Stay the Corset! Workers in the Factories, 1890-1930

In the first of two posts, Sarah Villiers describes the fascinating history of corsets and what working conditions were like for women in Charles Bayer's corset factories in the west of England.

 

Few ‘ladies’ would leave the confines of their boudoir without wearing a corset! The huge demand for these undergarments led to the development of many corset manufactories across the country. Contemporary newspaper items provide vivid details of these factories and working conditions. We shall focus on Mr Charles Bayer and his West Country connections.

 

The Celebrated Charles Bayer Corset

 

The opening of the Albion Stay Factory, Bath, in 1892 caused a considerable stir. As described in the Bath Chronicle (25 July 1895) it claimed to be the first purpose-built factory supplied with electricity used for lighting and to power the “thrumming Griffin steam engines (made in Bath) powering rows of sewing machines”. It was built over several storeys, each dedicated to a specific part of the process and was modern, hygienic and efficient. The layout was as follows:-

top floor: package, label printing, suspender-making;

third floor: marking out and cutting room, where girls were stationed at their sewing machines ready to sew components together;

second floor: after hand-finishing, items were pressed and ironed; 

lower floor: stock rooms, offices and the dispatch department.  

The pay (typical of the period) was 7½d per day, eight hours plus one hour for lunch. Contrast this with the average price of a corset, which at 17s 6d, was a whole month’s pay.

The Portsmouth factory was first opened in an old chapel in 1889, but by 1893 had been extended and altered. The Portsmouth Evening News (4 May 1893) excitedly described how 360 workers were spread over two floors. In the lower room “there are 180 hands – binders, learners, trimmers, machine fanners, and about 100 machinists. The upper room accommodates 180 machinists”. There were steam lifts, and voice-tubes putting “all the departments and store in close connection”. It also reported that “wages are good, ranging from 14s to £1 a week or more”, and “the sanitary and fire arrangements are particularly elaborate, and every comfort is provided”.

Bayer also had longstanding connections with Bristol. Local Trade Directories indicate locations in Pennywell Street before moving to Portland Square from 1887-99. These were poorer, migrant areas where property was cheaper and wages low. In addition to the Oldland Common factory, near Keynsham, the Bristol Mercury (11 November 1898) reported that Bayer had purchased land on Roman Road in Easton “to build a Stay factory and 80 workpeople’s dwellings [adjacent to the factory]. The factory will cost £16,000 and employ 600-700 people. It was due to be erected in 7 months”.

The four-storey building still stands. Contemporary building plans show it was a similar design to the Bath and Portsmouth factories. These also included a rest room and a nurse on site in case of burns from ironing, and fingers caught in the needle machines or eyelet punch machinery.  A 1930s recruitment leaflet even felt able to eulogise the opportunities for workers, showing a photograph of the factory “rest room” with the captions, “These girls are a happy example of the cheery companionship which is such a feature of Bayer employees” and “Good companions in a healthy, well-paid occupation”. 

Who was this Charles Bayer? A German émigré, born in 1846, Bayer appears in Britain from 1870. He probably came from a monied family and was able to invest in the very profitable business of corset-making. In only a short space of time he had built nine factories around Britain, including Portsmouth (1889), Bath (1892), Bristol (1901), extending to Scotland (Glasgow) and Ireland (Mayo).

The Bayer factories were commercially successful. By 1900, around 500 dozen corsets were produced each week, which sold for between 2s 11½d and 2 guineas each. The firms’ factories in Bath, Bristol and London made 100,000 dozen annually.  The corsets were designed from “the daintiest French fabrics”, to fit “as a perfectly cut kid glove, with complete absence of pressure on respiratory organs” (Duffus, 2018). The products were valuable enough – after being packaged for distribution – to be the target of more than one Great Railway Robbery!

By 1900, Bayer diversified into riding and cycling corsets, cut shorter in the body for easier movement and woven on the loom (rather than seamed) for robustness; also sports-specific corsets for tennis and golf (Penn, 2017). From 1910, Bayer corsetry was the acknowledged leader in the business (Bath Gazette 11 May 1935).

For the workers, new legislation slowly improved conditions. In the corsets’ heyday, earlier company successes encouraged the Bayer managers to indulge their workers with an annual outing, such as that reported in the Portsmouth Evening News (23 July 1894): “Employees, numbering about 400, spent a day at Hampton Court. A special train conveyed the party, leaving at 8.30... By the time the train reached its destination the day was fine and just warm enough to be pleasant...This was followed by a grand dinner, including A Toast to the Ladies”. 

Further improvement came about through the Women’s Factory Inspectorate which had been created in 1894 to oversee conditions for women and girls. Any employee could raise an issue and request an Inspector if “unfairness” was perceived. Several complaints were received concerning Bayers.        

A common complaint was the payment of part of the workers’ wages in company goods and not coin, thus forcing workers into debt bondage and contravening the Truck Acts (Squire, in Anderson 1922). In 1901 such a complaint was reported to Miss Squire, HM Inspector of Factories, against the Bath factory. The complaint was upheld.

A further complaint related to the fine of a worker in the Bristol factory. In general, the physical working environment needed to be clean and hygienic as workers were dealing in fine silks and quality linens. This had both positive and negative consequences. It was common practice for employers to issue rules dictating the on-site behaviour of workers. The Western Daily Press (4 May 1903) reported a sixpenny deduction from the wage of employee Helen Louise Robinson for breaking factory rules by dancing during the lunch hour (supposed to be used at the workers’ pleasure). This case of Squire v Bayer was lost. The company argued that as the eating area was in the corner of the work room dancing would stir up dust and contaminate the products.  Despite an appeal the fine was imposed.

In general, Bayer's workers were considered well-cared for. By the 1930s there was holiday pay, free white overalls, and no Saturday work! New recruits were given three months training, with pay. After training, it was customary for them to move to piecework rates. The settings of times and targets, however, was always controversial.  

 

References

Duffus, Jane, The Women who Built Bristol, 2018

Penn, Eirlys, ‘Charles Bayer’s corset factory opened in Bath 125 years ago’, (2017) https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/shaping-victorian-bath/

Squire, R, ‘Women’s Wages and the Truck Acts’, Chapter III in Anderson, A, Women in the Factory, 1922

 

  Picture Credit:

Children's Grand Pantomime, The Babes in the Wood, etc, p. 76, by A P Collins and A Sturgess, published by J Miles, London, 1898, British Library on Flickr, No Known Copyright Restrictions