INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



THE WHOLESALE MANUFACTURE OF CLOTHING 



The manufacture of ready-made clothing had the 

 most revolutionary effect upon all forms of clothing 

 for both sexes. In this revolution, the sewing-machine 

 has, of course, played the all important part, and yet 

 the revolution had begun several years before the sew- 

 ing-machine had been invented. As the United States 

 was responsible for the development of this machine 

 so also this country seems to have taken the initiative 

 in the manufacture of ready-made clothing and has 

 held the position preeminently ever since. 



Just when the manufacture of clothing began as 

 a separate industry cannot be determined accurately, 

 but it seems certain that the first steps in this direction 

 were taken during the first or second decade of the 

 nineteenth century. At this time certain New York 

 manufacturers began putting out ready-made garments, 

 among these being George Opdyke, who was once 

 mayor of New York. About 1831, he began manu- 

 facturing clothing in an establishment in Hudson Street, 

 which he conducted on a small retail scale. Other 

 manufacturers soon fell into line and by 1835 medium- 

 grade clothing for men was being manufactured whole- 

 sale, although in limited quantities. Some time before 

 this it had been customary for the stores in seaport 

 towns to manufacture and keep in stock the coarse 

 clothing outfits used by sailors, but such clothing was 

 made on a relatively small scale and consisted only 

 of the most simple type of garments. 



From this small beginning in clothing manufacture 



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