THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
17
TAILORING—DEMONSTRATION
N I C K H A T C H , A le u t Tribe, A laska
H E Bible tells us th a t th e first clothing w orn by man
was the leaves of the trees and the skins of anim als:
A nd they sewed fig leaves together and m ade th e m
selves a p ro n s.” “ U nto Adam also and to his wife
did the Lord God m ake coats of skins, and clothed
th e m .”
T h e skins of anim als continued to be used for clo th
ing for both men and women until th e tribal relation of man merged in
to th e more settled forms of governm ent, being finally succeeded bv
cloth m ade from th e hair of the anim al and the lin t and fibre of the
plant. E very m an, how ever, was his own tailor. T h e wool and the
cotton were g ath ered , cleaned and spun into cloth at hom e, and the
cloth was made into clothing by the wife or some other m em ber of the
fam ily. Some became m ore ex p ert than others, hence followed the
choosing of trades or the begin n in g of the division of labor. L ater
great factories for sp in n in g , w eaving cloth and m aking ready-m ade
clothing, or hand-m e-dow ns, as d istin g u ish ed from tailor made, came
into existence. As the dem and for the form er increases the latter d i
m inishes.
At the present tim e the work is highly specialized, both in the great
m anufactu rin g establishm ents and in the large tailor shops. T h e d e
signer, the m easurer, th e cu tter, the try-on man and, lastly, the m aker
or the tailor, make th e system a com plex one. A nd again th e ta ilo r’s
work m ust be divided and we have the ex p ert coat m aker, vest m aker
and trouser m aker.
E ducators are b eg in n in g to realize th a t a trade is a part of a b o y ’s
education as well as th e other long established studies; for th is reason
trade schools are being established in w hich a know ledge of different
trades can l>e learned or a boy m ay en ter a tailor shop w here in a few
years he may learn the trade.
Upon en terin g a shop to learn th e trad e a bov is usually subm itted to
a bit of hum iliation. He m ay be given a coat to m ake; th e more o rd in
ary course, however, is for him to be given a broom and a mop and to
be told to clean the shop. T h is is essential. Few tailors will succeed
in un tid y shops.
T he use of th e m achine, tape m easure, ta ilo r’s square, irons, cloths
and various o ther tools necessary to a well regulated shop is soon learned.
M uch tim e, even, may be saved in learning how to thread a needle rig h tly ,
and for a boy to be continually d ro p p in g his thim ble is evidence of e x
trem e aw kw ardness.