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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
WOMEN’S BUREAU
Bulletin No. 180

EMPLOYMENT IN
SERVICE AND TRADE
INDUSTRIES IN MAINE




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary

WOMEN’S BUREAU
MARY ANDERSON, Director

+

EMPLOYMENT IN
SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES
IN MAINE

[3kBHT'c?>

SjTESOj,

Bulletin of the Women’s Bureau, No. 180

UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT. PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1940

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.




Price 10 cents




CONTENTS
Page

Letter of transmittal
Introduction and summary
Retail stores
Regular employees
Hours of work
Week’s earnings
Hourly earnings
Part-time workers
11
Year’s earnings in 1939—all types of stores
11
Beauty shops_______________
Week’s earnings
13
Year’s earnings
14
Wage supplements------------------------------------------------------------------Uniforms
15
Apprenticeship----------------------------------------------------------------------Laundries and dry-cleaning plants
17
Hours of work
17
Week’s earnings
18
Hourly earnings_____________________
Year’s earnings----------------------------------------------------------------------Hotels and restaurants
Hours of work____________________________________________ ___
Week’s earnings
22
Tips
24
Uniforms
24
Hourly earnings----------------------------------------------------Year’s earnings----------------------------------------------------------------------Office workers
27
Hours of work
27
Week’s earnings
28
Hourly earnings
29
Year’s earnings
30

v
1
6
7
7
8
8
13
15
16

19
19
21
21

25
26

TABLES
1. Number of firms visited and number of men and women they em­
ployed, by industry_______________________
2. Hours worked by regular employees in retail stores, by sex_________
3. Week's earnings of regular employees in retail stores," by sex_______
4. Hourly earnings of regular employees inretail stores, by sex_________
5. Year’s earnings of women in retail stores who worked more than half
the year in 1939, by type of store
12
6. Week’s earnings of employees in beauty shops, by number of days
14
worked and by sex
7. Year’s earnings of women in beauty shops in 1939, by number of
months worked
15
8. Hours worked by employees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants, by
sex---------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------9. Week’s earnings of employees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants,
by sex1___________________________________________________
10. Hourly earnings of employees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants',
by sex-------------------------------------------------------------------------------11. Year’s earnings of employees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants in
1939, by sex and by number of months worked______________
12. Scheduled weekly hours in hotels and restaurants, by service depart­
ment____________________ _________________________________
13. Week’s earnings in hotels and restaurants, by service department and
wage supplements
23
14. Hourly earnings in hotels and restaurants, by service department and
wage supplements
25
15. Week’s earnings of office workers, bysex and by industry__________
16. Hourly earnings of office employees,by sexand byindustry_________




in

2
7
9
10

18
18
19
20
22

28
29




LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
United States Department op Labor,
Women’s Bureau,

Washington, August 12, 1940.
have the honor to transmit the report of a survey by
the Women’s Bureau of stores and service industries in Maine, made
at the request of the State Commissioner of Labor and Industry and
the League of Women Voters, who are interested in minimum-wage
legislation. A preliminary report was sent to the State in April.
The field work was conducted by Caroline Maiming, industrial
supervisor, and the report was written by Arthur T. Sutherland.
Respectfully submitted.
Mary Anderson, Director.
Hon. Frances Perkins,
Secretary of Labor.
Madam: 1




v

EMPLOYMENT IN SERVICE AND TRADE
INDUSTRIES IN MAINE
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
The census of 1930 reported for Maine a total population of 797,423,
of whom 308,603 were gainfully occupied. Manufacturing and
mechanical industries employed over one-third; agriculture one-sixth;
and trade, domestic and personal service, professional service, and
public service, together, less than one-third.
Maine’s minimum-wage law, passed in 1939, covers only women and
minors in the packing of fish and fish products in oil, mustard, or
tomato sauce. These occupations are part of the fish-processing
industry, exempted from the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (com­
monly called the wage-hour law) that requires a wage of at least 30
cents an hour in interstate industries.
The League of Women Voters of Maine and the State Commissioner
of Labor and Industry requested that the Women’s Bureau of the
United States Department of Labor make a survey of Maine indus­
tries that employ considerable numbers of women. The Bureau made
such a survey in January and February 1940. Manufacturing and
fish packing were excluded from the survey, which was confined to
trade and the service industries. The chief figures from the survey
findings are presented in this report.
A total of 433 establishments, in 33 cities and towns, were scheduled.
The list of places follows:
Auburn
Augusta
Bangor
Bath
Belfast
Biddeford
Brewer
Brunswick
Calais
Caribou
Dexter

Dover-Foxcroft
Gardiner
Guilford
Hallowell
Iloulton
Lewiston
Millinocket
Norway
Old Town
Orona
Portland

Presque Isle
Rockland
Rumford
Saco
Sanford
Skowhegan
South Portland
South River
Springvale
W aterville
Westbrook

The numbers of establishments visited and the numbers of men and
women they employed are shown by industry in table 1.
About one-fourth of the establishments, employing two-fifths of the
workers, were in Portland.
The employing firms generally were small; almost three-fifths (58
percent) had less than 10 employees. Only 9 of the total 433, com­
prising 5 stores, 2 laundry and dry-cleaning plants, and 2 hotels, had
100 or more workers.




1

2

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Table

1.—Number of firms visited and number of men and women they employed,
by industry
Number of employees
Industry group

Number
of estab­
lish­
ments

Wo men
Total

Men
Number

Total—all industries ........................................... .

Percent
of total

433

6,679

2,038

4, 641

69.5

Stores— total_______________ ____________________

133

3,172

664

2,508

79.1

Department; dry goods_________________ _____
Limited price____ ______ ________ __ ______
Apparel...... .......... .................................................. .

42
40
51

1,600
975
597

494
107
63

1,106
868
534

69.1
89.0
89.4

59
93

1,005
308

359
19

646
289

64.3
93.8

148

2,194

996

1,198

54.6

41
91
16

1,190
873
131

601
371
24

589
502
107

49.5
57.5
81.7

Laundries and dry-cleaning plants
Beauty shops
Hotels and restaurants—total
Hotels
Independent restaurants______ ____ __________
Store’ restaurants.......... ......................................... .

