USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Fifty years of Boston; a memorial volume issued in commemoration of the tercentenary of 1930; 1880-1930, Pt. 1 > Part 27
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Some information regarding wages and prices around 1880 is found in the Aldrich Report.1 There is considerable material also on wages, living costs and employment in the early reports of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor. The Federal Census for 1880 gives some data for Boston.
Money wages, of course, have advanced markedly since 1880. In some instances the increase is striking. There has also been an increase in the cost of living. Real wages have in practically all lines been raised. This is particu- larly the case with the organized trades. Those who have fared less well are the unskilled and the unorganized, especially the women workers.
Rates of wages by the day in the building trades in 1880 are given in the Aldrich Report. Although listed under Massachusetts, they are presumably for Boston, as the principal organization of the building trades was in that city. These rates for 1880 are presented in Table II, with rates for the build- ing trades in Boston in 19302 inserted. Carpenters in 1880 received $1.74 for a day's work of ten hours. In 1930 the union rate was $11 for an eiglit- hour day. An even more striking advance is that in the rate for steam and gas fitters' helpers - from 833 cents a day in 1880 to $8.32 in 1930.
Average yearly earnings in the principal manufacturing lines in Boston are given in the Federal Census for 1880, Table III.3 In none of the indus- tries did the annual earnings reach $600. The highest average earnings, $545.72, were in printing and publishing. The average for all industries was $417.42. Weekly earnings are not given. If we assume on the average forty- two weeks of employment throughout the year (the average for the working girls in Boston, 1883), that would bring the average earnings just under $10 a week. Contrast with this the average earnings in manufacturing industries in Boston in 1930, $26.78+ a week, and $1,392.66 a year.
A picture of the wages of women in Boston in the early 80's is given in the report of the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor for 1884. This. reports a survey of conditions among working girls in Boston in 1883. It is based on an investigation of the actual weekly earnings of more than 1,000 working girls out of the approximately 20,000 in the city at that time employed in various occupations - other than domestic service - as personal service, trade and manufactures. The earnings range from $2.29 a week for cash girls to $10.38 for dressmakers in business for themselves. Saleswomen5 earned $6.20 a week. Telegraph operators, who were among the highest paid, received $8.46; boot and shoe workers, $5.48. The average wage received by all classes
Wholesale l'rices, Wages and Transportation. Report by Mr. Aldrich, March 3, 1893, Part II. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1893. Senate Report, 1304.
2 From Massachusetts Department of Labor Report on Rates and Hours in Organized Trades, 1930.
3 Annual earnings for corresponding industries in Boston in 1929 are inserted for purposes of comparison.
4 Computed from returns for the Massachusetts Statistics of Manufacturers, 1930.
$ It may be of interest to note that the minimum rate for women employed in retail stores at the present time is $14 a week and that the most recent inspection under that decree in Boston, 1928, showed more than sixty- Olie per cent of the women with weekly rates in excess of $15 a week.
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was $6.35 a week. Average earnings by selected occupations are shown in Table IV. Rates and earnings for similar occupations for 1930, where they are available, are inserted in the table for purpose of contrast.
The report states that there was a good deal of complaint at that time about the low wages quite generally paid in all of the occupations employing women and that the girl dependent upon herself found it very difficult to get along. Many of the girls were described as discouraged, since they could . hardly earn enough to pay running expenses and were obliged to practise the most rigid economy. In the case of some living at home, it was reported that they earned hardly enough to pay for carfares and clothing. After explain- ing that the majority of the working girls lived at home or with relatives or friends, the author comments: "By living at home the girls in our shops and stores are able to live on meager wages; in other words, parents and friends must make up for short wages."
The change in viewpoint that has taken place with regard to social respon- sibility for bad economic conditions is illustrated by one of the concluding paragraphs of the report. After pointing out the inadequate wages received by a large part of the working girls, the hardship resulting to those who were dependent upon themselves for support, and in some cases the hardship imposed on the families of those living at home, the writer* concludes that nothing can be done to improve wage conditions:
"For an increase of wages, certainly a most desirable result to be gained, they must depend upon industrial and economic conditions, and not upon legislative enactment or even concerted actions of persons charitably and benevolently disposed."
