Cortland
Corset Company.
One of the busiest factories in Cortland is that situated on North Main
St., and occupied by the Cortland Corset Co. Although the business has been
started but a few weeks it has grown to proportions that have astonished its
most sanguine friends, and it bids fair in the near future to develop into a
trade that shall be second to none in the country.
Last
Monday afternoon a representative of the DEMOCRAT called at the factory, and was
shown through the different departments by Mr. E. G. Gould, the courteous and
efficient secretary of the company. The first room inspected was that in which the
cloth is cut up for use. Two long tables are arranged, one on each side of the
room, and on these the cloth is unrolled, a number of thicknesses deep. Guided
by metal patterns the workmen cut this with their keen knives with great
rapidity, and, by varying the position of the pattern, with but little waste it
is then passed into the stock room, which adjoins the cutting room where it is
given out as needed on the floor above.
In
the stock room are kept all the materials for making corsets, such as thread,
steels, wires, laces, etc. A clerk is in charge here whose duty it is to keep a
record of all material given out and to also note the department to which it is
sent.
Ascending
to the second floor by means of the elevator the visitor is greeted by the click
of sixty-five Wheeler A. Wilson sewing machines which are run at an extremely high
rate of speed. A competent forewoman is in charge of the room to give out the
work and see that it is correctly done.
The
corsets are first embroidered on machines especially constructed for that purpose,
and, as the work is done with no other guide than the hand and eye of me
operator, it will be seen that no inconsiderable amount of artistic talent is
necessary for its execution. The steels are now inserted, the work properly
folded and it is then passed to the machines where it is put together. The
bone, wire and side steels are then put in and the work thus far done is put
into the hands of the first inspector.
Should
anything be wrong it is returned to be repaired, while if no mistake has been
made it is handed to a peculiarly constructed machine which shapes it properly.
The ends are then bound and the corset is now sent to the first floor to be
completed. Here the eyelets are inserted, then it is turned over to the ironer.
An ingenuous spraying contrivance dampens the goods a little and they are
ironed while yet moist. The bust is shaped over a steel block heated by steam, then
the trimming is stitched on and the work is again inspected. If this be
satisfactory they are packed each in a box and are ready to be shipped.
The
company are making several grades of corsets but it is their intention to push
their Zenobia and C. C. C., both of which are protected by letters patent. The
distinguishing feature of the Zenobia is a side section at top and bottom of
kid leather which allows the corset to conform to the movements of the body
without the tedious process of breaking in.
The
demand for these goods is so great already that the company are unable to keep up
with their orders and they hope soon to devote their whole force to the making
of these two brands. They have recently placed these goods on sale at several
stores in town, the names of which may be learned by a reference to their
advertisement in another column. The company are now making sixty dozen a day
and hope soon to make one hundred dozen.
The
motive power is supplied by a twenty horse power engine and a forty horse power
boiler both of which were made at the Porter M'f'g. Co. of Syracuse. The building
is heated with steam and the latest improved apparatus is employed. The rooms
are high and well lighted and ventilated, with city water on both floors.
Provision has also been made whereby the floor could be flooded in a moment
should fire break out.
The
operatives, in all about one hundred, are without exception, of a remarkably
fine appearance and ladylike bearing and seem strongly to corroborate Secretary
Gould’s emphatic assertion that they were in every way a superior lot of hands.
We wish the new enterprise the fullest measure of success.
The Door and Window Screen Company.
In
the month of October, 1887 in the old Wickwire block on R. R. St., Messrs. H. H.
and W. J. Greenman commenced building a window screen on which they had taken
out letters patent. That their goods met with a ready sale may be inferred from
the fact that the shops on R. R. St. soon became too small and they were
obliged at the close of the season to remove to the more commodious factory on
Port Watson St., which they now occupy.
Last
October the business was merged into a stock company, additions were made to
the already large shops, more machinery was added and the work was begun with
the determination on the part of the company to make enough goods to supply the
orders which constantly flowed in upon them.
The
first floor of the factory on Port Watson St. is almost entirely occupied by
the machinery, all of which is of the most approved pattern. Here the material
is received, cut up, and made ready for use. On the second floor the doors are
put together and stained, and the finished goods crated for shipment. The third
floor is devoted to the screen windows of which nearly one hundred dozen are made
daily. The frames are glued together on the first floor and are then brought to
this one, where the wire cloth is tacked on.
Girls
are employed almost exclusively on this floor and they seem to take to the use of
the saw and hammer as kindly as though they were their natural implements. About
thirty young ladies are working now and the number will be increased to fifty
in a short time.
The
window screen, on which the Messrs. Greenman have in so short a time built so large
a trade, is extremely simple of construction. To each end of the frame over which
the wire is nailed, is fitted a semi-elliptical spring of wire, the ends of
which project upward. On the ends of the spring rests a bend made large enough
to enable it to slip over the ends of the frame. By pressing on each head the
width can be considerably lessened, while when in position, the resistance of
the spring holds the screen firmly in place.
The
company number among their customers some of the best wholesale houses in the country,
whose orders for goods are sufficient indication of their merit. The members of
the new company are all gentlemen of acknowledged ability who would spare no
pains to maintain and add to the already vast trade which it now enjoys.
The New Directory.