Pay-roll records for a recent and representative week, in most cases
in October 1939, were copied, as were the whole of the year’s earnings
and the number of weeks worked of all employees in 1939.
Week’s earnings.
With the exception of hotels and restaurants, where meals or full
maintenance may form part of the compensation, the average week’s
earnings1 of women varied from $11.65 in limited-price stores and
$11.75 in laundry and dry-cleaning plants, to $15.50 in apparel stores.
Highest of all was the $17.15 average for beauty shops in Portland.
Only 4 percent of the women in department and dry-goods and in
apparel stores, but 10 to 15 percent of those in limited-price stores and
beauty parlors and 32 percent of those in laundries and cleaning
plants, had week’s earnings of less than $10. Many of these workers
were employed for only a part of the week.
In a cost-of-living study made recently in Connecticut to find out
how much money a working woman must have to live at a decent
American standard, it was found that a single woman living in a
rented room and eating in restaurants needed about $18 a w’eek
($17.99) for shelter, food, clothing, medical care, recreation, and her
other expenses. Most of the women in Maine were earning less than
this; only 1 percent in limited-price stores, 8 percent in laundry and
dry-cleaning plants, and from 21 to 39 percent in the other industries
earned as much as $18.
Women in hotels and restaurants who were given meals and lodging
or meals only had average cash wages of $6.45 to $7.25, and those who
had only cash earnings averaged $9.95 to $12.10.
Office workers have been tabulated separately from other employees.
Three-fourths of them were women, and their week’s earnings ranged
from less than $5 to more than $30. Women office workers in stores
averaged $15.65. those in laundries and dry-cleaning plants $15.20,
1 W ith two exceptions—the year’s earnings in hotels and restaurants and in offices in 1939—the average
used throughout the report is the median or midpoint of earnings when arranged in order of amount,
one-half of the employees earning more and one-half earning less than the figure shown.




INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

3

and those in hotels and restaurants who received wage supplements
had average cash earnings of $12.45.
Men’s averages in hotels and restaurants ranged from $12.80 to
$15.50. In the various kinds of stores and in laundry and dry-cleaning
plants the averages were from $20.15 to $21.65, but as many as 17
or 18 percent of those in stores and 12 percent in laundries earned less
than $15.
Hours of work.
The Maine law that regulates women’s hours of work allows their
employment for 9 hours a day and 54 hours a week, which is extremely
long by present-day standards. Approximately half of the States (4 of
them in New England) and the District of Columbia have a maxi­
mum week of 48 hours or less; and no one covered by the Fair Labor
Standards Act may work more than 42 hours unless paid time and a
half for the extra hours.
In several industries in Maine large proportions of women worked
over 48 hours in the pay-roll week taken: In department and dry­
goods stores 26 percent, in limited-price stores 11 percent, in apparel
stores 16 percent, in laundry and dry-cleaning plants 13 percent.
Scheduled hours were over 48 for 26 percent in hotels, 53 percent in
independent restaurants, and 12 percent in store restaurants.
Men’s hours were even longer; 89 percent of the men in limitedprice stores and 44 percent in laundries and dry-cleaning plants worked
over 48 hours, 29 percent and 17 percent, respectively, exceeding 54.
Scheduled hours were 54 or more for 84 percent in independent
restaurants and 52 percent in hotels.
As might be expected, hours for office workers also were long.
Though but 14 percent of the women in Portland stores worked 48
hours and none of them exceeded 48, as many as 27 percent of the
women in stores in other places worked 48 hours and 30 percent
worked more than 48. Hours exceeded 48 for about two-fifths of the
women in laundry office work and for nearly three-tenths of those
doing such work in hotels and restaurants.
Hourly earnings.
For each employee with earnings and hours worked reported, the
earnings were divided by the number of hours to arrive at the hourly
earnings. The average for women was highest in apparel stores,
34 cents, followed by department and dry-goods stores with 31.3
cents, laundry and dry-cleaning plants with 28.4 cents, and limitedprice stores with 25.2 cents. In hotels and in independent restaurants,
where many workers have wage supplements, the cash earnings of
women who received such supplements averaged from 13.5 to 14.3
cents an hour, and those who did not receive supplements had average
cash earnings of 20.7 cents, 27.3 cents, and 28.1 cents, according to
type of restaurant.
Men’s hourly averages were higher: 46.6 cents in laundry and dry­
cleaning plants, 44.1 cents in department and dry-goods stores, and
35.5 cents in limited-price stores. In hotels and independent restaur­
ants men with wage supplements averaged 22.9 cents and 26.5 cents
an hour in cash; men in hotels without wage supplements averaged
29.2 cents an hour.
259235° —40-----2




4

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Records of hours worked by beauty-shop employees were too few
for computing hourly earnings.
.
Women in office work in stores had average hourly earnmgs of 33.1
cents and those in laundry offices averaged 33.5 cents; 21 percent of
the former and 27 percent of the latter averaged 40 cents and more.
None of these industries studied in Maine come under the Federal
Fair Labor Standards Act, but the wage levels may be compared
with the Federal 30-cent minimum as a matter of interest. The pro­
portions of women in the State survey who earned less than 30 cents
an hour in the week recorded were 42 percent in department and
dry-goods stores, 96 percent in limited-price stores, 31 percent in ap­
parel shops, 56 percent in laundry and dry-cleaning plants, 29 per­
cent in store offices, and 39 percent in laundry offices. In spite of
their higher averages, 14 percent of the men in department and dry­
goods stores, 37 percent in limited-price stores, and 13 percent in
apparel shops earned less than 30 cents an hour.
Four New England States with minimum-wage laws have set rates
for laundries. Connecticut has set a minimum of 32% cents an
hour, Massachusetts and Rhode Island a minimum of 30 cents an
hour’ and New Hampshire a minimum of 28 cents. In Maine,
nearly half the women in the laundries and cleaning plants earned
less than 28 cents an hour, and well over half (56 percent) earned
less than 30 cents. Many laundries in Maine are paying as high a
wage as that set by law in neighboring States, but many of their
competitors are not: 16 of the 59 laundries and cleaning plants
visited paid all their women employees less than 28 cents an hour.
Year’s earnings.
Like everyone else, working women must live 52 weeks in the year,
so the year’s earnings are vitally important. The total earnmgs of
each person employed at anv time in 1939 were secured by the
Women’s Bureau agents for about 6,770 women in stores, laundries,
and beauty shops and for about 2,200 in hotels and restaurants. Less
than one-fourth of the group first named worked in all 12 months.
The averages of the year’s earnings of those who did work in 12
months (though perhaps only part time) varied from only $583 in
limited-price stores and $661 in laundry and dry-cleaning plants, to
$763 in department and dry-goods stores, $794 in apparel stores, and
$850 in beauty shops; that is, half the women, in spite of having an
all-year job, earned less than the various amounts just quoted. The
Connecticut cost-of-living study found that the lowest amount on
which a single woman living alone in that State could support herself
adequately for a year was $935.39.
In general.
Twenty-six States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, and Puerto
Rico have minimum-wage laws, but only Oklahoma and Connecticut
cover men as well as women. The chief reason for this emphasis on
women is women’s low wage status, greatly below that of men. Slow
to join trade unions, inexperienced in bargaining, women have had
to accept what wages were offered, and for those in the low-paying
jobs in low-paying industries State minimum-wage laws are establish­
ing levels below which their wages may not go.