COST OF LIVING
The inoney wages received in 1880 do not tell us much unless we know something of what it cost working men and women to live at that time. In order to get a picture of their economic condition, we need to know something of what their wages represented in terms of food, clothing, shelter and the other necessary iteins of expenditure.
It is difficult to draw an accurate comparison between living costs in 1880 and 1930. The standard of living has materially changed. The value of gold has fluctuated. It may be possible, however, to make some rough comparison.
Considerable information regarding commodity prices in 1881 is given in the report of the Bureau of Statistics of Labor for that year. Boston figures are quoted in a number of instances. The prices for some of the staple articles that enter into the family budget are given in the following table.
For purposes of comparison, Boston prices in 1881 and in 1928 for the same articles are listed on the following page.
* In another section of the report dealing with living expenses, this statement is made: "The evidences of hardship or extreme economy which in some instances were reported, would, of course, taken by themselves, seem to indicate to some extent a bad state of affairs, but often while they show the evils of poor pay and the necessarily poor methods of living resulting therefrom, it does not detract from the good results of the investigation but brings out more clearly the necessary contributive aid furnished by the parents, relatives and friends of the working girls if they would have them live in ordinary comfort."
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COST OF COMMODITIES - BOSTON, 1881 AND 1928.
1881
1928
Beans, pound
$0.13}
$0.112
Tea, pound
.58
.724
Coffee, pound
.283
. 536
Sugar, pound
.11
.070
Meat, roast, pound
.17
.433
Butter, pound
.343
. 582.
Cheese, pound
.173
.406
Potatoes, bushel
1.25
1.440
Milk, quart
.06
154
Eggs, dozen
322
.634
C'oal, ton
7.83
16.000 (av.)
Sheeting, yard
.133
.580 (av.).
There has been slight change in the prices for such articles as beans and potatoes. Sugar is less in 1930 than in 1880. Meat, however, has advanced sharply in price. Roasting beef, quoted at 17 cents a pound in 1880, was 43.3 cents in 1930. Milk was 6 cents a quart in 1880, compared with 15.4 cents in 1928. Coal had advanced from $7.83 a ton in 1881 to $16 in 1930.
Rents for working class families in 1883 in a large city - presumably Boston - ranged from $10 a month for a four-room tenement in poor sur- roundings to $35 a month in a good neighborhood .* The cost of table board is given in the Report of the Bureau of Statistics for 1881 as $4.75 a week for men and $3 a week for women. The Report on the Working Girls of Boston, 1883, states that, "On Harvard street, in connection with Hotel Harvard, is a house having a flat of twenty-four rooms which are let exclusively to working women at from $1 to $2.50 per week each."
Actual budgets for workingmen's families are given in the report of the Bureau of Statistics for 1884. The average for the families cited, including those with more than two adults and those owning their own homes, was $725 a year or $13.94 a week. This was distributed as indicated in the following outline. The budget for a workingman's family in Boston in 1928, as prepared by the National Industrial Conference Board, is included for comparison:
WORKINGMAN'S BUDGET FOR FAMILY OF
FIVE, 1883 t Average for Year
WORKINGMAN'S BUDGET FOR FAMILY OF FOUR, BOSTON - 1928 ** Average for Year
Food.
$365 60
Food .
$573 04
Clothing
103 67
Clothing
198 13
Dry goods
90 93
Sundries
394 6S
Rent .
136 40
Rent ..
360 00
Fuel.
28 40
Fuel and light
111 05
Total
$725 00
Total.
$1,636 90
Weekly average.
$13 94
Weekly average.
$31 47
* Rent for a tenement of four small rooms on the fourth floor back in the poorest and most crowded part of a large city was $10 a month. For four rooms on third floor back, with water and use of water-closet on same floor, it was $16. The rent for four rooms on the fourth floor, front-back, with bath, water-closet, hot and cold water, on main street near business center, was $35 a month. Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics Report on Prices and Cost of Living, 1860 to 1883.
t Figures taken from Massachusetts Report on Statistics of Labor, 1884. It is assumed that the large city to which they apply is Boston.
