The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 36

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 36

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SECTION XXVIII. The Boot and Shoe Manufacture.

The manufacture of boots and shoes is a large in- dustry in Kings county; and while the 546 establish-

ments reported in the census must include not less than 500 small shops, doing only custom work and repairing, and having an annual product of not more than $1,000 to $2,000, and some of them even less than $1,000, there are a considerable number of large manufacturers whose annual products make up the greater part of the grand aggregate of $1,819,993. The inventions of the past twenty years have completely revolutionized the business of shoe-making. American leather is now fully equal to French, English, or Russian leather, in beauty, durability, and finish; while its price is materially lower than the foreign article at the present time, and the machines for making boots and shoes have reached such perfection that the finest and most durable shoes can be furnished at prices which would have been im- possible twenty years ago. The machines for making and crimping boot legs and uppers, the cutting, stamp- ing, sewing, fitting and buttonhole-making machines, the pegging machines, and above all the Mckay sole- sewing machine, and its successors, have brought about this revolution. Most of these machines are now free, tbe patents having expired from two to five years since; but the boot or shoe is not now, except in the rural districts, made by one man; the journeyman shoe-maker, with his "kit" of tools on his back, looking for a job, either in a shoe-maker's shop or doing the shoe-making and repairing for the farmer's family, is not now a recognized mechanic; the division of labor has been carried so far in this business, that there are very few men under 35 years of age who could cut, fit and finish a boot or shoe, from the uncut leather to the final touches, to save their lives. As a consequence, the journeyman shoe-maker must either consent to devote his whole time to producing a particular part of the boot or shoe, content himself with being a repairer or cobbler, turn his attention to some other business, or join the great army of tramps. As shoe-makers are, beyond most other mechanics, intelligent and thought- ful men, they generally adopt the first or third of these alternatives. Moreover, the boot or shoe is not, now, to any great extent, even in what are called hand-made shoes, a hand product. In the large establishments, and even in those smaller ones of which we have already spoken, as manufacturers of boot-legs and shoe- uppers, the boot-legs and the uppers are struck out with great precision, in quantities, by guillotine knife dies which are prepared, for each size or half size and every width, and then, after trimming, shaving and pasting which is done by hand, they are stitched, bound, seamed, and if they are to be buttoned, the button holes are made by machines; they are stamped and pressed into shape by machines; the further lining, trimming, straps and every part is fitted by machinery; the soles, insoles, welts (where welts are used) are pressed, solidified and prepared by machines, and pegged or sewed by machines at such speed that, from 600 to 800 pairs can be completed in a day by each machine. The fine work

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

done by the Mckay machine and its improvements, on ladies' shoes, and the best grades of men's boots and shoes, is really superior to the best hand-work. There are no better boots or shoes made than those of the Burts, Mundell, Edwards, Taskers, the Harding Co., the Whitehouse Shoe Co., Geo. A. Smith and other manufacturers; and keen competition has reduced the price of these excellent goods to a very reasonable figure.

The other machines employed in the manufac- ture greatly facilitate the production of fine goods. Even the pegged boots and shoes made by the best pegging machines are superior in finish, and perhaps cqual in durability, to the sewed boots and shoes of forty years ago. But below these, there are large quantities of inferior boots and shoes made by ma- chinery, largely by convict labor, of cheap and poor material, the soles frequently of leatheroid, or paper, in part, and the uppers of refuse leather, or cloth. They are sold at very low prices, but nothing so utterly worthless, can ever be really cheap. Of course, great quantities of this trash are sold in Kings county, but, except some of the boots and shoes made at the peni- tentiary, and there by a Massachusetts firm, they are not, to any considerable extent, produced here.

The manufacture of boots and shoes for the wholesale trade, has only lately been largely conducted here. Until recently, many of the manufacturers have had a good retail and custom trade, and their first object was to supply that, though in certain styles they have done a fair jobbing business. This is the case with Messrs. E. D. Burt & Co., who, beside being the agents for the sale of E. C. Burt's ladies shoes and Henry Burt's gentlemen's boots and shoes, manufacture also largely on their own account, both for their own sales, and for a jobbing trade; with Mundell & Co., F. Edwards & Co. and the Harris Flexura Shoe Co., who make shoes of special patterns or patents, and do a jobbing as well as a retail business. Messrs H. & F. H. Tasker have large salesrooms in Brooklyn and Jersey City and in addition to their fine retail trade, manufacture not only for their own sales, but for wholesale trade. We think, however, that their factory is not in Kings county. The Harding Shoe Co. and the Whitehouse Shoe Co., both have factories as well as retail stores, but we think their factories are elsewhere. The shoe stores generally, except those mentioned above, do very little in the way of manufacturing, though most of the larger ones have from two to a dozen men employed on repairs or special custom work. There are, however, many manufacturers who are not also retailers; perhaps the largest of these are Brennan and Kelly, whose factory is on Grand and South First streets, E. D., and is four stories in height; they employ 200 hands, run 150 machines by steam power, and turn out over 300,000 pairs of shoes in a year, representing an out-put of at least $400,000 ; they commenced business in 1878.