INTRODTJCTION AND SUMMARY

5

The Maine survey shows the same discrepancy between men’s and
women’s wages as all other studies have shown. The hourly earnings
of men in department stores, for example, were about 40 percent
higher than those of women in the same stores; in laundries, men’s
wages were 64 percent higher than women’s.
There is no foundation for the fear that making the low-paying em­
ployers raise wages to the level of the better employers will cause the
displacement of women by men. There has been no such displace­
ment in States that have had minimum-wage laws for years. Men
and women in industry generally do very different kinds of work,
and certain jobs are given to women because they are better fitted
for them. Even when women’s wages are raised 10 or 20 percent by
law they still are so much below men’s wages that employers find it
cheaper to employ women. The 40 percent and 64 percent differences
in hourly earnings of men and women in Maine department stores
and laundries show that a 10-percent or 20-percent increase for
women would still leave wide discrepancies.
The Women’s Bureau study makes it clear that in Maine as in all
other States there are employers who pay good wages and others in
the same industry who do not. It shows also that many women
earn less than a living wage, in some cases very much less. From
the findings of the survey it is evident that the conditions that caused
certain fish canners of the States to seek minimum-wage legislation
exist with equal seriousness in other industries.




RETAIL STORES
Retail stores are among the more important employers of women.
Situated in communities of all sizes, they constitute one of the few
fields of employment in places that have no manufacturing.
The 1935 Census of Business reported that Maine had 227 depart­
ment and general-merchandise stores, with 2,341 full and part-time
workers; 62 limited-priced stores, with 1,413 workers; and 226 readyto-wear and family clothing stores, with 938 workers—a total of 515
stores and 4,692 employees.
With the exception of 11 stores the date of the pay roll copied was
in October 1939; in 6 stores the pay period was in November and in
5 it was in February 1940. In each case the records were for a period
regarded as representative of normal operation in the 1939-40 winter
season.
.
As the volume of business in stores varies considerably at different
times of the day or week, and also with such seasons as Christmas and
Easter, and when special sales are held, it is customary for a significant
proportion of the work force to be employed on a part-time basis.
These employees may work relatively few hours in the week or few
weeks in the year. Employment standards are so different for the
regular full-time workers and the part-time workers that separate
tabulations of the two groups are presented.
The employees whose records furnish the basis of this report were
divided as follows: In the department-store group, which includes dry­
goods stores, regular employees totaled 411 men and 688 women, and
part-time workers 71 men and 236 women; in limited-price stores there
were 93 men and 412 women regular employees, and 14 men and 409
women part-time workers; and in apparel stores there were 51 men and
332 women regular workers, and 6 men and 136 women part-time
workers. These figures do not include the office workers, discussed
elsewhere.

Type of store

All stores-----Department;

Num­
ber of
stores

Number of em­
ployees
Total Men W omen

Num­
ber of
stores

Number of em­
ployees
Total Men Women

Num­
ber of
stores

Number of em­
ployees
Total Men Women

133

3,172

664

2, 508

25

1,122

247

875

108

2,050

417

1,633

42
40
51

1,600
975
597

494
107
63

1,106
868
534

5
6
14

563
264
295

187
31
29

376
233
266

37
34
37

1,037
711
302

307
76
34

730
635
268

dry

Apparel----------------

Other places

Portland

State

Most of the stores were small, though 3 in Portland and 2 elsewhere
had 100 or more workers. Of the 42 department and dry-goods stores,
28 employed less than 25 persons; of the 40 limited-price stores, 23
had 10 and under 25; and of the 51 apparel stores, 33 had less than 10.
6




7

RETAIL STORES

About 22 percent of the employees in the department and dry-goods
group, 46 percent of those in limited-price stores, and 27 percent of
those in the apparel shops were part-time workers, discussed sepa­
rately from other workers because usually their hours are shorter and
their earnings much less. Office workers in stores are tabulated with
clerical workers from other industries in the last section of this report.
REGULAR EMPLOYEES
Hours of work.
Unlike some other industries, there is little time lost in stores except
for personal reasons. In many stores in Maine the scheduled hours
were long; though 78 stores—two-thirds of all reporting their sched­
ules—had a week of 44 to 48 hours for women, and 4 stores a week of
less than 44, as many as 36 had weekly hours in excess of 48, 2 apparel
shops exceeding 54 hours. Only one-sixth of the limited-price stores,
but one-third of the department and dry-goods group and more than
two-fifths of the apparel shops, had weekly hours of over 48 for women.
Men’s hours were much longer. Of 72 stores reporting their
schedules for men, 54 had a week in excess of 48 hours, almost onethird of these requiring men to work from 55 to 60 hours.
Hours actually worked in the week were reported for nearly all
employees. In the department and dry-goods group, 59 percent of
the women worked between 44 and 48 hours and 35 percent worked
48 and under 54. In limited-price stores, 31 percent worked between
44 and 48 hours, and 58 percent worked 48 and under 54. In apparel
shops, a third of the women (33 percent) worked 40 to 44 hours, 38
percent worked between 44 and 48, and only 24 percent worked 48
and under 54.
Table 2.—Hours worked by regular employees in retail stores, by sex
Percent of employees who worked—

Type of store

Num­
ber of
Under
em­
ployees
40
hours

40 to
44
hours

Over
44.
under
48
hours

48
hours

Over
48,
under
54
hours

WOMEN
Department; dry goods:
State_____________
Portland_________
Other places.............
Limited price:
State........ ..................
Portland_________
Other places______
Apparel:
State------------- -----Portland_________
Other places----------

54
hours

Over
54
hours

--------*

653
217
436

2.5
3.2

1.4
2.3

58.9
94.4
41.3

10.3
1.4
14.7

411
121
290

4.9
9.9
2.7

4.4
5.0
4.1

30.9
53.7
21.4

29.8
56.9

132.9
55.7
4.3

38.3
36.9
40.0

9.2
5.1
14.3

55.4
82.9
33.5

17.6
3.7
28.6

18.4
8.5
26.2

2.4
.6
3.9

4.6
1.2
7.3

4.4
1.6

4.4
8.5

18.7
21.0

41.8
40.3

28.6
27.4

2.0

1.0

316
176
140

MEN 2
Department; dry goods:

