nmah sweatshop exhibition -- tenement floor plan

Full-scale diagram of living room laid out as a work room in a tenement sweatshop

Rapid urban growth and few housing codes caused severe overcrowding in many American cities. New York City's Lower East Side, for example, became one of the most densely populated districts in the world.

Three-room apartments consisting of a living room, kitchen, and bedroom often doubled as tenement shops. A turn-of-the-century shop might house an average of six people and employ anywhere from four to thirty workers. There was no privacy as every room served as living, working, and sleeping space. The kitchen table was used as a workbench, and people often slept in shifts. Outdoor privies and, later, indoor toilets located in hallways were shared by several families and workers.

The Expenses of a Typical Sweatshop - around 1900

Prices received from manufacturer for 300 coats: $225

Thirteen Jewish shop workers:

Three operators at $15 each
Three basters at $13.30 each
Three finishers at $10.00 each
Two pressers at $12.00 each
One trimmer and busheler (the boss himself) at $18.00
One button sewer at $9.00

Six Italian home workers to do felling (stitching flat seams) at $2.00 each

Rent and miscellaneous costs: $9.00

Profit: $38.10

Statistics courtesy Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Return to 1880-1940, Section 4