The
Globe Directory Publishing Co., of Utica, will soon begin a canvass of this village
and Homer, preparatory to issuing a new directory of these places. If we may
judge from the prospectus of the company, the work will be in every way the most
complete and satisfactory that has yet been issued. It will contain a complete list
of names, occupation and address of residents, a business directory of merchants
and manufacturers, a record of the village government, together with many facts
of more than local interest.
Notwithstanding
the large amount of labor and expense connected with the publication of so extensive
a work, the publishers have fixed the price at the small sum of one dollar a
copy, hoping to place one in each family in town. The book will be well printed
and bound and is guaranteed by the publishers to equal in appearance any of the
directories which are usually sold at from two to three times the price asked
for this.
A
good directory is almost an essential for everyone, and it is to be hoped that
the majority of our citizens will improve this chance to supply themselves with
a copy of this work. The agents who conduct the canvass will be pleased to take
orders for the work, which need not be paid for until delivery. We predict a
large sale in this town.
Cortland
Standard, Thursday,
December 22, 1904.
The Cortland Democrat,
Friday, December 5, 1919.
Twenty Years Ago.
The Gillette Skirt company bought the old Cortland Corset company
building on Miller-st. to be used as a skirt factory. This was burned on the
night of Jan. 8, 1904, and the present cement block structure was later
erected, now used by the Newton shirt factory.
 |
| 1899 Harris photo. Grip's Historical Souvenir of Cortland. |
FIRE
RECORD FOR 1904.
Sixteen
Fire Alarms.
Second [Fire]—Jan. 8. The large factory of the Gillette Skirt Co., situated between Homer-ave. and
Miller-st. with most of its contents, was totally destroyed. The fire was one
of the largest that has occurred in this city in a number of years. The
building was entirely of wood and burned rapidly, and, owing to the great
distance from the fire station, and the deep snow, the most the firemen could
do was to save adjoining property. The alarm was turned in a t 10:30 p. m. from
box 223. The origin of the fire is still a mystery. No night watch was employed
and when the employees left at 6 p. m. everything seemed to be in perfect condition.
Insurance on building and contents $16,000, which did not cover the loss.
Keep the Skirt Factory.
Cortland will need to get a hustle on if it keeps the Gillette Skirt Co.
in town. Saturday it had offers of a site and aid in erecting its buildings from
Binghamton and Syracuse. A. P. McGraw is today trying to sell at a bargain to
the company the brick building in McGraw in which it is now temporarily locating.
A representative of the board of trade of Weedsport is here in town
today, aiming to induce the company to locate at his home. The company has not
yet decided to leave town but it acknowledges that in its present situation
with everything it has destroyed and nothing remaining as a nucleus to keep it
in Cortland some of these offers of sites on railroads and of help in building
do look pretty attractive.
The question
presents itself fairly and squarely to the residents of Cortland, does the
place want to let the Gillette Skirt Co. depart? Isn't this a proper and legitimate
undertaking for the board of trade to consider? This company has grown steadily
each year from the time when it employed a dozen hands till just before the
fire. It had 130 in the factory and thirteen men on
the road. There is every reason to suppose that in the course of a few years
its capacity and employees would again be doubled. Mr. Gillette himself is
public spirited and liberal, a good citizen, just the kind of man Cortland wants to have stay here. The same may be said of others who are associated with
him. If it is worth the while of other places to acquire the Gillette Skirt
Co., it is worth the while of Cortland to retain it.--Cortland Standard, January 11, 1904.
The Gillette Skirt Co.
This company began the manufacture
of skirts three years ago. Their first factory was located in a small building on
Port Watson street. A few months only had elapsed before a change to larger quarters
was found to be necessary and the Wells block was secured. Here the business
has been conducted on the second and third floors of the building. This has proved
too small for present requirements and the company has purchased the property formerly
occupied by the Cortland Corset Co. on Homer avenue and Miller street. This will
furnish several times their present capacity for producing goods.—Grip’s Historical Souvenir of Cortland, 1899.
SALE
OF THE CORSET COMPANY’S PROPERTY.
The real estate and personal property of the Cortland Corset Company, located on North
Main street [Miller Street—CC editor] in this village, was sold by Referee S. S. Knox, on Saturday last to S. E.
Welch of this place, and Byron H. Bierce of Scott, for
$3,000, they being
the highest bidders for the same. We understand that Messrs. Welch and Bierce assume
all of the liabilities of the Company amounting to
about $18,000. The Company was organized about three
years
since with a capital stock of $25,000 and for some months seemed to be in a prosperous condition, but about a year ago they virtually
shut down and have practically done no business since. We
are
unable to learn the cause of the trouble, as the directors seem to be rather reticent about
talking in relation to the matter.—Cortland
Democrat, Friday, January 17, 1890.
Recommended:
1) 1889 Cortland Directory: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycortla/dir89x90/dir89cv2.htm
2) 1894 Cortland map, Cortland Corset Co. #15 marked on roof, between Homer Ave. and Miller Street (zoom to enlarge and drag mouse to move around map): http://www.stockmapagency.com/1894_Map_of_Cortland_UC-NEYO-CORT1894-ANT.php
3) Chester
Gillette and Grace Brown: http://jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2012/06/chester-gillette-and-grace-brown.html