Limited price:
Other places----------------------------

370
164
206

0.8
1.2

91
62

2.2
3.2

1.1
1.8
.5

1 All worked less than 44 hours.
.
> Fewer than 40 men in apparel stores and in Portland limited-price stores.




8

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Hours worked were shorter in Portland than in other places. In
department and dry-goods stores in Portland, 97 percent of the women
worked less than 48 hours; in other places, 53 percent worked 48 and
more. In limited-price stores, 69 percent in Portland worked under
48 hours; in other places 72 percent worked 48 and more. ' In apparel
stores, 93 percent in Portland worked under 48 hours; in other places
48 percent worked 48 and more.
Hours worked by men were especially long in limited-price stores,
where 70 percent of all reported worked 54 hours and more.
Week’s earnings.
The average (median) week’s earnings of women were $14.80 in the
department and dry-goods group, $11.65 in limited-price stores, and
$15.50 in apparel. Earnings ranged from less than $10 to about $19
in limited-price stores and to about $45 in the others. The con­
centration was at $10 and under $13 for the women in limited-price
stores (71 percent of the women had such earnings), but it was at $12
and under $16 in the other groups, with 51 percent (apparel) and 55
percent (department-store group) so reported. The difference in
average earnings in favor of the women in Portland was $1.50 in
limited-price stores, $1.60 in the department-store group, $1.75 in
apparel stores. This difference in week’s earnings is signficant when
related to the fact that women in Portland averaged fewer hours in
the week than those elsewhere.
Men averaged $20 or $21 in each type of store, their concentration
being at the higher wage levels. In all cases, and for both sexes,
earnings were higher in Portland than elsewhere, in spite of the shorter
hours in the larger city.
That time lost is not solely responsible for low earnings is made
clear by a comparison of tables 2 and 3, which shows that less than 3 %
percent of the women and less than 1 percent of the men worked
under 40 hours, but that almost 6 percent of the women and more
than 1 percent of the men had earnings under $10. The discrepancy
is greatest among women in limited-price stores, where 5 percent
worked under 40 hours but 10 percent earned under $10.
Table 3 shows the week’s earnings of men and of women by type
of store and by locality.
Hourly earnings.
For each employee with week’s earnings and hours worked reported,
the hourly earnings have been computed by dividing earnings by hours.
Women in the department and dry-goods group averaged 31.3 cents
an hour, those in limited-price stores 25.2 cents, and those in apparel
shops 34 cents. Using as a basis of comparison the 30-cent minimum
set for interstate industries by the Fair Labor Standards Act, it may
be seen that in the stores in Maine, which of course are outside the
act, 42 percent of the women in the department and dry-goods group,
31 percent of those in apparel shops, and 96 percent of those in limitedprice stores earned less than 30 cents. In fact, in the limited-price
group 47 percent earned less than 24 cents.
Table 4 gives the hourly earnings for all groups with as many as
40 persons.




Table 3.— Week’s earnings of regular employees in retail stores, by sex
Employees with week’s earnings as speciCed
Men

Women
Week’s earnings

Department and dry-goods
stores
Portland

688
Number of employees- - Average week’s earnings. $14.80

218
$15.80

35.8
48.1
9.2
5.6
1.4

Under $10...... ............................. $10, under $15..............................
$15, under $20............................$20, under $25...... .......................
$25, under $30..............................
$30, under $35..............................
$35, under $40---------------------$40 and over...............................

3.9
49.7
34.7
6.9
3.7
.6
.1
i.3

Other
places

Other
places

State

Portland

470
$14. 20

412
$11.65

121
$12. 55

291
$11.05

5.8
56.1
28.5
5.8
2.9
.2
.2
1.4

10.2
86.6
3.1

7.4
89.4
3.2

11.3
85.6
3.1

Other
places

Other
places

Limit id-price
St ores
State

Other
places

Apparel
stores
State

State

Portland

153
$14. 25

411
$20.60

166
$21.00

245
$20.25

era
$20.15

64
$18.65

51
$21.25

Percent of emp■loyees
7.8
3.6
49.1
24.6
35.9
30.8
53.6
43.0
6.4
10.0
8.4
3.9
9.0
6.6
1.3
2.2
1.8
.6
.3
i.6
1.3

1.2
16.0
26.5
18.6
16.2
8.0
4.6
8.8

0.6
10.8
26.6
18.7
20.4
6.6
6.0
10.2

1.6
19.6
26.6
18.4
13.4
9.0
3.7
7.6

18.2
30.1
28.0
11.8
6.5
5.4

21.9
31.3
25.0
12.5
6.3
3.1

2.0
15.7
25.4
15.7
15.7
15.7
5.9
4.0

State

Portland

332
$15. 50

179
$16.00

RETAIL STORES

State

Depart]nentand ry-goods
stores

Apparel stores

Limited-price stores

i No one earned more than $45.




CO

Table 4.—Hourly earnings of regular employees in retail stores, by sex
Employees with hourly earnings as specified
Women
Department and dry-goods
stores
State
Number of employees
Average
hourly
earnings
(cents).......................... ...........

24, under 28..................................
28, under 32.________________
32, under 36




Portland

Other
places

Limited-price stores

State

Portland

Department and dry-goods
stores

Apparel stores

Other
places

State

Portland

Other
places

State

Portland

Other
places

Limited-price
stores
State

Other
places

653

217

436

411

121

290

316

176

140

370

164

206

91

62

31.3

33.9

29.5

25.2

27.3

22.3

34.0

35.8

29.4

44.1

46.0

41.7

35.5

34.5

0.6
5.7
23.8
26.7
16.3
10.6
7.5
3.5
1.4
2.0
1.4
.5

0.9
9.3
25.8
22.1
14.3
14.7
4.1
1.8
2.3
3.2
1.4

0.9
8.0
31.2
27.3
13.3
8. 7
3.9
3.2
1.2
1.8
.5

3.4
43.6
42.4
9.0
1.1
.2
.2

1.7
6.0
74.4
14.1
3.2
.8
.8

4. 1
59.6
29.0
6.9
.3

1.4
11.4
27.9
25.8
11.5
7.1
7.9
2.1

0.8
3.0
6.8
10.3
9.2
10. 7
12.4
6. 8
7.0
9.2
5. 7
4.1
2. 2
11.8

4.3
12.8
10.3
5. 4
15.9
6. 7
4.3
12.8
6.1
4. 3
1. 2
15.9

1.5
5.3
8.7
8.2
8.3
15.1
9.7
6.8
9.2
6.3
5.3
3.9
2. 9
8.8

1.1
7.7
12.1
22.0
9.9
13. 2
9.9
6.6
6.6
4.4
5. 5

1.6
11.2
11.2
21.0
9.6
17.9
4.8
8.1
8.1
1.6
4.8

Percent of employees
0. 6
5.0
13.6
2.3
21.8
18.8
22.2
30.7
11. 2
14.1
11.1
13. 6
3. 5
4.5
3.2
5.7
4.0
3. 2
2. 2
2.9
.9
1.1
.6
1.1
.9
1.2