** Figures taken from "Cost of Living in Twelve Industrial Cities," National Conference Board, New York.
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The Report on the Working Girls of Boston in 1883, previously cited, devotes much attention to living arrangements and expenses. This is natural, as the purpose of the study was "to ascertain the moral, sanitary, physical and economical condition of the working girls."
Of the 1,032 girls interviewed, 594 were living with their parents. A number lived with relatives or friends or in a private family. There were 116 in boarding houses and 155 in lodging houses. Most of the girls, regardless of their manner of living, were obliged to devote time to housework and sewing in addition to their daily work in the shops or factories.
"No stronger evidence of the essentially home character of our working girls could be adduced," the writer comments in pointing out that more than cighty-five per cent of the working girls did their own housework and sewing wholly or in part. This situation doubtless accounted for the fact reported by the interviewer that "The working girls were almost invariably found at home in the evening busy at some household or personal duty."
Many of the girls living with relatives or friends assisted with the family housework and sewing for part of their expenses.
"Those living with friends either work nights and mornings at housework, sewing, etc., for their board, or are boarded at low rates out of kindness, and, when unable to meet expenses, are not pressed for board."
'The girls living in boarding and lodging houses often had a difficult time to meet, expenses and were frequently obliged to practise the strictest economy, sometimes going without part of their mneals or without new clothing. One of the girls interviewed reported that she "Turns her clothes upside down, inside out and outside in, not being able to make enough over living expenses to buy new clothes."
Illustrations of the living conditions of many of the self-supporting girls at that time is given in the following excerpt from the report:
"In numerous cases girls were found living for the sake of economy in very limited quarters, which could not be conducive to good sanitary conditions. In some instances girls were found living in small attic rooms lighted and ventilated by the skylight only. The furnishings generally consisted of a small single bed, burcau and chair, with no wardrobe except one curtain in the corner.
"In a house where a considerable number of girls were cared for, it was found that there was no elevator in the building, and some of the girls were obliged to go up five flights of stairs to reach their rooms. The upper story of the building was without heat, and in winter was said to be like an ice house. Radiators are placed at the ends of the halls and transoms open into the rooms, but these have no particular effect on the temperature of the rooms, and there are no other ways of heating. Extra charge is made for rooms heated directly by the register, and even then such rooms are not to be obtained, there being but a few of them."
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The average yearly expenses of working girls in Boston in 1883 was $261.30, approximately $5 a week. This is exclusive of savings or debt. The items and amount expended for each are given in the budget following. It may be of interest to contrast with this the cost of living budget for a working girl adopted by a wage board sitting in Boston in 1928 - that for electrical equip- ment and supplies. It should be understood that the two budgets are not comparable, as one is intended for a self-supporting girl, while the other is largely subsidized by the family contribution in the matter of board and lodging.
BUDGET FOR WORKING GIRLS IN BOSTON, 1883. BASED ON INVESTIGATION OF 1,032 GIRLS BY THE MASSACHUSETTS BUREAU OF STATISTICS
Yearly Weekly Average Average
BUDGET FOR WORKING GIRLS IN 192S. BUDGET ADOPTED BY ELECTRIC EQUIP- MENT AND SUPPLIES WAGE BOARD
Items:
Per Week
Board and lodging.
$8 00
Principal Expenses *:
Food and lodging
$166 31
$3 19
Clothing
67 75
1 30
Medical attendance
24 60
74
Fuel. .
S 72
16
Washing
20 66
39
Carfares.
22 66
43
Other expenses
41 45
79
Recreation . 10
Reserve for emergency.
40
Mutual association dues
20
Insurance.
15
Incidentals
20
Total per week
$14 00
UNEMPLOYMENT
The weekly earnings of working girls in Boston in 1883 were $6.35, slightly more than the average expenses, but this did not take into account time out of work. The average weekly earnings throughout the year were only $4.91. Less than twenty-seven per cent of the girls worked the full year without loss of time. The average time worked by all was just under forty-three weeks.
