Sewing machine operators in the garment factory

Sewing machine operators, mostly women, work at long, paired tables overseen by managers. Work baskets fill the space between chairs and scraps clutter the floor around their feet. The mix of cheap, skilled and unskilled labor fueled garment manufacturing growth. The industry doubled in size from 1900 to 1910, making it increasingly cost-effective to bring many who had worked at home into larger garment factories.