HBO documentary Oct. 19th about the rise & fall of the NYC garment industry

[eleny]

Ed Schultz just interviewed a union guy about it.

The HBO page about the doc. --> http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/schmatta/index.html

This is the story of my family, for sure. Mom & dad put my brother and I through college working in the Robert Hall tailor shop as partners sewing pockets. Dad worked in the industry ever since he came to America from Lithuania around 1925.

I went to college in Brooklyn. The university purchased an old factory building on the edge of the campus. It was renovated in time for me to take my very last class there before I graduated. When my mom saw the building, she said that she sewed lingerie in that building when she was 19 years old *sigh*.

[eleny]

1. Here's my dad working in a tailor shop in Brooklyn, NY

He's the young guy smiling in the foreground. I don't know the year.

Notice how some men are working while wearing ties and vests.

[grasswire]

8. can you guess the approximate year, eleny?

I guess that work is done now by peasants in Asia.

[JDPriestly]

2. That should be a great program.

Can you post a link to the internet version for those of us who don't (can't) have HBO for one reason or another.

I confess that I love clothes and fabrics although no one in my family worked in the garment industry.

The loss of our textile and garment industry is just tragic.

I like to sew and remember the wonderful cotton that I wore as a child. Yes. You had to iron it, but the imitations you get today are horrible. They don't feel good on your body and they don't wear well. Worst of all, you can't really patch or repair them like you could the old cotton garments.

I wonder if anyone else had someone in the family who would sew a child a piece of clothing so that it could be "let out" as the child grew. I remember hems that were lengthened and seams with extra allowance for growth. Ah! The good old days when we used to save things and stretch things and can and sew and use our resources wisely. It was a lot of work, but the work was empowering.

[eleny]

3. Over in the eBay group we were talking about repurposing

It was a discussion about tablecloths made into aprons. My mom used to take her cotton dresses and make aprons out of them skirt portion. I don't think we ever had a store bought apron in the house.

I don't know if people thought of being empowered back then. Having grown up during the Depression, using things up was just what everyone did. But these days, being able to sew does make you feel good. I remember going to tailor's union picnics every summer as a little girl and wearing a dress mom would sew and embroider for me. It's nice to see so many blogs by younger women who sew, knit, embroider, cook and do them as more than a crafty hobby. There's a lot of talent these days with the information sharing on the net. Lots of inspiration out there.

When my folks retired from sewing in the shops, dad bought a used shop sewing machine. I have it now in storage and need to get it serviced and find a spot for it in the house.

:hi:

P.S. If the documentary is on the net, I'll post the url. Netflix already has it available to save for when it comes out in dvd. :hi:

[JDPriestly]

6. I'm retired and spend the afternoon sewing a pair of pants.

[eleny]

7. Great! How they turning out?

[Omaha Steve]

4. HBO had "The Last Truck" on a month ago

Thank you HBO for the labor related documentaries.

[eleny]

5. I think I'm going to need some hankies for these docs, Steve

Seems like it was a sliver of time when people could work in factories, raise a family and maybe even put kids though college like my parents did.

It's an American era that's fast achieving mythical status.