Alan
I can assure you Iâ?Tm not disillusioned.
Cutting machines may be as old as you suggest,
but up until the 1920, in particular Eastern
Canada, and Many other provinces and American
states, the old fashioned way of making a suit
was by hand. When Jewish men served their
(tailor) Schneider apprenticeship in Eastern
Europe they didnâ?Tt have the luxury of any
machines. They sat cross- legged while working,
cutting and stitching, all by hand. They
unfortunately developed what is known medically
as â?oTailor Bunions.â?� Many suffered from
this affliction. Look it up on google. When
they came to Canada and the USA, they continued
to work by creating garments by hand as they were taught.
New York was filled with Schneiders. Their
lives were very difficult and conditions were
poor. They either worked in a factory for 10­15
pluus hours a day or at an apartment on the
EastSide of New York, eeking out a living by
making garments by hand. They were treated
horribly until Samuel Gompers, initiated the
first organized union movement. Then things
changed. In the 1920s, ready made suits were
introduced. One could buy a Suit â?o right off the rack.â?�
As you know, as we all know, there are still
real Schneiders around today. They make menâ?Ts
suits from scratch. Do they all use cutting machines?
Not the ones I go to. They are from Italy and
still sit crossed legged sewing by hand,
beautiful creations that cost a pretty penny. The Jewish Schneiders are gone.
Larry Gaum

On Aug 16, 2020, at 4:55 PM, Alan Greenberg

<alan.greenberg@...> wrote:

Larry, I hate to disillusion you, but

electric cutting machines have been around for
over 130 year (https://www.eastmancuts.com/about/history/).

Watching them in action (just as they were

when I was in the business 6 years ago), you
understand why many cutters were and are
missing parts of their fingers and hands -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ5DOZFMz2s and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWpbfn93Lyw.

Alan Greenberg
Montreal, Canada



At 2020-08-16 10:03 AM, Larry Gaum via groups.jewishgen.org wrote:

Barbara Singer speaks of â?o Machine Operators?â?�
In 1910? When the bulk of Eastern European

Jews came to USA and Canada? No such thing.
Suits,(garments) were made by hand. The
Schneider (Tailor), cut the cloth with a
pattern, put it together, did the sowing, fabricated a suit ,

And Voila, all done. This man, or woman, were tailors, Schneiders. Period.
In the late 1920s-30s, made to measure hand

made garments gave way to the machine or ready
made suits putting lots of Schneiders out of a
job. Including my maternal grandfather, Louis
Marshall, who lived in Nova Scotia.

Larry Gaum