Maurice Ryan, of 9-17 Hope street, E. D., commenced business in Brooklyn in 1880; he confines himself to the manufacture of women's and children's shoes, em- ploys 125 hands, pays wages annually to the amount of $62,000, has a capital of $35,000, and an annual pro- duct of $225,000. Robert Dix & Son, in the Pond's Ex- tract Building, 146 First street, E. D., were established in 1853 in North Second street, removed to New York in 1867, and returned to Brooklyn in May, 1883; they make exclusively ladies' and children's fine shoes, employ 125 hands, pay $75,000 wages, and have an annual product of $150,000 or more. Smith & Martin, Tenth and Ainslie streets, E. D., are large manufacturers of ladies', misses' and children's shoes; they commenced business in 1868 as J. Smith & Son, succeeded by Smith & Mar- tin, January, 1880; they have a capital employed in the business of $30.000, employ 50 hands, pay $21.000 in wages, and produce annually $100.000, or more.

Michael Dowling, established in 1860, near Pineapple street, as M. & P. Dowling, removed to New York, and returned to Brooklyn in the summer of 1883; he makes ladies' and children's shoes of medium grade; employs 35 hands; his annual product is about $70.000. William Lowrie & Son, in Pond's Extract Building, 146-150 First street, E. D., removed to Brooklyn from N. Y. in May, 1883, make only ladies' fine shoes; employ 25 hands; pay about $12.000 wages; out-put 850,000 or more. George A. Smith, 349 Adams street, makes women's and children's shoes, very fine work; he commenced business in New York, in 1869, as one of the firm of Hamilton, Pratt & Co., and is now the only representative of the firm; came to Brooklyn in 1883; he employs 60 hands, and produces annually over $100,000 of goods. He had 14 years' experience with E. C. Burt, before starting for himself. Baker & Ferguson, of 1123 Broadway, E. D., and Hatfield & Rumph, of 1125 Broadway, E. D., both nearly opposite Grove street, manufacture in a moderate way. They employ about 15 hands each, and have an out-put of $30,000 to $35,000 each.

James White, 28 and 30 Adelphi street, has been manufacturing in Brooklyn since 1874; he makes women's and misses' shoes; employs 100 hands; uses steam engine, 15 horse power; production $150,000 or more; he came from England in 1855. Among man- ufacturers of ladies', misses, and children's shoes, are: Wm. Strusz, 16 and 18 Dunham Place, E. D., who employs steam-power and 40 hands; business, $100,000. John Ennis, 584 Grand street, E. D., established 1865; employs 100 hands; annual sales $100,000; weekly wages $800. Other manufacturers are: Wm. Nagle, 17 South Third street, E. D., employs 50 hands, and business $40,000; Hammond & Owers, 143 Fourth street, E. D., employ 50 hands, and do a business of about $80,000. L. Hooper, 100 South Sixth street, 25 hands; doing a business of $30,000. James Walsh, established 1866, in North Seventh street; employs 25 hands; busi- ness, $40,000. J. W. Mc Cabe, 191 Fulton street, estab-

Celandon Srask

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THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

lished 1884; 30 hands; does a business of $40,000 per year. George & Fitzgerald, 50 Fulton street; started 1852 in Grand street, E. D., moved to present location in 1877; employ 32 hands, and do a business of $30,000 yearly in boys' and youths' shoes. Mayer & Newman, 227 Ellery street; established 1883, employ 10 hands, with an average output of $12,000.

The Bay State Shoe Co., or their successors, who have large labor contracts at the penitentiary, also turn out a very large amount of work, mostly pegged, and of the cheaper qualities. There are one or two other firms who are engaged in manufacturing heavy work for laborers and for the southern trade.

