﻿22 



Indiana University Studies 



Very pathetic sometimes are the situations due tD differences 

 between labor conditions in America and Europe. Some of these 

 peasant immigrants are highly skilled hand-workers in their 

 native country, but must drop to the ranks of unskilled labor in 

 this country because there is no place for their particular kind 

 of skill in America a industrial processes. For example, skilled 

 shoemakers in the old country are accustomed to making the 

 whole shoe and cannot bring themselves to work in shoe factories 

 where they must be confined to work on parts, or mechanical 

 processes only. They do not go into repair shops — they want 

 to make shoes. So it is with watchmakers and wood-carvers. 

 They find themselves without a trade in this country, simply 

 because there is no demand for their special kind of skill. 



As in any American community, the amusements of the 

 immigrants vary with the facilities at hand. The picture shows 

 are crowded with spectators of which 90 per cent are immigrant 

 men. Some families do gc as families, and some women and 

 young people, but mostly men. Many men go to the saloon 

 to visit, partly because of poor housing conditions. 11 Poolrooms 

 and clubrooms are largely patronized, especially by the Greeks, 

 most of whom do not have families in this country. 



Many of their amusements are, however, racial or national 

 in character. The Italians, for example, have their own dra- 

 matic club, and certain national clubs have social features, as the 

 Croatian Sokol Society. They are very fond of dancing and 

 feasting, and it is a poor sort of occasion which is not celebrated 

 with one or the other or both. In some cases christenings are 

 followed by dances and feasts at which gifts of money are made 

 to the baby — money to be put in the bank till he is 21 years 

 old. Weddings, too, aie often followed by a feast and a dance 

 at which each man makes to the bride a certain gift in money 

 for the privilege of dancing with her. At the end of the dance 

 the bride may find herself in possession of a considerable 

 sum of money — enough to pay for her trousseau and furniture 

 for her home. Some of the well-to-do bridegrooms with advanced 

 American notions are beginning to object to this custom of giving 

 money to the bride as reflecting on their ability to provide for 

 her financially. 



The women in the home cling longest to native customs. 

 It is they who wear the native costumes, who wear the short, 

 full skirts and the kerchiefs. Many of them wear black, and 



"In 1916. Before national prohibition. See Preface. 