2.1
1.4
.7
.7

1.1

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Hourly earnings (cents)

Men

11

RETAIL STORES

PART-TIME WORKERS
On the week’s pay rolls examined in Maine stores, part-time em­
ployees comprised 22 percent of all in the department and dry-goods
group, 46 percent of all in limited-price stores, and 27 percent of all
in apparel stores. Large proportions worked only 1 or 2 days, but
some worked a few hours daily and some had a week’s work. Of the
women with hours reported, the proportions working less than 12
hours and 32 hours or more follow:
Type of store

Percent of women who
______ worked—_____
Under
82 hours
12 hours
or more

Department; dry goods47
Limited price63
Apparel 48

19
19
25

Women part-time workers in Portland had much more work in the
week than women elsewhere. This, as well as rates, made a great
difference in earnings, which in Portland were well over twice what
they were in other places.
Type of store

Department; dry goods$3. 95
Limited price 2. 40
Apparel 3. 80

Average earnings in week of women in—
State
Portland
Other places

$8. 00
4. 60
8. 75

$2.95
2.00
2.85

For the 91 men part-time workers, average earnings in the week
were $3.65; 41 percent earned under $3 and only 14 percent earned
as much as $10.
Average hourly earnings of women on part time were below the
hourly earnings of regular workers. Their average in department and
dry-goods stores was 28.3 cents, in limited-price stores 22 cents, and
in apparel stores 28.9 cents. No woman in the limited-price stores,
and only 33 percent in the department and dry-goods group and 36
percent in apparel stores, earned as-much as 30 cents. Three percent
in the department group and 7 percent in apparel earned 40 cents or
more.
YEAR’S EARNINGS IN 1939—ALL TYPES OF STORES
Total earnings and number of weeks worked in the year 1939 were
secured in 131 of the 133 stores visited. The numbers of employees,
including part-time as well as regular workers, were—
In 42 department and dry-goods stores, 1,062 men and 2,016
women.
In 39 limited-price stores, 342 men, 2,420 women.
In 50 apparel stores, 109 men, 856 women.
Thus the total, of 1,513 men and 5,292 women, is 6,805.
Large numbers of these workers must have been employed only
before Easter or Christmas, or as extras in the tourist season, the
proportions employed for 9 weeks or less in the year being as follows:
Type of store

Department; dry goods 46
Limited price 54
Apparel 40
259235°—40---- 3




Percent employed 9
weeks or less
Women
Men

45
52
34

12

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

In the department and dry-goods group the 498 women who worked
49 to 52 weeks, one-fourth of all women, averaged $763, equivalent
to $64 a month. As many as two-lifths of these earned at least $800,
but about one-eighth earned less than $600. For the 793 who
worked more than half the year the average earnings were $676, as
many as 27 percent earning at least $800, and 9 percent $1,000 or more.
In limited-price stores, where part time was most common, the 315
women who worked 49 to 52 weeks averaged only $583, equivalent to
less than $50 a month. Only 11 percent earned $700 and more. The
653 women who worked more than half the year had average earnings
of only $422.
The women in apparel stores had the best earnings. The 241 who
worked 49 to 52 weeks averaged $794, equivalent to $66 a month, and
more than one-fifth earned $1,000 and over. The 401 who worked
more than 26 weeks had average earnings of $687; 30 percent earned
at least $800 and 13 percent earned $1,000 or more.
Table

5.—Fear’s earnings of women in retail stores who worked more than half the
year in 1939, by type of store
Women who worked more than 26
weeks in—
Year’s earnings
Department
and dry-goods Limited-price Apparel
stores
stores
stores

Number of women_________ ____ _____________ ____ ____
Average earnings1. ____________ _________ _____________

Under $100
$200', under $300
$300, under $400
$400, under $600.________________ ____ ______ _________________
$800' under $1,000
$U200 and over-

___________________ ______ ________________
-------------

------

---------------------- ---------- -

793
$070

653
$422

401
$087

Percent of women
1.9
7.4
5.4
14.7
5.5
11.0
6.3
13.3
19.4
30.8
34.7
21.6
17.9
1.1
3.9
4.9
.2

3.0
5.5
4.5
6.0
18.5
32.4
17.0
6.0
7.2

i Computed on more detailed data.

Men’s earnings in the year also were low. The average for all men
in the department-store group was $140, and only 37 percent earned as
much as $400; however, for those who worked 49 to 52 weeks, the
average was $1,207, one in five earning at least $1,600. In limitedprice stores the average for all men was only $100, and not quite onefourth earned $400 and more; but of the small group who worked 49 to
52 weeks, almost three-fourths earned at least $800. Even in apparel
stores men’s earnings were practically twice those of women, the
average for all men being $241 and 24 percent of the total earning
$1,000 and more; of those who worked all year, more than one-fourth
earned as much as $1,400.




BEAUTY SHOPS
The Census of Business of 1935 reported 482 beauty shops in Maine;
these had only 343 employees, as in many cases the owner had no
help. Owner shops were omitted from the Women’s Bureau survey,
which covered 93 shops and 308 employees.
Locality

Number of
shops

State_________
Portland
_____
Other places__ ___

__

Number of employees
Total
Women
Men

. ______________

93

308

289

19

__ .______________
.______________

26
67

130
178

119
170

11
8




j

17.1
11.7

10.6
8.2

4.8
6.5

14.7
6.5

13

over

and

8.2
8.7

$24

6.5
15.2

un ­

11.4
14.0

der $24

8.9
15.8

O dJ
<M rO

$22,

6.5
4.7

p 00
CO
rH ra

der $20

under $14

3.2
2.9

O co

$18, un-

$12,

|

!

i

der $12

un ­

$10, un ­

8.1
5.9

’-1 rO

der $10

a
P

$8,

M

un ­
der $8

(median)

e a rn in g s

123 $17.15
171 15.00

Percent of employees who earned—
CO

$6,

Other places

Average week ’s

N um ber

employees

of

Only 3 shops had 10 or more employees; none had so many as 15;
only 22 had 5 to 9. Twenty-eight shops had only 1 employee (in a
few cases a part-time worker) and 17 had 2. Portland had the larger
shops: 14 had 5 or more workers, 3 having at least 10. In other
places 56 shops had fewer than 5, 24 having only 1, and none employed
so many as 10.
Excepting 21 manager-operators and 4 maids, the women were all­
round operators; the 19 men, found in 13 shops, were chiefly specialists.
Week’s earnings.
Homs worked were not available. Because of evening and earlymorning appointments, hours were very irregular, especially in small
shops. Most shops had hour schedules—38 to 46 hours in 13 shops,
48 in 47 shops, 49 to 51 in 17, and 54 in 3—but these were rarely
followed. Of 80 shops reporting on overtime, 18 stated that they
had none, the owners themselves taking the early and late appoint­
ments or the employees working staggered horns; 46 shops gave time
off in compensation for overtime, 5 gave overtime pay, but 11 gave
nothing extra.
All but 38 of the 294 employees with earnings reported had worked
on 6 days. Average earnings for the week were $17.15 for the 123
employees in Portland, $15 for the 171 elsewhere, and $15.65 for the
two groups combined. In Portland 30 percent earned $20 or more,
7 percent earning at least $30; but 18 percent had earnings below $10.
In other places 21 percent earned $20 or more and 14 percent earned
less than $10.

