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Divided Work—Women and Men at Work for the Company

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Abstract

This chapter deals with men’s and women’s tasks within a distinct gender division of work, while ethnicity in general  did not matter very much. The study is a pioneering work in that it includes all kinds of work and all groups of employees. In contrast to scholars who dealt with the garment industry in New England, Olsson shows that American women did not escape low-paid and low-prestige blue-collar work in the garment industry and that not only American women were hired for white-collar work but also several daughters of immigrants, especially those of Swedish origin. The most distinct ethnic division of work was, in fact, identified for cleaning, where comparatively many married Polish women performed that work at night.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See for instance Meeting of Supervisory Board, April 16 and 19, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.137 (B), MHS.

  2. 2.

    In 1916, the Young Women’s Christian Association of the North Central Field claimed that close to 42,000 foreign-born white women in Minnesota were “unable to speak English .” Statistics concerning the North Central Field Committee of the National Board, Young Women’s Christian Association for 1916, Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, Location 103.K.7.9 (B), MHS.

  3. 3.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 11.

  4. 4.

    Letter from Charles Pillsbury to John S. Pardee, June 13, 1917, Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, Main files, Location 103.L.8.1B, Box 6. F 97, MHS.

  5. 5.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 10.

  6. 6.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, The Munsingwear Inc. June 1920, Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  7. 7.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., June 1920, Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  8. 8.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 11.

  9. 9.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., 1920, Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  10. 10.

    Charles Pillsbury, Munsingwear—Its Ideals and Development, pp. 2–3.

  11. 11.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 15.

  12. 12.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 25, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  13. 13.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, June 1920, Munsingwear Inc., pp. 3–5 (1–50), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  14. 14.

    Munsingwear News , March 1919, p. 13.

  15. 15.

    Munsingwear News , April 1919, p. 17.

  16. 16.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., June 1920, pp. 3–5 (1–50), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  17. 17.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 17.

  18. 18.

    Ulla Rosén, “‘A Rational Solution to the Laundry Issue’: Policy and Research for Day to Day Life in the Welfare State,” in Per Lundin, Niklas Stenlås, and John Gribbe (eds.), Science for Welfare and Warfare: Technology and State Initiative in Cold War Sweden , Sagamore Beach, 2010; Ulla Rosén, A Clean Century: How Elektrolux-Wascator AB Washed the World: 1902–2002, Ljungby, 2002.

  19. 19.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 19.

  20. 20.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Pay Roll Reports, June 1920, Munsingwear Inc., p. 7 (1–50), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  21. 21.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 21.

  22. 22.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 25, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  23. 23.

    President’s report to stock-holders, January 6, 1920, p. 3, Secretary’s Record Book, Dec. 1919–December 1925, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 30, Location 148.C.14.1B, MHS.

  24. 24.

    The Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., June 1920, pp. 9–11 (1–59), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  25. 25.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 45.

  26. 26.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 33.

  27. 27.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, pp. 20f.

  28. 28.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 33.

  29. 29.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 25, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  30. 30.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 27, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box. 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  31. 31.

    Munsingwear News , November 1917, p. 11.

  32. 32.

    Munsingwear News , March 1918, p. 11.

  33. 33.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, July 31, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  34. 34.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, January 21, 1921, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  35. 35.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, pp. 20f.

  36. 36.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 23.

  37. 37.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 25, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  38. 38.

    Bryner, 1916, pp. 100f.

  39. 39.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 121.

  40. 40.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 25, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  41. 41.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 101.

  42. 42.

    Jack Hardy, The Clothing Workers: A Study of the Conditions and Struggles in the Needle Trades, New York, 1935, p. 209.

  43. 43.

    Månsson, 1930, p. 92.

  44. 44.

    Månsson, 1930, p. 92.

  45. 45.

    Lane, “Women and Girls Employed Outside of Home,” p. 88, Survey 1919, Vol. 2. Special Studies, Minneapolis Young Women’s Christian Association, Records, Box 10, Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota .

  46. 46.

    Woodcock Tentler, 1979, p. 32.

  47. 47.

    Zaretz, 1934, p. 23.

  48. 48.

    Jensen, “The Great Uprising in Rochester,” in Jensen and Davidson (eds., 1984), p. 97.

  49. 49.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 25.

  50. 50.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 25.

  51. 51.

    Charles Pillsbury, Munsingwear—Its Ideals and Development, p. 2, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 1, Location 148.G.10.9 B, MHS.

  52. 52.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 44.

  53. 53.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 27.

  54. 54.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 105.

  55. 55.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 44.

  56. 56.