It was a period when a great many men and women were out of work. A report on unemployment in Massachusetts in 1885 states that the depression which began early in 1882 was still severe in the year covered by the report:
"The facts for 1885 show a wide distribution of the unemployed as a whole because the industries of the state were in a more or less depressed condition, the depression which began early in 1882 not then having passed away."
The figures on unemployment in Boston in that year, 1885, were 31,262, comprising 23,584 males and 7,678 females. This, out of a working popula-
* "These principal expenses not being commnon to all, it is therefore impossible to give a yearly average for all of the 1,032 girls for each of these items in detail; but the $261.30, given as the average of all expenses for the year, represents the actual average yearly expense for the 1,032 girls involved." Report of Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics, 1884.
This note explains why the total in each column is less than the sum of the items.
1
Clothing
2 50
Laundry
20
Doctor, dentist and oculist
50
Carfares.
60
Church.
25
Self-improvement, including news- papers and magazines.
20
Vacation.
40
Total average yearly
penses .
$261 30
$5 02
.
"THE CHILDREN'S PRINCIPAL PLAYGROUND" (See Page 679)
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SKATING ON THE PUBLIC GARDEN POND
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FIFTY YEARS OF BOSTON
tion of around 150,000, represents about the same proportion as that given for Boston in the unemployment census* of January, 1931. Those figures were approximately 70,000 out of a working population of 355,000, or about one- fifth of those normally engaged in gainful employment.
HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT
Working hours were much longer in the 80's than today. The legal limits for women and minors were ten hours a day and sixty hours a week. Fewer occupations were covered by hour regulations at that time than at present. The ten-hour day and the sixty-hour week were in effect in the organized trades. In unskilled occupations and in lines not covered by hour regulations, men and women worked much longer than this.
The study of the Working Girls of Boston, 1,883 showed that a considerable number worked from sixty to seventy hours a week. In individual cases girls worked eighty, ninety and even one hundred hours a week. It was reported that night work and home work were often required during rush periods:
"In the busy season, in addition to 'store' hours, girls very fre- quently carry their work home and labor until nine, ten and eleven o'clock, and sometimes after midnight; others are employed every night at their places of employment . In the clothing trades, when busy, girls are often given so much work to do in a stated time, and after working the regular hours are obliged to take work home to complete it on time."
Very few of the 1,032 working girls interviewed were allowed a vacation during the year, even without pay - about one fifth in all. Only forty out of the entire number received vacation with pay. One girl reported that she had worked fourteen years without a vacation of any kind. Saturday half- holidays during the summer months were fairly general among the large busi- ness houses of Boston. This was accompanied in many instances, however, by a reduction in pay :
"To offset the privilege of a half-holiday each week during the hottest months, it is sometimes the custom to deduct from the pay of employees a money equivalent. In some cases, when the hour for closing is five each day and two on Saturday, girls are allowed only five days' pay for the week."
WELFARE WORK FOR EMPLOYEES
Much less was done by employers in the way of welfare work in the 80's than is the case today. Very few, as we have seen, gave vacations, even with- out pay. The majority of working men and women at that time went without vacations, except the enforced ones due to slack work and unemployment.
Industrial welfare work was in its infancy. Some of the larger estab- lishments in Boston were making a beginning. The Report on the Social
* United States Census Bureau, January, 1931.
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Life of Working Men* states that "In Boston a few manufacturers supply their employees with a free excursion or other form of entertainment."
Several prominent Boston firms contributed largely to the support of Boffin's Bower in the interest of working girls and women. A reportt on the hours of labor in 1880 points out as an encouraging feature the interest some firms were taking in their employees, and describes what was apparently a recent innovation on the part of one of these firms:
"In the City of Boston firms, of which R. H. White Company, Macullar, Parker Company and Jordan Marsh Company are true representatives, are trying to show to their people that they are in some ways parts of the establishments, and are convincing them in material ways that the firms believe in giving their people a share in their own prosperity. This is well illustrated by the last-named firm in dedi- cating to the use of their saleswomen and sewing-girls a large hall, capable of seating seven hundred people, situated upon the corner of Washington and Avon streets, and commanding a fine view of the city and harbor. This room, for mercantile purposes, would be worth at least twenty-five thousand dollars per annum; but Jordan Marsh Company have shown their interest in their people by setting it apart for their use. The hall is open two hours at noon every day, and there one can find a bright and cheerful sight in watching the glad faces of the girls while they enjoy the music, the dance, the reading, or the social intercourse with their acquaintances. It was our good fortune recently to see one of the firm take the lead in organizing and conducting the amusements for the hour."