14

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

In Portland the women averaged $16. The few who worked on 1
or 2 days earned less than $8 (actually less than $7); those on 3 or 4
days, $8 and under $12. The 99 who worked on 6 days averaged
$17.90, but 13 earned less than $10 and 12 earned as much as $25.
Five women who worked 5% days show how earnings vary: One earned
$10, one $55, and the other three $20 and under $30.
In other places the women averaged $14.95, or $1.05 below Portland.
The few who worked on 1 or 2 days earned less than $6; those on 3 or
4 days, less than $12, as did half those who worked on 5 days. How­
ever, those were small groups. The 140 who worked on 6 days
averaged $15, or $2.90 below Portland; only 10 women earned less
than $10 and 30 earned $20 and more.
One man, a cleaner in Portland, earned less than $6; 4 others earned
less than $20; 7 among all earned $25 or more.
Table 6.—Week’s

earnings of employees in beauty shops, by number of days worked
and by sex
Portland

Other places

Women
Week’s earnings

A verage week’s
earnings (meUnder $6

$16’ under $18............

Women

Total Number who worked on— Men, Total Number who worked on— Men,
total1 numtotal i
number
ber
1 or 2 3 or 4 5 days
lor 2 3 or 4 5 days 6 days
re­
re­
6 days
ported days days
ported days days
113

6

4

4

$16. 00
9
4
8
11
14
8
10
19
12
4
14

99

10

5
1
2
2

1
1
2

7

8

8

$14.95

$17. 90
4
3
6
8
13
6
10
19
12
4
14

163

1

2
1
2
4

10
5
8
27
24
26
14
19
12
10
8

140

8

$15.00
7

1
2
3
2

2
4
1
1
2

5
21
23
25
14
17
12
10
8

2
1

1 All the men worked on 6 days except 1 (in other places) who worked on 3 days.
2 Not computed where base less than 40.

Year’s earnings.
In 80 shops, total earnings in 1939 were obtainable. These covered
487 women and 29 men. Most employers reported their busy season
in spring and summer, with additional employees at that time. Of
the women on the 1939 pay rolls, 48 percent worked 6 months or
less; 1 in 6 worked less than a month and 1 in 9 worked only 1 or 2
months. Only one-third of all worked 11 months or more. Onethird of the 29 men worked less than 6 months.
Under these conditions, year’s earnings were low. Women aver­
aged $306, which equals $25.50 a month. Over three-tenths earned
less than $100 in the year; almost one-fourth earned less than $50.
One-third of the women earned $600 and more, but only 1 in every
11 as much as $1,000.




15

BEAUTY SHOPS

The women who worked all year averaged $850, equal to about $71
a month. About three-tenths of these earned at least $1,000 and
almost as many earned $800 and under $1,000, but 1 woman in every
7 earned less than $600.
Table 7.— Year’s earnings of women in beauty shops in 1939, by number of months

worked
State
Women who worked—

Year’s earnings
All
women

Number of women
Average year’s earnings (median).

Under $50________
$50, under $100___
$100, under $200___
$200, under $300..._
$300, under $400___
$400, under $500___
$500, under $600__
$600, under $700___
$700, under $800.__.
$800, under $900....
$900, under $1,000..
$1,000, under $1,200.
$1,200 and over___ * 1 * * * 5

3 months
or less

4 to 6
months

7 or 8
months

9 to 11
months

487
$305. 75

167
$24. 60

67
$205. 35

50
$388.90

71
$629.15

23.2
8.0
10.7
7.8
6.0
6.5
5.3
5.7
8.0
6.0
3.9
4.7
4.1

66.5
18.0
13.8
1.8

Percent of women
3.0
11.9
32.8
6.0
29.9 .
24.0
24.0
13.4 V
9.0
24.0
12.0
4.0
2.0
2.0
2.6

5.6
4.2
8.5
15.5
11.3
16.9
19.7
11.3
2.8
1.4
2.8

12
months
132
$850.00

0.8
1.5
2.3
18.2
12.9

Wage supplements.
Tips from customers, and commissions, bonuses, and so forth from
employers, were inquired into. In 56 of the 84 shops reporting on
tips, they were said to be unimportant: 13 said there was no tipping8, that only tourists gave tips; 35, that tips were few. The amounts
could be learned in only 5 shops; in 3 the operators averaged about
$1 a week in tips, and in 2 they averaged $2 or $3 a week in winter
and about $5 in summer.
In 52 shops no supplements of any kind were given by the employer;
but 13 gave a commission for selling cosmetics, or on permanent
waves; 15 gave time off with pay for vacations, holidays, or sickness1 gave a bonus in busy weeks; 2 increased wages in the busy season."
Uniforms.
All firms required the wearing of uniforms and in all but 2 shops
their entire cost was borne by the employees; of the 2 exceptions 1
firm paid all laundry costs and 1 paid half such costs. Of 69 shops
reporting number of uniforms necessary, 67 said 2, 3, or 4 and 2 said
5 or 6. Costs ranged from $1 to $5.50; 26 shops reported $3 and
under $4, 23 shops $2 and under $3. Weekly costs of laundry service
were reported as 50 cents by 7 shops, 70 or 75 cents by 13, and 90
cents, $1, or $1.20 by 7. In 22 shops all operators laundered their
uniforms at home.




16

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Apprenticeship.
At the time of the survey 15 shops had apprentices, all of whom
were receiving training in lieu of wages.
State regulations require that operators have certain qualifications
before being given a license. They must be at least 18 years old;
should have 6 months, with a minimum of 720 hours, of professional
training—either school training or as an apprentice in a regular
beauty shop; and they must pass an examination by the State Board
of Hairdressers and Beauty Culturists. A number of shops visited
criticized the beauty-school training: “They turn out only 1 good
operator in 10”; “They shoidd be investigated”; “Good operators
are scarce”; “Too many trained by schools are passed by State
Board without sufficient training.”




