Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 June 1896 — ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS. [ARTICLE]

ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS.

fashions in hats boom a new YORK INDUSTRY. Yhs Present Style of Feminine Headgear and Its Effect on Butiness-—How the Flowers Are Mads. Fashion has ordained that women shall wear an abundance of artficlal flowers on their hats. It is a popular style, as you may observe by strolling through the shopping districts on any bright day. The artificial flower manufacturing Industry has been extensively pursued in this city, but this year it has a boom, It Is carried on particularly in the great wholesale millinery district, north of Grand Street, on Broadway, and the streets west of It. The people engaged in It are mostly French, Germans and Italians who, considering the skill demanded by the artistic nature of their work, are very poorly paid. In fact, artificial flower-makers are among the most unfortunate of artisans, as they are chiefly dependent for employment upon the caprices of fashion. Now that flowers are so extensively used in decorating hats they have more work than they can do; but next year flowers may give place to plumes and birds’ wings and their occupation will be gone for a time at least. A visit to a manufactory where artificial flowers are made reveals many novelties. The materials used are muslin. French cambric, satin, silk and velvet. The first process is to cut these fabrics Into leaves and petals. This work is done exclusively by men. In a long, narrow room in the rear of the building occupied by the factory, I found on a recent tour about a dozen artisans standing at board tables working industriously with cutting knives and heavy mallets. The knives are shaped like chisels, furnished at one end with blades of various formation, and at the other with a straight iron handle. For every leaf and flower there Is a different cutting knife. The blades of one may be shaped to cut out Ivy leaves, of another daisies, of a third violets, and so on.

Before each workman was a large slab of lead, upon which was placed the material folded into many thicknesses. With a powerful blow of the mallet the cutting knife was driven clean through the fabric into the lead. These blows were repeated with marvelous quickness and regularity. The mallets rose and fell as if operated by machinery, making such a deafening clamor as to render conversation among the workmen impossible. I was told that the workman, who, from a piece of material of given size, could cut out the most flowers with the least waste was accounted the most skilled and received the highest wages. The cutters in this factory are paid from $9 to 112 a week. I observed that as the leaves and peals fell from the cutting knives they were pushed aside into seperate boxes according to their form. Whenever a box was filled, an empty one was substituted In its place. The leaves came from the cutting knife perfect in formation, but without any of the veins that are characteristic of the natural leaf. These must be impressed upon it. This is done by means of an iron press operated by hand on the screw lever principle. A bunch containing twenty or thirty leaves, is placed in a mould underneath the press. Then the handles of the press are turned slowly round until the stamp that fits the mould is screwed down Into place, leaving its impress of veins upon all the leaves. In this factory the presses are all operated by women, who receive $5 a week for their services. It was not until I entered the dyeing room and saw the third process of artificial flower making that I began to realize the artistic nature of the work. On a long board table stood two or three dozen pots containing a variety of brilliant colors that had been carefully prepared by the dyer. One pot was filled with a delicate purple liquid intended to give the exact hue to the fabric that had been cut out for violets. “Bee,” said the dyer approaching me and holding out a bunch of natural violets for my inspection, “have I not caught the exact shade of coloring that characterizes these little flowers?” In truth he had. One might easily have believed that the flowers he held In his hand had received their exquisite

colored from the dye in the pot. “Some dyers trust to their memory in mixing colors,” he continued, “but I never do that. I procure specimens of natural flowers whenever it is practicable, and mix my dyes until they exactly correspond with them in shade. “It is necessary to soak the material in alcohol first,” said the dyer further, “in order that it may the more readily absorb the color and allow it to penetrate through every piece. Again, when I dip the pieces into the dye I press my thumb and forefinger together. This prevents the color from reaching the center of the pieces, and results in the same gradual shading, from deep purple at the rim of the petals to white at the heart of the flower, which is characteristic of the natural bloom.” But all flowers cannot be shaded thus easily he explained. Take the pansy for example, the petals of which are marked by sharp contrasts of color. In another room I was shown how these were produced. Several men were busily working, a palette in one hand and a delicately-pointed paint brush In the other, putting little dabs of purple and yellow on petals of muslin cut into the shape of pansies. The petals had already received a ground coloring of dye and one or two deft strokes of the brush was sufficient to produce the effect desired. The artists worked with surprising rapidity—a dash here, a dab there, and the eye of the pansy stood revelled. Other artists were engaged in painting yellow centers on white star flowerse and two, more skillful than the rest, were giving delicate gradations of shading to the petals of roses. I was told that the rose is the most expensive artificial flower that is made. It cannot be produced by following a common model, as Is the case with most other flowers, but every single bud or bloom must be a distinct creation in itself. From the bud just appearing to the full-blow r n flower there is an infinite variety of forms. Fine artificial roses, made in this country, cost from $6 to sl2 a dozen; but there

are some imported rarities that ai% worth from sls to $25 a dozen. A first class dyer of flowers is paid from S2O to S3O a week, while the artists that pat on the finishing touches receive from sl2 to S2O, according to their proficiency and experience. Having received their proper colorings and shadings, the bits of muslin, cambric and other materials that are to be made into flowers are subjected to various processes of crimping, curling and starching. In the room set apart for I this work about 50 women and girls : were at work fluting curling the petals ; in imitation of the irregularities to be ' found in natural flower*. Next came the last process of all—that of arranging the leaves and petals into the forms of wreaths and flowers and attaching them to stems. The room set apart for this work is the largest in the factory. There are fully 100 women and girls employed in it. In the arrangement of the petals and in variation of form, the artisians often displayed a refined taste and discrimination which showed that they possessed a genuine love for their trade. Although they were paid by work, and might consequently be expected to hurry through their task,they frequently devoted time to a rose they had in hand in order to give it a few extra, touches that would add to its naturalness and beauty. Of course their employers could not object to this, as the more finished the flower the higher the price it will bring.