d be cultivated,
professional seamstresses and tailors were in increasing demand, moved
into the cities and towns, and even visited the smaller villages for as
long as their services were needed. At the same time a related trade was
also growing in the cities, especially in New York City, that of dealing
in second-hand clothing. Industrious persons bought up old clothes,
cleaned, repaired and refinished them, and sold the clothing to
immigrants and transients who wished to avoid the high cost of new
custom-made clothing.

The repairing of this second-hand clothing led to the purchase of cheap
cloth at auction--"half-burnt," "wet-goods," and other damaged yardage.
When in excess of the repairing needs, this fabric was made into
garments and sold with the second-hand items. Many visitors who passed
through New York City were found to be potential buyers of this
merchandise if a better class of ready-made clothes was made available.
Manufacture began to increase. Tailors of the city began to keep an
assortment of finished garments on hand. When visitors bought these,
they were also very likely to buy additional garments for resale at
home. The latter led to the establishment of the wholesale
garment-manufacturing industry in New York about 1834-35.

Most of the ready-made clothing establishments were small operations,
not large factories. Large quantities of cloth were purchased; cutting
was done in multiple layers with tailor's shears. Since many
seamstresses were needed, the garments were farmed out to the girls in
their homes. The manufacture of garments in quantity meant that the
profit on each garment was larger than a tailor could make on a single
custom-made item. The appeal of increased profits influenced many to
enter the new industry and, due to the ensuing competition, the retail
cost of each garment was lowered. Just as the new businesses were
getting underway, the Panic of 1837 ruined most of them. But the lower
cost and the convenience of ready-made clothing had left its mark. Not
only was the garment-manufacturing business re-established soon after
the Panic had subsided, but by 1841 the value of clothing sold at
wholesale in New York was estimated at $2,500,000 and by 1850--a year
before sewing machines were manufactured in any quantity--there were
4,278 clothing manufacturing establishments in the United States. Beside
New York City, Cincinnati was also one of the important ready-made
clothing centers. I