The Costume & Mantle Worker
February 25, 2023
I spent an afternoon in the Bishopsgate Institute archive studying copies of The Costume & Mantle Worker, a bilingual journal in English and Yiddish for members of the United Ladies Tailors Trade Union. In Spitalfields, we are still aware of the former textile trade and I was especially fascinated by these adverts, reproduced below, which set me on a quest to discover which of these premises are still standing.
Formerly B. Weinberg, Printer, 138 Brick Lane
Formerly Folman’s Hotel & Restaurant, 128 Whitechapel Rd, Opposite Pavilion Theatre
The Gentle Author’s tailors’ stool
Formerly M. S. Rosenbloom & Co for sewing machines, 50 Brick Lane
Pages of The Costume & Mantle Worker courtesy Bishopsgate Institute
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I did an Open University BA some years ago, and my foundation course in the first year covered 26 years throughout the Victorian period, including a case study on Spitalfields and the Brick Lane area. We had an organised OU visit there one weekend, and I’ve been fascinated by the whole area ever since. It also explained more about my seamstress sister-in-law who was ashamed of her modest beginnings in the East End and didn’t like it even mentioned. She should have been absolutely proud of them!
A brilliant concept to link images to an old document. Just a shame that more such linkages could not be made. Notably distinctive brickwork in several cases.
Memories of a by-gone era. My late father was a tailor in the Spitalfields area for many years. A trade handed down by his father and grandfather before that. Such pride in their work – now mostly carried out off-shore and mass produced by machinery.