Catherina Gioino NYC's Gilded Age: Assignment 1 Brooks Brothers

Catherina Gioino NYC’s Gilded Age: Assignment 1 Brooks Brothers’ Gloves Basic Description: These brown, machine made leather gloves are dated to have been made between 1870 and 1900. The gloves measure to be about 9.5 inches in length and 4.25 inches in length. (To be exact, one glove measures 9.5 inches by 4.38 inches, and the other measures 9.62 inches by 4.25 inches). The men’s gloves each have a vertical slit at the bottom near the wrist and has a button with the words “Brooks” and “Brothers” written across the top and bottom of the button, respectively. Next to the button on the other side of the slit of the glove, there is a loop that will allow the wearer to notch the button through the glove and thus tighten the glove. Despite being over a century old, use or wear is very minimal, with a light fade on one of the gloves and a torn corner on the other. The gloves are very stiff as a result of its age and therefore there are rips in the gloves that otherwise would not be there save for the leather composition. There is a large chunk of broken leather on the faded stain glove, in the shape of a triangle, with each side about ¼- ½ an inch. The stitching of the glove with the corner falling off is wearing off, particularly around the thumb, as is the same with the fore and middle fingers of the other glove. Production: Although not much is known about the Brooks Brothers or the gloves in particular, it can be said that the gloves were most likely made in the Brooks Brothers’ store on Catherine and Cherry Streets in New York City, which was the first Brooks Brothers1 store after Henry Sands Brooks opens the store on the Northeast corner of those streets. The store opened at H & DH Brooks & Co, but eventually becomes Brooks Brothers in 1850 when his sons Daniel, John Elisha and Edward take over. Not much is known about who might have been working to make the gloves, or any other product by the company, but it can be many immigrants, particularly of German, Russian, Italian, or Polish descent2, would have been working, especially women and children. However, in Empire Statesmen: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith by Robert A. Slayton3, Thomas Mulvihill, the grandfather of New York State governor Al Smith, was able to work as a tailor at the Catherine Street store as tailor and was “earning a reasonable wage, enabling him to afford a decent-sized family of six children.” (Slayton 14). Since the Brooks Brothers started making readymade suits in 1849, it is hypothesized that the gloves were therefore made for purchase rather than personally made. It is also noted that although Brooks Brothers prided itself on its quality work and designs, it did boast that their sewing machine operators could complete an entire suit in three hours as opposed to sixteen hours by hand.4 Marketing: Since the Catherine Street location was the only location where Brooks Brothers clothes were found, the gloves were purchased out of that location. Brooks Brothers had achieved publicity during and following the Civil War as the company supplied New York State troops with uniforms5 at a price of $4.75 each. The New-York Historical Society even has a drawing from Harper’s Weekly6 showing the draft riots at the Brooks Brothers’ store. The cost of the gloves could vary, however, it is known that Brooks Brothers did have high prices, as it does now. In fact, a suit can be bought in 1896 for about $3, however Brooks Brothers sold their suits for almost $202. Of course, considering how expensive their clothing was, the brand obviously did not market towards people of the working class but rather well off people who could afford to spend $3 for a suit, let alone $20. Use: Although gloves started out as a luxury item at the start of the 19th century, gloves became almost a universal product nearing the beginning of the 1900s. And even though almost everyone had gloves during which these might been made, there was a certain “glove etiquette” the upper class followed to distinguish themselves from the working and poor classes. Men were not allowed to offer women “gloved hands” 7,8 nor should they shake hands with a glove on their right hand9. And they should never, under any circumstances, ask a woman to dance unless their gloves were on10. While these rules applied for indoor conversation, men were allowed to keep their gloves on while outside because as De Benneville Randolph Keim, the author of Hand-book of Official and Social Ettiquette and Public Ceremonies at Washington stated, “it is ridiculous to keep the person waiting while extricating the hand from the glove." 10 (Kein 240). Also, a man was to shake an elderly man’s hand on the street by “withdraw [ing] your own glove instantly, and desire him not to take his off.” 9 Also, since these gloves are brown, it can be noted that these were more so outdoor gloves rather than evening or ball gloves, considering that “light gloves are more esteemed than dark ones,” and that “delicate tints [were] preferred for evening parties.”7 There were also different kinds of glove practices that would occur at the end of dinner parties, where people would clean their hands (by dipping them into finger bowls) and then putting on their gloves (which were placed on the table under a napkin) under the table with as little attention as possible. Gloves could also be used for flirting and for gesturing13 for people, but it was often not tolerated at social outings. Since these gloves are in a good condition, it can be inferred that a well off man owned these gloves. The possible wear and tear at the wrists, despite that the leather material of the gloves have hardened and thus led to more tearing, could be a result of the constant removing and wearing of the gloves which would have been common at these social events. That, plus that the gloves are brown and from Brooks Brothers, the person might not have been the richest person around, but they probably had some kind of money to their name. These gloves seem to mark the difference between being born into wealth and building up one’s wealth through work. Meanings: As mentioned before, these gloves are not the “proper” gloves for evening and ball gown events. This could mean either one of two things: these were outdoor gloves (probable considering they were leather and only the finest gloves of linen were used at these fancy evening events), or that the owner was well off but not overly rich. I am willing to say that it the combination of these two explanations, as no one would wear leather gloves to dinner events, and that these were Brooks Brothers gloves. Since the company started making ready to purchase clothes in 1949, many rich[er] people started to frequent smaller boutiques and stores where they could attain tailored clothing fit for themselves. Taking this into consideration, it was no doubt that Brooks Brothers was (and still is) for the better off. Even the marketing campaigns of today, with new ads telling of a deeper story10 and people wearing jeans, even those still boast some kind of money behind it. The symbol of the company even has that kind of meaning to it. The symbol, a drooping sheep, comes from 1430 where the Order of the Golden Fleece was founded by the Duke of Burgundy, Phillip the Good12. The symbol eventually grew to mean that whoever carried it was a wool trader, which was often stamped on the ships of European merchants. Along with the name change of the company, the logo therefore became the company’s current one in 1850. Other Interesting Discoveries: There are a number of interesting discoveries that were made when researching the gloves. First off, Henry Sands Brooks originally founded the Catherine Street shop since that was his childhood home1 and he had put his eldest son in charge of taking care the business after him. His oldest son, Henry Jr, takes over the company as he and his brothers go into different aspects of retail, and so it is only after his death that his brothers change the company’s name and logo to “Brooks Brothers” and the drooping sheep. A twelve year old bod named Francis G. Lloyd protected the store a few nights after the draft riots in New York City, but even more interesting is that he is the first non-Brooks brother to lead the company. .all because of that one night. To honor Abraham Lincoln’s second term to office, Brooks Brothers gave him a coat with an eagle embroidering just above the words “One Country, One Destiny.” It would be the same coat he would wear at Ford’s Theatre when he was assassinated. Also, “The Number One,” a suit style that has come to be a classic business suit style to fall back on, was originally made when Brooks Brothers noticed that college students had begun to press the lapels of their jackets. This is due to the new fad of two button coats becoming prominent during the time (1901) which college students were unable to afford, so they made do with their three button suits. Ralph Lauren originally got his start by working as a salesman at the Brooks Brothers’ Madison Avenue location, which they moved to in 1915.

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