merchant tailor en · NOUN
Meanings
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(archaic, historical) A tailor who keeps and sells materials for the garments which they make.
One of the most interesting conflicts between capital and labor in current history was the strike of the journeymen tailors and the lockout on February 15, 1900. There were 700 men in the union, and thirty-five or forty merchant tailors for whom they worked. The men made certain requests of their employers, most important of which was the plea for free back-shops in or near the same building as that occupied by the merchant tailors. The men knew that in the back-shops overtime and night work could not so easily be demanded of them. The merchant tailors were loth to grant this request, partly from self-interest, partly because many of them had leases on their present quarters which had still two or three years to run, partly because they could with difficulty find buildings near them suitable for back-shops.
1900-1901, Nellie Mason Auten, “Sweating System in the Garment Trades in Chicago”, in The American Journal of Sociology, volume 6:Mrs. Aikin, foreseeing the distress of the family after they should have exhausted the father's earnings, and knowing that Agnes was a diligent and good girl, and had been well taught plain sewing in a public school, offered to instruct her in making vests, a very profitable business to those who are skilled in it, and can command work from the first merchant tailors.
1836, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, The Poor Rich Man, and the Rich Poor Man:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| merchant tailors | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (2)
el εμποροράφτης (A tailor who keeps and sells materials for the garments which he makes) · pl krawiec szyjący na miarę z własnych materiałów (A tailor who keeps and sells materials for the garments which he makes)