Aside from these, there are, perhaps, fifteen or twenty shoe-makers who do only custom work and by measure. Most of them have some specialty, one making boots for horse jockeys, &c .; another, boots for telegraph linemen; another, boots which fit anatomically; another, special boots and shoes for the lame, for deformed feet, or those encumbered with bunions or nodes; others, for persons with tender feet, etc., etc. Most of these do also ordinary custom work. They employ usually from three to ten workmen, and some of them gain a reputa- tion in their specialties, and acquire a moderate fortune. Yet these very men are no exceptions to the rule which we laid down, in the commencement of this article; they do not manufacture the shoes or boots throughout in their workshops. They may show a customer pieces of calf skin or morocco, from which he may select the quality he desires to have made into the shoes he orders; but that leather or morocco is carefully matched at the factories for shoe uppers; the soles are bought all pre- pared, and while he shapes and stretches the boot or shoe according to the required form, on his own or his customer's last, the chances are 99 out of 100 that the boots or shoes are sewed on a Mckay Sole Sewing Machine, and finished on some other machine. Boots or shoes cannot be made wholly by hand, or by one man, without loss, even though at a large advance from ordinary prices.

The directory gives the names of 652 boot and shoe makers and manufacturers, as distinguished from boot and shoe dealers, in the county, an increase of a little more than 100 since 1880. The statistics of Brooklyn alone then were 546 establishments; $311,835 capital; 1,194 hands (1,496 largest number employed at one time); $502,834 paid in wages; $852,168 of material, and $1,819,993 of annual product. The increase in the number of establishments, the large product from those establishments which were not then in existence, or, at most, only just starting, and the greatly increased pop- ulation, warrant the belief that the business is now, at least, 30 per cent. larger than in 1880; and, if any dependence can be placed upon the census statis- tics, would lead to the conclusion that the present num- ber of hands is not far from 1,800; the amount of wages paid about $656,000; the amount of material used about

$1,120,000, and the annual product not far from $2,357,- 700. Our belief is, from a careful examination, that the total out-put considerably exceeds these figures, though there has been a very decided decline in prices within the past three years. That the business might be, and ought to be, much larger than it is, is our firm conviction; for Brooklyn and Kings county are very favorably situated for manufacturing boots and shoes on a large scale. In this connection, we give the bio- graphy and portrait of Mr. ALANSON TRASK, founder of the Bay State Shoe and Leather Manufacturing Company, above referred to, and who has been, for fifty years, an esteemed resident of Brooklyn.

ALANSON TRASK is a lineal descendant of Captain William Trask, who was at Naumkeag (now Salem, Mass.), when John Endicott arrived from Weymouth, England, in 1628, by the ship Abigail, with a colony of Puritan emigrants. Captain Trask was of great assistance to Endicott in those early days of privation and hardship. An early writer has said: "Cap- tain William Trask was to the Massachusetts Colony, what Captain Miles Standish was to the Plymouth Colony."

On October 19th, 1630, William Trask was made a freeman; in 1636 he was chosen captain, and from 1635 to 1639 he re- presented Salem in the General Court. In 1637, he com- manded the expedition against the Pequot Indians, the vali- ant Richard Davenport being his lieutenant. Captain Trask's will bears date May 15th, 1666, and he died not long after- wards, and was buried under arms, leaving two sons and three daughters.

ALANSON TRASK is of the sixth generation from Captain William Trask. He was born in Millbury, Worcester county, Mass., in 1808, and came to New York in 1829. In 1833, he was married to Sarah E. Marquand, and in 1834 took up his residence in Brooklyn, where he has since lived.

In the year 1833, he went into the jobbing business of boots and shoes, in New York city, as a member of the firm of Wessons & Trask, which was subsequently changed to A. & A. G. Trask. He did business some fifteen years in Maiden Lane, and then removed to Warren street. The manufacture of boots and shoes was begun about 1865. Mr. Alanson Trask was instrumental in organizing the Bay State Shoe and Leather Manufacturing Company. This firm had manufac- tories in several States of the Union, and it has grown to be the most important company of the kind in this country.

At the time of Mr. Trask's removal to Brooklyn, the city was a village, and he has watched its growth with the great- est interest, and aided in its development, during the past half century. He identified himself with its benevolent and charitable institutions, and was early connected with the City Tract Society (afterwards the Brooklyn City Mission and Tract Society), the Brooklyn Dispensary, the Home for Friendless Women and Children, the Old Men's Home, and the Brooklyn Young Men's Christian Association. He has for some time been prominently connected with the Brook- lyn Dime Savings Bank.

