) percent per annum. 

3. Oonsignments.- No goods shall be shipped on consignment or 

memorandum, or prearrangement made for the return of unsold 

stock. 

4. Advertising Allo1cances.-Aclvertising allowance and rebates 

are unfair trade practices and mu t not be granted, \\ith the exception of u h adv~rtising allowances as ar approved in adYance by 

the Code Authority. 

5. Ph·acy.-Patterns of one manufacturer shall not knowingly be 

copied by another manufacturer. 

N e\\ fabrics produc cl by one manufacturer may be regi ten"!cl 

with the Code Authority and hall not be copied by another manufacturer for a period of one year. 
4 

All piracy disputes shall be settled by a Piracy Committee to be 

appointed by the Code Authority. There shall be the privilege of 

appeal to the Code Authority from decisions of the Piracy Committee, but the decisions of the Code Authority shall be final, sub- ject to appeal to the Adm;nistrator. 

6. Smnple R eqwire111ents.-A committee appointed by the Cnde 

Authority shall decide on a scale of prices to be charged for samples 

and materials used for sample purpo es. Any nch samples and 

materials supplied to any customer shall be charged at the approved 

scale. 

7. Dropped Stock or Discontinued Patterns.-Dropped stock or 

discontinued patterns shall be sold andj or delivered only in the 

months of May, June, November, and December, except when sold at 

regular current prices. It shall be considered an unfair trade practice 

to manufacture overruns or excess stocks for the purpose of selling as 

special merchandise or dropped stock. 

Seconds, dam.ages, and dropped samples may be sold at any time. 

8. Price Guarantee.-There shall be no guarantee of price to any 

dealer, whether a retailer, wholesaler, mail order or chain store or 

syndicate. 

9. Secret Rebates etc.-Rendering over-valued or under-valued 

invoices, secret payment of any allowances, or price discrimination 

between acceptable purchasers of like class and kind and under the 

same conditions, shall be considered an unfair trade practice. 

10. llferJwr·anclt"m Or·den.- :Memorandum or unconfirmed order 

shall not be considered as orders until confirmed. 

11. 111 erc handi~e, llfisbTancling.-:Misrepresentation as to the 

weight, quantity, quality, size or grade of any product sold, or 

offered for . ale is an unfair trade practice. 

12. Sales Below Oost.- No manufacturer of the products defined 

in Article 1 of this Code shall sell or exchange any of these products 

at a price or upon such terms or conditions that will result in the 

buyer paying for the goods received less than the cost to the seller, 

except to meet a competitor's filed price. This cost shall be determined in accordance with a uniform and tandard method of costing 

to be developed by the Code Authority and approved by the Administrator. 

ARTICLE IX-ADMINISTRATION 

To further effectuate the policies of the Act, the Executive Committee of the National Association of Lace Curtain Manufacturers, 

the applicant herein, or such successor committee or committees as 

may hereafter be constituted by the action of the National As ocia- tion of Lace Curtain :Manufacturers, and up to three members without vote, appointed by the President of the United States, one of 

whom shall be a representative of the Curtain Section of the 

Chartered Society of Amalgamated Lace Operatives of America is 

set up to cooperate with the Administrator as the Code Authority 

for the Nottingham Lace Curtain Industry. The Code Authority may from time to time present to the Administrator recommendations based on conditions in the Industry as they 

may develop which will tend to effectuate the operations of the pro- visions of this Code and the policy of the National Industrial Re-
5 

co-very Act. Such recommendations, when approved by the Administrato-r shall have the same force and effect as any other provisions 

of thjs Code. 

The Code Authority is also et up to cooperat€ with the Administrator in making investigations as to the functioning and observance 

of any of the provisions of this Code, at its own instance or on com- plaint by any person affected, and to report the same to the Administrator. 

The Code Authority is also set up for the purpose of investigating 

and informing the Administrator on behalf of the Nottingham_ Lace 

Curtain Industry as to the importation of competitive articles into 

the United States in substantial quantities or increasing ratio to 

domestic production on such terms or under such conditions as to 

r ender ineffective or seriously to endanger the maintenance of this 

Code and as an agency for making complaint to the President on 

behalf of the Nottingham Lace Curtain Industry under the provisions of th.e National Industrial Recovery Act with respect thereto. 

ARTICLE X - EXCEPTIONS 

This Code shall be in operation on and after the effective date as 

to the whole Notti.ngham T~a ce Curtain Industry, except as an exemption from or a stay of the application of its provisions may be granted 

by the Administrator to a person applying for the same or except 

as provided in an executive order. No distinction shall be made 

in such exceptions between persons who have and have not joined 

in applying for the approval of this Code. 

ARTICLE XI- GKJ\TERAL PRO\ISIONS 

No prov1s10n in this Code shall be permitted to operate in such 

manner as to promote monopolies or monopolistic practices or to 

eliminate or oppress small enterprises or to discriminate against 

them. 

Employees shall have the right to organize and bargain collectively 

through representatives of their own choosing, and shall be free 

from all interference, restraint, or coercion of employers or labor, 

or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in the 

self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of 

collective bargaining or other mutual aiel or protection. 

No employee and no one seeking employment shall be required as 

a condition of employment to join any company union or to refrain 

from joining, organizing, or as isting a labor organization of his own 

choosing. 

Emplo} ers shall comply with the maximum hours of labor, minimum rates of pay, and other conditions of employment, approved or 

prescribed by the President of the United States. 

Within each S~ate, members of the Industry shall comply with 

r.ny State .laws, imposing more stringent requirements regulating 

licen ing, the age, wages, or hours of labor of employees, than under 

this Code. 

Where the cost of executing contracts entered into the Nottingham 

Lace Curtain Industry prior to the presentation to Congress of the 
6 

National Industrial Recovery Act are increased by the application 

of the provisions of that Act to the Industry, it is equitable and promotive of the purposes of the Act that appropriate adjustments of 

such contracts to reflect such increased costs be arrived at by arbitral 

proceedings or otherwise, and the National Association of Lace Curtain Manufacturers, the applicant for this Code, is constituted an 

agency to assist in effecting such adjustments. This Code and all the provisions thereof are expressly made subject to the right of the President, in accordance with the provisions 

of Clause 10 (b) o:f theN ational Industrial Recovery Act, :from time 

to time to cancel or modify any order, approval, license? rule or regulation, issued under Title 1 of the said Act, and specifically to the 

right of the President to cancel or modify his approval of this Code 

or any conditions imposed by him upon his approval thereof. 

Such of the provisions of this Code as are not required to be included therein by the National Industrial Recovery Act may, with 

the approval of the President, be modified or eliminated as changes 

in circumstances or experience may indicate. It is contemplated that 

:from time to time supplementary provisions of this Code or additional codes will be submitted :for the approval of the President to 

prevent unfair competition in price and other unfair and destructive 

competitive practices and to effectuate the other purposes and policies 

of Title 1 of theN ational Industrial Recovery Act consistent with the 

provisions hereof. 

ARTICLE XII-EFFECTIVE DATE 

The effective date of this Code shall be the second Monday after 

its approval by the President of the United States. 

0