    Edna Bryner , The Garment Trades, Cleveland, 1916, p. 44.

  57. 57.

    Charles Pillsbury, Munsingwear—Its Ideals and Development, p. 4, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 1, Location 148.G.10.9 B, MHS.

  58. 58.

    Charles Pillsbury to John S. Pardee, June 13, 1917, Main files, Box 6. F 97. Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, Location 103.L.8.1B, MHS.

  59. 59.

    The Success of Well Doing, 1921, p. 29.

  60. 60.

    Charles Pillsbury, Munsingwear—Its Ideals and Development, p. 4, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 1, Location 148.G.10.9 B.

  61. 61.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., June 1920, pp. 38–43 (1–50), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  62. 62.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 25, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  63. 63.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, March 25, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  64. 64.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Wage Investigation, Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., June 1920, Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  65. 65.

    Margery W. Davies, Woman’s Place is at the Typewriter: Office Work and Office Workers, 1870–1930, Philadelphia, 1982, pp. 5, 12, 14.

  66. 66.

    Mats Greiff, Kontoristen: Från chefens högra hand till proletär, 1840–1950, Malmö, 1992, ch. III.

  67. 67.

    Davies, 1982, pp. 14–18; Greiff, 1992, ch. III.

  68. 68.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 179.

  69. 69.

    Elyce J. Rotella, From Home to Office: U.S. Women at Work, 1870–1930, Ann Arbor, 1981, p. 67.

  70. 70.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 175; Greiff, 1992, passim.

  71. 71.

    Davies, 1982, pp. 28–30.

  72. 72.

    Roslyn L. Feldberg, “‘Union Fever’: Organizing Among Clerical Workers, 1900–1930,” Radical America, Vol. 14: 3, 1980, p. 55.

  73. 73.

    Eva Gay, “Search for Homes,” in St. Paul Globe, August 5, 1888. Quoted from Hart, 2012.

  74. 74.

    Eva Gay, “Shorthand Fever,” in St. Paul Globe, September 23, 1888. Quoted from Hart, 2012.

  75. 75.

    Davies, 1982, pp. 82f.

  76. 76.

    Rotella, 1981, p. 149; Davies, 1982, pp. 163 and 166.

  77. 77.

    Rotella, 1981, p. 68f.

  78. 78.

    Lisa Fine, The Souls of the Skyscraper: Female Clerical Workers in Chicago, 1870–1930, Philadelphia, 1990, p. 84.

  79. 79.

    Rotella, 1981, pp. 69f.

  80. 80.

    Davies, 1982, p. 119.

  81. 81.

    Davies, 1982, p. 170; Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 178; Greiff, 1992, ch. VI.

  82. 82.

    Davies, 1982, p. 127.

  83. 83.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, June 8, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  84. 84.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, May 9, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  85. 85.

    https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MWYG-Z9V.

  86. 86.

    Greenwald, 1980, pp. 186 and 190.

  87. 87.

    Faue, 1991, pp. 10, 48–50 and 53.

  88. 88.

    Graham Taylor, “Telephone Girl,” in Edna Bullock (ed.), Selected Articles on the Employment of Women, Minneapolis, 1911, pp. 132f.

  89. 89.

    Munsingwear News , 1919: 4, p. 18.

  90. 90.

    “Minnesota, Births and Christenings, 1840–1980,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FD9G-4J5, Accessed 10 Apr. 2014), Edlund, May 9, 1895; citing Alba, Jackson, Minnesota, reference P. 156; FHL microfilm 1403139.

  91. 91.

    Minnesota Commission of Public Safety. Woman’s Committee. Women in Industry Survey Forms, 1918–1919. Microfilm SAM 222. MHS.

  92. 92.

    Taylor, 1911, p. 133f.

  93. 93.

    Minutes of the Supervisory Board, February 25, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  94. 94.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 180.

  95. 95.

    Minutes of the Supervisory Board, September 24, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS

  96. 96.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 285.

  97. 97.

    The Minimum Wage Commission , Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., June 1920, p. 2 (1–9), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  98. 98.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 184f.

  99. 99.

    Minutes of the Supervisory Board, May 9, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  100. 100.

    The Minimum Wage Commission , Pay Roll Reports, Munsingwear Inc., June 1920, Payroll 2 (1–9), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  101. 101.

    Munsingwear News , January 1919, p. 18.

  102. 102.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, Chapter 8, especially p. 404.

  103. 103.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, pp. 26f.

  104. 104.