SECTION XXIX. Window Blinds and Shades.

The census of 1880 gives the following statistics, under the title " Window Blinds and Shades :" Estab- lishments, 12; capital, $294,450; hands, 140; wages, $82,171; material, $224,722; annual product, $475,805.

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Mr. Frothingham's preliminary report, with more re- gard to the facts, gave the following statistics: Estab- lishments, 3; capital, $278,000; number of hands, 163; wages, $71,799; material, $204,705; annual product, $437,850.

There are, at least, four different articles known under the names of window blinds and shades, viz .: First, the wooden slat blinds, either inside or outside of our windows, and which form one item of the " sash, doors and blinds," so extensively manufactured over all the Northern States; these are decidedly not what this item in the census could have meant. Second, the wire-cloth screens or shades, not properly called blinds, so commonly used in windows in summer. We do not think these could have been intended by the Census Office, and yet we cannot be certain. They come prop- erly under "wire work " and "woven wire " in this work. Third, the window shades and curtains of the wall-paper manufacturers, which might, perhaps, by courtesy, be called window blinds, inasmuch as they keep out the light. These are treated of, under " Wall Papers and Paper Hangings." Fourth, " window shades " proper, curtains of white Hollands, or of colored linen, or of cloth painted in oils, with gilt bands or stripes; or with stripes of other bright oil colors; or landscapes in oil; or water-colors, India ink, &c .; of graceful and artistic designs, and either transparent or opaque. These last are probably what the Census Office intended; but if so, they were wide of the mark, as to the number of the establishments or the extent of the business.

There are indeed, not twelve, but at least sixty es- tablishments, which manufacture the white and col- ored Hollands curtains, and deal in tassels, shade and picture cord, etc., etc. This is an item in the business of every upholsterer, carpet dealer, painters' shop, and most of the furniture dealers, but is only one item of a multifarious business, and cannot be severed from their other business. It would be much more appropriate to single out window hangings and drapery, one item of the upholsterers' business, and give the statistics of it as a distinct business. The directory puts down thir- teen or fourteen of these window shade men, some of them carpet dealers, some upholsterers, and others painters, but it might have just as easily increased the number to fifty.

There are, however, two firms, and so far as we have been able to ascertain, only two in the county, who manufacture the "transparent and opaque window shades, of which we have spoken. These are Jay C. Wemple & Co., of 121 Fourth avenue, and Andrew Barricklo, of Hicks street, between Warren and Bal- tic streets (until the night of Feb. 26, 1884, when his factory and its contents were destroyed hy fire).

The idea which these shades were intended to de- velop was that of a curtain, which should exclude the strong sunlight, and yet should present to the eye both from the inside and outside, a pleasing and artistic

view, a landscape, or noted church, abbey, or public building, either in colors or mezzotint, and one which would be durable as well as beautiful. This idea was worked out from observation and protracted experi- ment, by Mr. Jay C. Wemple, beginning in 1840, with the cotton cloth dipped in glue water, and with rude designs drawn on it with India ink, and gradually per- fected by giving the cloth used a coating of oil, tur- pentine and beeswax, which made it firm, yet trans- lucent, and yet gave a basis on which oil colors could be painted or printed. By the application of a mod- ified chromotype process, these curtains can now be made of exquisite designs, in black and white or in colors, and with or without gold bands, and at prices so reasonable as to be within the reach of persons in very moderate circumstances.

The industry did not emerge from its experimental stage until after 1845, and for the next twenty years its growth was moderate, but it is now a well estab- lished and constantly improving and increasing busi- ness. Mr. Wemple has now a capital of $200,000 invested in it, employs from 150 to 200 hands, and re- ports an annual production of over $300,000. His only competitor, Mr. Andrew Barricklo, was formerly in Sedgwick street, but his factory there was burned about four years ago, the materials used being very inflammable; he then removed to Hicks street, where he has just been burned out again. His goods are of the same quality with Messrs. Wemple & Co.'s, but his production was not so large, though it was increas- ing. He employed about 90 hands, and turned out from $180,000 to $200,000 of goods annually. Both firms, we believe, made also those articles-lamp shades, with designs printed on this prepared cloth-which have attracted so much attention. They also furnished, where desired, the white and colored Hollands for cur- tains, with all fixtures, table oil cloths, etc., etc. These two establishments, then, employ about 250 hands, and produce not less than $500,000 of goods-larger amounts, both in employees and products, than the census attributes to its mythical twelve manufacturers of " window blinds and shades."