Today the same firm maintains, in addition to rest and recreation and reading rooms for its employees, a modern restaurant where meals are served at cost, a hospital and first-aid room with nurses in attendance, a visiting nurse, the services of a physician and surgeon, and a dentist, all without charge to the employees.
WORKING CONDITIONS
There was much less in the way of legislative protection for workers in the 80's than there is today. Not only were the hours of labor much longer; there were fewer statutory provisions for the health and safety of employees, and little or nothing in the laws of the Commonwealth regarding their comfort and convenience.
Many employers, in the absence of legislative requirements, voluntarily maintained good working conditions for their employees. Others were less considerate. Some of the complaints about the workrooms made by employees in Boston in the early 80's ** had to do with poor lighting, bad ventilation, over-crowding and lack of sanitation, and sometimes, insufficient heat.
* Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics Report, 1880.
t Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics Report, January, 1881, on Uniformn Hours of Labor.
** Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics Report, 1884.
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A boot and shoe shop was reported as having one hundred fifty men and thirty-five women "packed like sardines in a box" in one small room. In another place thirty-five or forty persons were working in a small attic room with no ventilation of any kind. Some employees complained of cold, damp basements where they suffered severely from drafts from constantly opening doors. In other places there was very bad ventilation, because windows were never opened. This was for fear of retarding some process of manufacturing, as in tobacco, shoe and candy factories. In one shop the employees were reported as "working in little pens all shelved over, with insufficient light and air, windows not being opened for fear of cooling waxed thread used on sewing machines."
In some instances shops were reported as "very dirty, in fact, filthy." A tailoring shop was described in this way. Another report stated that "shop is filthy and unfit to work in; there are no conveniences for women; men and women use the same closets, washbasins, drinking cups." In another workroom it was stated that forty persons were employed in the room with practically no ventilation, "in addition to which there is also a water-closet in the center of the room, from which the stench is offensive." Another report cites twenty girls in"a dark room, dirty and infested with bugs." Another, that "barrels of offal and swill are only removed from the workroom at long intervals."
Other reports deal with inadequate provision in case of fire; the workroom up three to six flights, with no fire-escape; poor entrance, narrow and dark passageways not wide enough for two abreast.
There was lack also of adequate machinery for the administration and enforcement of what labor legislation had been enacted at that time. It was only a few years since any provision had been made for state enforcement of labor regulations. This work in 1880 was still one of the many functions of the detective division of the district police. It was not until 1913 that a sepa- rate agency of the state government was established to administer the laws for the protection of labor. This was the State Board of Labor and Industries, authorized by act of the Legislature in 1912 and organized the following year.
Today the law requires that every industrial establishment shall be prop- erly lighted and ventilated and kept in a sanitary condition. A state depart- ment has the responsibility for enforcing these requirements and the numerous other laws for the protection of the health and safety and comfort of employees, as well as those safeguarding their interests in their relations with their employers.
Industrial codes that have the force of statute law make specific require- ment as to toilets and washing facilities in industrial establishments, and pro- hibit the common drinking cup and common towel. Other codes provide for protection from machinery and other accident hazards in industry.
Working hours for women and minors are limited to forty-eight a week. For men on public works and in certain lines of public service an eight-hour day has been established. Employees in the large department stores in Boston, through voluntary arrangement of the firms, have a seven and one half-hour day throughout the greater part of the year, and a seven-hour day in summer, with no work on Saturdays during the summer months. In contrast to the practice that prevailed in the 80's, this extra time is given the employees without loss of pay.
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The industrial employment of children under fourteen is prohibited. Young persons up to eighteen years of age are excluded from various hazardous occupations and processes. Through the minimum wage law attempt is made to protect women and girls from wages inadequate for health and decency.
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