I’m reading a book called Sons and Soldiers by Bruce Henderson. It’s about the young German Jewish men who escaped the Nazi in the 1930’s and then enlisted in the US Army and were assigned to the intelligence division. It tells a worthwhile story in a less than compelling way. But that’s not what I want to talk about I want to talk about tailors.
Many of the young men whose stories are told in the book had worked as tailors before the Army. Either in Germany or in the USA or both. Thinking about it there used to be a lot of tailors in the world but in the last fifty or sixty years ready to wear garments have become ubiquitous and the number of tailors has decreased exponentially. Tailoring was an entry level job that could be learned on the job and didn’t require English skills or documentation.
So what do young immigrants do now? One thing they can do is give manicures and pedicures. They also work as cleaning ladies and gardeners. In restaurants they work as dishwashers and bussers. Plumbers, electricians and painters are likely to be immigrants.
What do these new immigrant friendly jobs have in common? They can be learned on the job and don’t require English skills or documentation.
Change is ….and it isn’t.
It used to be that fabric was expensive and tailoring was relatively cheap. Now fabric is machine made in massive quantities and is relatively inexpensive while custom labor is expensive. Low shipping costs and automation of the garment sewing process have effected this change.
Another way to think about it is that we all do have tailors at our beck and call but not nearby, they are in garment factories in China.
♪♫ Where have all the tailors gone?
Gone to China everyone.
When will they ever learn. ♫♪ ♪♫