LAUNDRIES AND DRY-CLEANING PLANTS
The Census of Manufactures for 1935 reported 64 laundries and 28
dry-cleaning plants in Maine, with respectively 940 and 265 employees,
or 1,205 combined.
The Women’s Bureau survey covered 36 laundries and 23 dry
cleaners. To prevent the identifying of a very large cleaning plant,
doing a parcel-post business as well as truck service and employing
about two-fifths of all cleaning employees, and also because some
laundries do dry cleaning, the two industries are thrown together in
this report. The number of employees was 1,005; almost two-thirds
were women.
Number
Number of employees
j- uLut

•

State................................
Portland------------------------------------------------Other places-------------------------------------------

jvj.cn

women

59

1,005

359

646

12
47

446
559

153
206

293
35S

Most of the plants were small, only 11 having as many as 25 workers;
2 of these—a laundry and a cleaning plant, both in Portland—had 100
or more, 2 had 50 and under 75, and 7 had 25 and under 50. Fifteen
plants had less than 5 workers, 14 had 5 and under 10, and 19 had 10
and under 25.
As office and other clerical workers are reported with such groups
from the other industries, the wage and hour data in the following
pages are for smaller numbers—week’s earnings for 907 employees,
hours worked and hourly earnings for 763.
Hours of work.
The State hour law permits women in laundries to work 54 hours a
week, but no plant surveyed had so long a week for women. The
majority had a schedule of 40 to 50 hours for women, but in several
the hours were under 40 because it was the slack season of the year.
Only about 3 in 10 plants had a week so long as 50 hours for women,
but in more than one-half the plants 50 to 59 hours were required of
men; one cleaning plant, employing only men, had a week of 67ji
hours. Many employers said that hours depended on the volume
of work.
Hours worked in the pay-roll week studied were recorded for 531
women and 232 men.
The largest group of women, 44 percent of all, worked 40 to 48 hours,
and 13 percent worked more than 48; but another 44 percent worked
less than 40, almost half of these less than 32. Three percent of the
women worked 54 hours, but none exceeded that.
The hours worked by men were longer; 41 percent of the men worked
40 to 48 hours, but 27 percent worked over 48 to 54 hours, and 17
percent even exceeded 54.




17

18

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Table 8.—Hours

worked by employees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants, by sex
Employees who worked the hours specified

Women

Men
Number with hours reported--------Under 32_______________ _____ _________

44
. ... ____ ______________
Over 44, under 48____________ _________
54

_______

____

531

232
6.5
4.3
4.3
15.1
4.3
18.1
3.9
21.6
5.2
16.8

Other places

Portland

State

Hours worked

20.0
9.8
13.7
16.0
1.9
24.7
.9
10.2
2.8

Men

Women
242

89

Percent distribution
3.3
9.5
4.1
1.1
11.2
3.4
14.0
7.8
7.8
.8
28.1
35.5
1.7
18.6
24.7
4. 5
3.4
20.2

Men

Women

143

289

8.4
6.3
4.9
19.6
2.1
11.9
6. 3
19.6
6.3
14.7

28.7
14.5
15.9
17.6
2.8
15.6
.3
3.1
1.4

Hours worked were longer in Portland than elsewhere. One in
four of the women in Portland, in contrast to 1 in 20 in other places,
worked 48 hours and more. In Portland the largest group of women,
about 36 percent, worked over 44 and under 48 hours. In the case of
men the difference between Portland and other places was less striking.
Week’s earnings.
For all women on the week’s pay rolls the average earnings were
$11.75; 41 percent of the women earned $10 and under $14, 17 percent
earned less than $8, and only about 1 in 20 earned as much as $20.
Due chiefly to their longer hours, women in Portland averaged almost
$3 more than those in other places, the figures being respectively
$13.25 and $10.30. In Portland, 68 percent earned $10 and under $16;
in other places, 61 percent earned $8 and under $14. Only 18 percent
in Portland and only 9 percent elsewhere earned as much as $16.
Men’s average earnings were about $10 higher than women’s; in
Portland, more than $11 higher. Not only were their rates much
higher, but they worked a very much longer week.
Table 9.—Week’s earnings of employees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants, by sex
Portland

State

Other places

Week’s earnings
Men
Number of employees-----------------Average week’s earnings (median) _.

Under $6
MS, under $8

__________________

$10, under $12
$12, under $14------ -------------- ------------- $14, under $16--------------------------------------$18, under $20_______________ _________$20, under $22.. ------- ----------------------------$22, under $24--------------------------------------

$30and over...--------




--------------- --------

Women

353
$21.65

554
$11. 75

0.3
1.9
1.4
2.3
4.8
7.6
8.5
9.4
15.6
9.0
11.1
6.5
4. 5
17.0

7.7
8.8
15.5
20.4
20.7
13.7
4.9
3.8
2.1
.8
.9
.2

Men
151
$24. 60

Women
245
$13.25

Percent of employees
5.7
2.8
2.0
4.9
.7
21.3
.7
25.7
4.0
21.3
4.7
6.1
5.9
4.9
9.3
9.9
3.2
1.2
10.5
2.0
11.3
6.6
.4
5.3
29.2
.4
.4

Men

Women

202
$20.50

309
$10.30

0.5
2.0
2.0
3.5
5.5
9.9
10. 4
9.4
19.8
7.9
10.8
6.4
4.0
8.0

9.4
13.6
23.9
19.8
16.9
7.7
3.8
2.9
1.3
.3

.3

19

LAUNDRIES AND DRY-CLEANING PLANTS

Hourly earnings.
Hourly earnings were computed for each worker separately by
dividing the week’s earnings by the hours worked. Women’s average
was only 28.8 cents in Portland and 27.8 cents in other places. In
Portland 35 percent of the women earned 27 and under 28 cents, in
other places 34 percent earned 20 and under 26 cents. In Portland
56 percent, in other places 55 percent, had earnings below 30 cents,
but for only 5 percent in Portland, in contrast to 34 percent elsewhere,
were earnings even less than 26 cents. Men’s average was 48.2 cents
in Portland and 46.1 cents elsewhere. Only 7 percent of all the women,
in contrast to 71 percent of the men, earned as much as 40 cents.
Table 10.—Hourly earnings of employees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants,

by sex
State

Portland

Other places

Hourly earnings (cents)
Men
Number of employees
Average hourly earnings—median
(cents)-....................................... ........

