January 14, 2020 by admin

Winnipeg Jews & the Garment Industry

 A STITCH IN TIME! Winnipeg, Manitoba in the 20th century was a hub of the garment industry, and Jews were involved in its manufacturing, retail and union organizing, as the sector moved from a cottage industry sewing farmers’ work clothes to factories of high fashion. Historians of this prairie city note that the shift was driven in part by the success of the movement for women’s suffrage. As women’s presence in the clerical workforce became more accepted, women needed clothing for these new roles. An online exhibition explores the history of Winnipeg’s garment industry

and its relation to the city and its Jewish community. It also describes the industry today, and how it has changed since its beginnings at the end of the 19th century. Integrating photographs, documents, oral histories, and artifacts with interviews with factory owners, workers, and labor personali- ties, this modest Canadian exhibition considers itself a starting point and welcomes the addition of your stories, photos and memorabilia. The Jewish Heritage Center of Western Canada. jhcwc.org

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