    Organization Charts of the Northwestern Knitting Company, December 1, 1917 and of the Munsingwear Corporation, June 1, 1921, Munsingwear News , March 1918, p. 10 and Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 1, Location 148.G.10.9 (B), MHS.

  105. 105.

    Minimum Wage Commission . Pay Roll Reports, 1920. The Munsingwear Inc., pp. 6–8. Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  106. 106.

    Minimum Wage Commission . Pay Roll Reports, 1920. Munsingwear Inc., pp. 47–50. Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  107. 107.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 40.

  108. 108.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 189.

  109. 109.

    Jensen, 2004, p. 51.

  110. 110.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptometer , September 28, 2011.

  111. 111.

    John Wolff’s Web Museum. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wolff/calculators/comptometers/Operator.htm. September 28, 2011.

  112. 112.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, p. 45.

  113. 113.

    Munsingwear News , March 1920, p. 27.

  114. 114.

    Munsingwear News , March 1920, p. 26.

  115. 115.

    Minutes of the Supervisory Board, February 25, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  116. 116.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, May 9, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  117. 117.

    Hartman Strom, 1992, pp. 185f.

  118. 118.

    Munsingwear News , June 1919, p. 19.

  119. 119.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Pay Roll Reports, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., p. 44 (1–50) and p. 1 (1–9), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  120. 120.

    Wolfson, 1926, p. 37.

  121. 121.

    The information on a husband’s occupation and earnings, their draft for war into the army or the navy, and the ages of their children is taken from the survey of the women at work at the Northwestern Knitting Company in 1918.

  122. 122.

    Nissa Ulven “United Garment Workers’ Local 171: Early Years (1901–1921). A ‘Pure and Simple’ Trade Union Led by Women in St. Paul, Minnesota.” Student paper in History 4961 W, Department of History, University of Minnesota , 2009, p. 23.

  123. 123.

    In a study of labor relations, working conditions and ageing of typographers in Sweden , I was able to show how lead dust made work at composing and printing machines less efficient and that managers of printing shops cared about working conditions in order to gain higher profits. See Lars Olsson, Gamla typer och nya produktionsförhållanden. Lund, 1986.

  124. 124.

    Munsingwear News , January 1916, pp. 2, 4–5.

  125. 125.

    Munsingwear News , January 1919, p. 17.

  126. 126.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Pay Roll Reports, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., pp. 45f., Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  127. 127.

    Munsingwear News , January 1920, p. 25.

  128. 128.

    Minimum Wage Commission . Pay Roll Reports, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., pp. 45f. Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  129. 129.

    Bryner, 1916, p. 112.

  130. 130.

    Munsingwear News , April 1920, p. 24.

  131. 131.

    Minimum Wage Commission , Pay Roll Reports, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., pp. 8f. (1–9), Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industries , Location 115.H.17.1B, MHS.

  132. 132.

    Secretary’s Record Book, 1910–July 1919, pp. 80–81, and Extracts of Minutes of Stockholders and Directors’ Meetings, 1887–1925, June 20, 1913, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 30, Location 148.C.14.1B (ov), MHS.

  133. 133.

    Hours of Labor Correspondence, 1909–1919. Minnesota State Archives. Labor and Industry Department. Location: 115.H.17.9 (B).MHS.

  134. 134.

    Hours of Labor, Correspondence, 1909–1919. Minnesota State Archives. Labor and Industry Department. Location: 115.H.17.9 (B).MHS.

  135. 135.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, May 6, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  136. 136.

    Edward P. Thompson, “Time, Work-discipline and Industrial Capitalism ,” in Past & Present, 38, 1967.

  137. 137.

    Inspections, Textiles, 1917–1918, Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industry, Minneapolis, Location 126.J 2.3, MHS.

  138. 138.

    Inspections, Textiles, 1917–1918, Minnesota State Department of Labor and Industry, Minneapolis, Location 126.J 2.3, MHS.

  139. 139.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, October 28, 1918, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  140. 140.

    Northwestern Knitting Company, Secretary’s Book 1910–July 1919, p. 242, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 30, Location 148.C.14.1 (B), MHS.

  141. 141.

    Minutes of Meeting of Supervisory Board, May 10, 1920, Munsingwear Inc., Records, Box 29, Location 148.G.13.7 (B), MHS.

  142. 142.

    Standards recommended for the employment of women, by the Council of National Defense, Washington, December 12, 1918, Minnesota State Archives, Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, Correspondence and Subject Files, Location 103.K.7.12 (F), MHS.

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  1. Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden

    Lars Olsson

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Olsson, L. (2018). Divided Work—Women and Men at Work for the Company. In: Women's Work and Politics in WWI America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90215-9_4

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