Wooltex the Vanguard Ready-to-wear garment manufacturer welfare capitalism in Cleveland, Ohio

Abstract

From "Chants Democratic: New York City & the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788-1850," Dr. Sean Wilentz concluded, "Above all else, it was the very transparency of exploitation, the self-evident inequalities of power and material expectations at every level of production, that made the seated trades the most degraded crafts in New York." My intended purpose is not to argue that Dr. Wilentz's conclusions were incorrect bur rather to offer another perspective of the ready-to-wear industry at the turn of the century. Records indicate that Cleveland became an effectual leader in garment manufacturing, and differed greatly from New York, Boston and Philadelphia, other garment manufacturing giants of the time. This essay challenges Wilentz's conclusions, implying that his findings were not a universal phenomena of garment manufacturing but an environmental characteristic of New York City. "Wooltex," a coat and cloak manufacturer, will be the focus of this study in order to identify and determine what made Cleveland's garment industry so atypical. Wooltex's value to history comes from its company magazine --"The Wooltex News" which was published from 1910 to 1917. Although it was dubbed a worker's paper --For Wooltexers By Wooltexers-- it was obvious that the paper spewed company rhetoric. Thus, the researcher will investigate the practice of welfare capitalism through the "eyes" of the company from the "top down." Looking at Wooltex's welfarism through the management's perspective prove educational and enlightening. It was the company's implementation of psychological programs and activities throughout the factory that changed the garment industry in Cleveland. Wooltex grew to be the largest garment manufacturer in Cleveland by 1910. The owners Herman and Morris Black were progressive in their thinking. Wooltex received recognition for its humane treatment of employees and was used as a model for other industries. My argument that welfare capitalism was successful and rewarding to owner and worker lies in the fact that prominent garment affiliated unions were kept out of Cleveland until 1917. The defeat of the garment workers strike in 19911 proved that working conditions in Cleveland and relationships with management and owners were agreeable. Head union representative, John Dyche, stated in "The Cleveland Plain Dealer" that Cleveland's working conditions in the garment trade were excellent. This study is important because it illustrates how the effects of welfare capitalism could transpose a traditionally abused industry into one of stature at the local level. The evidence gathered substantiates that welfarism elevated Wooltex to become a vanguard company-- A company to be admired and emulated. Its decline signified the end to an inventive, idealistic philosophy.