The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-05-05

1 ter. He has two pairs of shoes which cost Uncle Sam over s a pair, and he has hats, gloves and other furnishings
 which altogether make up the cost men
 toned above. The task of making these | things is enormous; and the workmen re- auired to supply it are so many that 1 if they could be mobilized and sent over
 the ocean, they would fill long lines
 of trenches in front of the Germans It is interesting to watch the pro- 1 cesses of making uniforms for the army. The orders are so large and the necessity of speedy production so great, that almost everything is done by machinery. It is far different from
 the making of clothes for civilians Their ready made garments are of many different styles and much of the work on the better grade is by hand. The suit for the soldiers is expected to be worn without change and it is issued in sizes, graded to the different physiques of the army.
 Indeed. the industry of making ready-made clothes was founded upon army demands. The uniforms of the revolution were cut out and sewed up by hand in the homes of the people, and for long after that time the most of the clothing used by our people was made either by the women in the fam fly or by custom tailors, who, in some cases. went from house to house. Much of the cloth was woven at home, and this was so of both wool and cotton. A little later still ready-made clotn- ing began to be sold, but the gar ments were cut out by the manufac- turers and sent out to the women folk of the towns and country about, who sewed on them at their leisure. Much of the work was done in winter time. It was only the better grades of cloth ing that were sewed in the cities. This condition continued until the civil war broke out. Then the demand for uniforms was much like that we have now. There was no cloth to speak of and no soldiers clothing. Some uni forms were brought in from Europe, and big orders were given to the home manufa cturers. One man received an order amounting to $1,250,000, and other orders were equally large tt was impossible to have them filled from the homes of the workers and factories were established and macnin- cry of one kind or another began to be used The sewing machine, which had been invented some years before, had been used in making clothes for
 the French army, and it now aided in
 making clothes for the federal sol diers. The army demands stimulated
 invention and Singer and others took
 out patents for improvements toward
 the end of the war. These improve
 ments have gone steadily on since them. aso that now the machine has
 been adapted to almost everything
 that can be sewed. Up to 1895 our
 government had issued more than TOGO
 patents for sewing machines and their
 parts.
 When the civil war was over there
 were hundreds of thousands of soldiers
 who went back to the business of ev-
 eryday life. Their civilian clothing had
 worn out in the meantime and when
 they gave up their uniforms. they had
 to have another supply. This made
 big demand for factory made garments
 and the ready-made stuff grew better
 and better.
 This demand was increased by the
 wants of the pioneers and immigrants,
 and the business steadily grew. Chicago
 became one of the chief markets and
 there were many clothing dealers whose
 annual sales were upward of $1,0Oo00o.
 The workmanship improved and new styles were added until it was difficult to tell whether mans suit was made to order or not. This has gone on until there are almost as many varieties of cut in mems clothing as in womens s clothing. Single factories make many styles, ana one Olu IfHi 74NeW Iolh city which formerly confined its prod uce to two styles of overcoats and one style of sack coat, now has 19 styles of overcoats, and 15 styles of sack coat. The public has been educated to demand nov cities in ready-made garments and now every manufacturer has to watch the fashions as carefully as the dressmakers do those of Paris. Much of the fine work is done by hand and it is difficult to tell the product from that made by the best custom tailors.
 Today the making of mems clothing has become a great industry, and nine
 men and boys out of every 10 wear clothes made either in factories or shops.
 More than $25OOOO 900 is invested in the
 business, and the wages annually paid
 are about $87,00o,0O0. The factories in-
 clude those making garments of every
 sort, such as overcoats, coats, raincoats
 and smoking jackets. and such as over
 alls, bathing suits knee pants and gym
 nasium and sporting clothes. There are
 also many establishments which make
 only parts of garments, such a shoulder
 pads, pockets or coat fronts,. and some
 that make button holes in mems cloth
 ing sent out by other shops. Indeed, the
 specialization in some of the factories
 has gone so far that coat may be made
 in New York, to go with pair of trous-
 CTS made in Philadelphia, and waist
 coat from Boston When the several gar