72 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



Cost for 6-pound blanket: 



Wool, 9 pounds (varying with year and 



season) $11.25 



Labor: Days 



Purchase of wool 1 



• Cleaning and washing, actual labor 



(covering 2 or 3 days' time) 1 



Carding 2 



Spinning 2 



Weaving 2 



Total 8 



Asking price $25.00 



Average sales price 20.00 



Gross profit 8.75 



Return for labor per day 1.09 plus 



Return per day for total days spent on 



part-time basis .58 plus 



Comment: Although involving only 8 days' actual 

 labor, the work would be spread over about 15 days. 

 Weavers usually would have to take 1 or 2 whole days 

 off to get wood and some days or parts of days when 

 the weather might be unpleasant. In addition, repairs 

 to equipment and houses must be made, perhaps an 

 animal must be looked after, and so on. 



Belt tveaving : 



Equipment: 



Loom, home-made 

 Costs: 



Materials, thread and yarn ? 



Labor, part time 2 days 



Asking price $1.25 



Actual selling price 1.00 



Gross profit, estimated 80-.90 



Daily labor return (part time, probably 



5-6 hours) 40-.45 



Clothing manufacture: 



Capital investment: 



Sewing machine $40.00-150.00 



Expenses: 



Materials (for work on order) None 



Returns per day (from various workers' 



statements) ?0.7.5-$1.30 



Comment: Most workers, especially men, are part- 

 time operators; many work only on order, when daily 

 income for elaborate garments may be much higher. 

 Income figures are hence misleading, as they are based 

 on steady work on low-priced garments. 



Clothing made for exchange at weddings usually is 

 only single-stitched; regular clothing is double-stitched. 

 Prices for sewing men's cotton trousers vary from 10 to 

 15 centavos for single stitching and 15 or 25 centavos 

 for double stitching. Men's shirts vary in cost from 

 25 to 40 centavos (or more for fancy rayon shirts). 

 Women's aprons cost 12 centavos. 



Some persons make and sell finished garments. 

 Men's trousers or blouses require about 2\'z meters of 

 material, at an average cost of about 30 centavos a 

 meter. One woman specializes in children's garments. 

 She claims to make 3 to 4 dozen children's garments a 

 week, selling them at 80 centavos to $2.50 apiece (in- 

 cluding materials). Her profits vary. A child's rayon 

 dress requiring $1.50 worth of material she sold for 

 $1.75, while for a cotton dress requiring $0.40 worth of 

 material she charged $0.80. 



All fitted or tailored garments, which are growing in 

 popularity, are imported. A widely heard comment was 

 that anyone in Cheran who could make and fit gar- 

 ments, especially men's shirts, would make gi'eat profits. 



MINOR ACTIVITIES 



Candlemaking : 



Cost of wax (per kilo) 



Sales of candles from 1 kilo of wax . . $2.25-$2.50 

 Possible profit (excluding labor and 



equipment) $0..50-$1.00 



Rope 'making (horsehair) : 



Horsehair $0.50 per kilo $0,371/2 



Labor 1 day 



Sale price $1.50 



Gross profit per day $1,121/2 



Coviment: Only one man was found who made ropes. 

 No data were secured on agave fiber ropes made by the 

 same man, nor on the time taken in marketing and 

 securing raw materials. As all the equipment is home- 

 made and very little capital is needed, the gross profit 

 probably is clo.se to net profit except for the factors 

 mentioned. 



Shoeviaking : 

 Equipment: 



Sewing machine $55.00 



Lasts ? 



Knives ? 



Labor : 



1 cheap pair of shoes per day is produced by a 

 shoemaker and 2 unpaid apprentices 

 Value of product (per pair) $3.00-7.00 



Estimated gross income: 



Per day 1.50 



Per pair of shoes 1.50-3.50 



Comment : No clear picture of the economics of this 

 industry was secured. The selection and purchase of 

 hides involves knowledge of tanning, size, and quality 

 of the hide. Guarache makers apparently earn as 

 little as 20 centavos a day, but there are no full-time 

 professionals in town. All local manufacturers make 

 guaraches to order and in claiming they make only one 

 pair a day, they probably mean they do not attempt to 

 make more than one pair a day. 



Tanning : 



Charge per cowhide $.5.00-$10.00 



Charge per sheepskin 50 



Average daily return 1.25 