The amount of production of the white and colored Hollands curtains, fixtures and trimmings, cannot be definitely ascertained, but we may approximate it in this wise: There are not less than 60 houses who make this an item of their business; if each house averaged only a set of these shades a week (a set is from 15 to 20 curtains, according to the size of the house), this would amount to $30 to $40 a week-to $1,560 to $2,080 a year, or for the whole, from $94,000 to $124,000 a year. This is undoubtedly below the actual product. This would give for the window blinds, curtains and shades of these materials, an ag- gregate of $600,000 or more.

Lace curtains and the lambrequins, silk hangings, tassels, and metallic or gilt-wood mountings, and bands

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THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.

for them, as well as for mantel draperies, portieres, etc., belong to the upholsterers' art, and have been treated of under upholstery. Of the other window blinds, shades and curtains, we have treated under their appropriate heads.

SECTION XXX. Cooperage.

Cooperage is an important manufacture. The census statistics give 42 establishments, with $913,700 capital, employing 1,547 hands, paying $595,010 in wages, using $1,583,987 of raw material, and producing $2,937,262 of barrels, casks, &c. The number of establishments is the same as is reported in the Brooklyn Directory for 1882, but as far as we can ascertain these are all inde- pendent cooper shops, some of them doing a large busi- ness, but not connected with the large sugar refineries, distilleries, and breweries, which, for the most part, manufacture their own barrels, casks and kegs. The cooperage department of Havemeyer & Elder's refinery alone, has a capacity for the production of 8,000 sugar barrels a day, and actually produces, in ordinary sea- sons from 4,000 to 5,000 barrels daily; and De Castro & Donner, the Brooklyn Sugar Refining Co., Mol- ler, Sierck & Co., the Livingston Steam Refinery, and the Hamilton Avenue Refinery, probably produce at least 10,000 barrels more, every working day. The great distilleries and breweries require casks and kegs of peculiar form and construction, and they prefer to make them on the premises. These three industries, and the petroleum refiners, are the largest consumers of barrels, casks and kegs, and it would be a very low estimate which put their united production below $2,000,000. The flour trade does not use so many bar- rels as formerly; a large proportion of its products are put up in stout paper bags of different capacities, and but a small part of the barrels they use are new; teams in their employ, visiting all the bakeries, the larger groceries, etc., and buying all the flour barrels they can find, at a standard price of 18 or 20 cents per barrel; these are repaired in the cooper shops, and made to do good service in the flour trade. The provision trade use a good many barrels, but the lard, hams, bacon, &c., are put up in tins or in boxes, and hence the com- parative demand for barrels is less than formerly. The fruit, potato and vegetable trade' use many barrels, though these branches of trade are not so extensively carried on in Kings county as in the fruit districts; but most of their barrels are old flour barrels, and not al- ways coopered. Cider barrels, soap barrels, lime, plaster and hydraulic cement barrels, are not manufactured to any considerable extent in Kings county, as the expense of transportation requires them to be produced nearer the places where they are used. We conclude, then, that including the barrels, etc., manufactured by the large manufacturers for their own use, the annual

production of cooperage cannot fall below $4,600.000. The Superintendent of Havemeyer and Elder's cooper- age establishment is, or was, Mr. Lowell M. Palmer. Of the independent coopers, Paul Weidmann, whose por- trait graces the following page, is, we believe, consider- ably the largest; the others who are most noteworthy are: Patrick Dalton, 381 Third street, E. D .; Brennan & Colligan, 349 Fifth street, E. D .; Stephen F. Shortland & Brother; Henry Ahlborn, N. & H. O' Donnell, J. & W. Mattison (kegs of all sorts); Paulsen & Eger, North 11th and 3d streets ; John Carver, 112 Sonth 2nd street; Michael Becker; Henry Heims; Dillon's Sons; R. A. Robertson & Co .; H. Waydell & Co .; B. F. Briggs; James Coughlan, 72 North 13th street; Samuel Wandett, 65 North Third street; M. H. Duane, 698 Willoughby avenue; Peter Bennett, 245 Van Brunt street, etc., etc.

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 36

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345