The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-03-09

The National Clothiers' Association
meets today at Rochester, N. Y, to dis
cuss the condition of the clothing
trade. This association Is confined to
wholesale dealers In clothing. Its OBJ
ject IL to secure cooperation among
members of the trde and to work for
their mutual advantage generally. In
addition to the wholesalers' associa-
tion, there are number of other or
CARNATIONS recruited from various
branches Of the clothing trade, inciud-
ing retailers, manufacturers OF mems
furnishings. etc. Some of these organ
izations maintain O sort Of clearing
house for the investigation of the
credit Of prospective customers, the
collection OF claims. and the adjustment
Of questions arising between buyer and
seller.
The clothing trade, as distinguished
from custom tailoring. Is as distinctly
All American institution as the Decia-
ration OF Independence. or Lincoln's
birthday. 1t took a Yankee mind to
conceive the idea OF supplying people
with clothing without compelling them
to walt until 1t was made to order. and
incidentally to pay high for the de-
lay. Formerly one had to go to the
tailor or the draper for raiment. or
have 1t made at home. This condition
prevails to a considerable extent in
Europe today. and 1t enables few
people to dress far above the average.
Nine out OF ten American men and
boys wear ready-made clothing and
the proportion Of American women who
do likewise Is large. Americans. as
people ARE better dressed than any
other race because they can buy every
thing they wear, from head to toe,
ready-made and at reasonable prices.
The advantages Of this system are SO
apparent that the rest Of the world Is
adopting It.
The first recorded appearance of
ready-made clothing was at New Bed
Yankee tailor noticed that when the
whaling fleet came into port there was
such an enormous demand for CLOTH
ing among the sailors that 1t could not
be supplied. in view Of the time requir-
ed to make the garments. Between
voyages the New Bedford man began
making suits Of clothes and other ar
ticies which he could sell to the whal-
ers when they returned. He did such
thriving business that others fol-
lowed his example. A year or two
later George opdyke. q former Mayor
OF New yprk City. opened a ready
made clothing shop In that city.
The hrst mems furnishings estab
lishment was started in New York
about 1922. Shirts. hosiery and other
articles were made there in small
quantities under one roof. Now each
item Of mems and women's wear con-
stitutes a separate industry. generally
speaking. Winchester. OF repeating
firearms fame. was one Of the pioneers
in the clothing trade. He ran a shop
at New Haven, which turned out 1000
dozens shirts per week. When the
Civil War broke out. winchester turn
ed his attention to firearms and evolv-
ed some wonderful inventions.
The establishment of the clothing
industry on its present Arm basis dates
from the Civil War. Before that the
manufacture of ready-made clothing
had spread from New England and New
York to Western and Southern cities.
In the South the war practically de-
stroyed the industry, but 1t prospered
in the North by making uniforms for
the army and navy, The largest Gov
eminent contract UP to that time was
awarded to q New York firm Of cloth
iera at the beginning OF the war. It
called for q million and quarter dol
lars worth OF clothing. A little later
the contract was cancelled. as Quarter
master-General Meigs wrote, because
such an enormous quantity of clothing
would not be needed by the Union
forces. The contractor hurried to
washington TO protest.. TO arrived
Just as the remnants of the boys in
blue struggled into the capital after
the battle Of Bull Run. Needless to
say. the contract was renewed.
After the war, the clothing industry
entered upon another boom, 1t being
necessary to provide civilians gar
ments for the returning volunteers.
BY that time large factories had been
built and they have been busy ever
since. 1t has been estimated that the
various branches of the American
clothing industry produce a billion
dollars worth of articles a year. The
industry pays wages aggregating up
wards Of s20o.o0o.00o year to prob
ably half million men, women and
children; "a mighty army" as one
writer expresses 1t. whose spears are
needles, whose swords are scissors, and
whose gatling guns are sewing ma
chimes" Among other things. these
workers make over 100000 mems and
boys shirts and 21,000.000 collars and
cuffs every year.
Many clothing factories make only
one kind OF garment, such as coats,
vests or trousers These may be To-
Gated in different cities. though per-
haps owned by the same firms, the
suits being assembled at some CEN
trial depot before being sold. Many
wholesalers and some retailers oper-