The Lewis Knitting Company, Janesville, Wis., made an attractive display, and the writer was told at this exhibit that the garments were brought to a high state of perfection through the ingenuity of Mrs. Lewis.
The Wayne Knitting Mills, Fort Wayne, Ind., made a very beautiful display of fine knit goods, the work of women.
The Kleinert Rubber Company, New York City, made an artistic display of fancy things and were assisted in the arrangement of same by a woman. This exhibit should have special mention for having had everything in place and on time before opening day, which could not be said of many others. I was told that here also many of the improvements were the suggestions of women.
Many of the finest exhibits in this group were ladies' lingerie. There were many creditable exhibits of women's underwear, the work of their hands, and marvelous creations in bead embroidery, lace, and artificial flowers.
A most brilliant display was made by the Rosenthal-Sloan Millinery Company, consisting of artificial flowers manufactured by women. This artistic display was said to have been suggested and carried out in detail by a woman. A unique feature of this display was a map of the United States, each State being formed with its adopted flower, the States being outlined in golden rod, the proposed national flower.
The writer understood that in some of the underwear and hosiery mills women were superintendents of departments and employed in great numbers in other work, the proportion of women to men being between 80 and 90 per cent.
The J.B. Stetson Company, of Philadelphia, Pa., made a good practical display of hats, and in their line the finished product was equal to any in the world, and showed great progress since the Columbian Exposition, when the writer had the pleasure of judging their exhibit. The average of woman's work is about equal.
In this group the advancement in special industries has been in the processes of women's work in the knit goods and corsets, which show greatest improvement. The creditable work shown in the arrangement and display of exhibits by suggestions and carrying out of detail by women leads one to think that women are more remarkable along these lines of work and have accomplished much in the last eleven years, since the time of the Chicago Exposition, or at any time in the past.
Their work was more individualized in former expositions, while in the latter it was impossible to draw comparisons in the advancement or success of women's work, the work not being placed in such a way as to enable one to judge whether it was solely that of women or men. All work was exhibited as the work of mankind in general, and could not be classified under the head of either women's or men's work.
Where manufacturers were questioned relative to the percentage of women working in their establishments, they gladly answered the questions.