Where the Work is Done
The work may be carried on, it has been said, in any place “where there are a half dozen machines and an ironing board.” But in some places large clothing factories have been built, though much of the work is done in medium-sized shops.
The clothing industries differ from other manufacturing industries in several particulars. They are highly localized. More than half of all the clothing manufactured in the United States is made in New York City. Choice of a home is, therefore, limited for the young man who enters any one of these industries. Other cities in which the industries flourish are Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore, Boston, Rochester, Chicago, and Cincinnati. Because of the congestion in New York some concerns have made attempts to move away from such crowded quarters, but the character of the industries requires just those things which are not found in rural districts. It is for one thing important to be near the labor supply and near the markets, both for buying materials and for selling goods. The prestige accredited to New York manufacturers as to style is another factor holding concerns in that city.