20,
25,
26,
27,

under 25 . .............................................
under 26-............................. .....................
under 27............................... ................... _
under 28 -._________________________

33, under 34..._________ ___ _____ ______
34, under 35_______
____ ____________
35, under 40
40, under 45............................ ........................
45, under 50________ ____ ______________
50, under 55............. ......................................
55, under 60

Women

Men

Women

Men

Women

232

531

89

242

143

289

46.6

28.4

48.2

28.8

46.1

27.8

0.4
3.9
2.6

0.4
8.5
11.9
1.7
24.9

5.6
2.1

15.3
18.3

4.2

16.2
2.4

3.9
.4
1.3
2. 2
1.3
.9
1.7
2.2
8.7
16.8
12.1
15.9
11.2
14. 7

1.7
17 5
1. 7
2 6
4.9
2.3
8.3
4.0
1.5
1.1
.4
2

Percent of employees
1.1
1.1
0.4
3.4
4.1
3.4

35.1

1.1
4.5
8.9
19.1
7.9
16.9
9.0
21.4

3.3
2.5
8.2
5.8
1.7
.8
.4

2.1
2.1
.7
8.4
15.4
14.7
15.4
12.6
10.5

6.2
2.1
8.3
2.4
1.4
1.4
.3

Year’s earnings.
Pay rolls for the whole of 1939 were obtained from some 50 firms.
These gave weeks worked and total earnings for the 987 women and
the 471 men employed at any time in 1939, regardless of whether
part-time or full-time employees.
As in other summer-resort States, laundry business increases
greatly in the summer and extra help is employed. Of the 987 women
on the 1939 pay rolls examined, 40 percent had worked not more than
6 months, 26 percent working 3 months or less. Only 53 percent
worked for 9 months or more, 41 percent working the entire year.
Men had more stable employment, 60 percent working all year and
only 26 percent working 6 months or less.
The average year’s earnings of women were $412, equivalent, if
spread over the year, to less than $35 a month. Those who worked
all year averaged $661, equal to $55 a month. The 254 at 3 months
or less had average earnings of $47, and the 136 at 4, 5, or 6 months
averaged $206.




20

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Men in the State who worked all year averaged $1,094, the 44 who
worked 4, 5, or 6 months averaged $300, and those under 4 months, $68.
Table

11.—Year’s earnings of em-ployees in laundries and dry-cleaning plants in
1939, by sex and by number of months worked
Employees who worked—
Year’s earnings

All em­
ployees 3 months 4 to 6
or less
months

7 or 8
months

9 to 11
months

78
$334. 20

110
$484.80

409
$661.25

2.7
3.6
15.5
34.5
18.2
14.5
6. 4
1.8
2. 7

0.2
1.2
.7
16.1
18.3
21.8
20.0
10.0
5.6
5.9

27

282
$1, 094. 45

12
months

WOMEN

Average year’s earnings......................

Under $100

$500, under $600

987
$411.80

254
$47.45

21. 1
12.0
9.1
6.6
12.1
10.1
10.6
9.0
4.4
2.6
2.4

79.1
20.5
.4

136
$205. 55

Percent o employees
5.1
41.9
6.4
43.4
26.9
7.4
44.9
1.5
16. 7
.7
5.1

MEN
Total number ________ ___________
Average year’s earnings.. _____ _

$200, under $400___________________ ____

1 Nor computed; base less than 40.




471
$945.00

78
$68. 20

16. 1
8.9
8.5
8.3
11.7
16.8
13.0
16.8

91.0
6.4
1.3
1.3

44
$300.00

40
$533. 35

Percent of employees
11.4
61.4
20.0
22.7
45.0
2.3
22.5
10.0
2.3
2.5

1.8
7.1
17.0
25. 5
20. 6
28 0

HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
The 1935 Census of Business reported for Maine 207 hotels, with
1,667 employees, of the kinds surveyed by the Women’s Bureau; that
is, excluding seasonal hotels. It also reported 1,177 restaurants and
other food-serving places, employing 2,883 workers. The Women’s
Bureau survey covered 41 hotels, with 1,192 employees; 91 independ­
ent restaurants, with 873; and 16 store restaurants, with 131. Thirtyfour of the hotels had both lodging and restaurant departments. The
scope of the survey follows:

Type of establishment

Total.....................
Independent restaurants-.
Store restaurants............ - -

State

Portland

Other places

Number of
Num­
employees
ber
of establish- Total Wom­ Men
ments
en

Number of
Num­
employees
ber
of establish- Total Wom­ Men
ments
en

Number of
Num­
employees
ber
of establish- Total Wom­ Men
ments
en

148 2,196

1,199

997

40

953

499

454

41 1,192
873
91
131
16

590
502
107

602
371
24

8
27
5

541
347
65

244
205
50

297
142
15

108 1,243
33
64
11

651
526
66

700

543

346
297
57

305
229
9

The establishments wore small; 129 of the 148 employed under 25
persons, 14 hotels and 61 restaurants employing under 10. Two
hotels, both in Portland, employed over 100.
Hours of work.
The 6-day week was the most general, but 39 percent of the women
and 25 percent of the men in hotels, 28 percent of the women and 60
percent of the men in independent restaurants, and 5 percent of the
women and 4 percent of the men in store restaurants, had a 7-day week.
Scheduled hours of less than 40 a week were reported for 21 percent
of the women in hotels, 11 percent of those in independent restaurants,
and 37 percent of those in store restaurants. Hours were over 48 for
26 percent of the women in hotels (for 12 percent they were 54 and
over), for 53 percent of those in independent restaurants (for 25 per­
cent they were 54 and over), and for 12 percent of those in store restau­
rants (but for only 2 percent was the week as long as 54 hours).
Scheduled hours were 54 or more for 52 percent of the men in hotels
and for 84 percent of those in independent restaurants.
For the service departments with scheduled hours reported for 40
or more, the short and long weeks are clear from table 12.
In hotels and restaurants workdays are of irregular length, and
alternating long and short days are not uncommon. For women in
hotels the most usual daily hours worked in the pay-roll week recorded
were over 6 and including 8, but a few days were over 12 and includ­
ing 14 hours. Even fairly short hours may be made inconvenient for




21

22

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

the worker by periods of time' off duty that are of little use and yet
lengthen the day unreasonably. This spread from beginning to end­
ing the day’s work was over 12 hours on more than one-third of all
days worked by women in hotels.
Table 12.—Scheduled weekly hours in hotels and restaurants, by service department
Percent with scheduled hours of—
Number
of em­
ployees Under 40 40, under 48, under 54 and
48
54
over

Service department

WOMEN
Hotels:

Independent restaurants:
Store restaurants:

211
182
56

24.1
23. 6
3. 6

30. 3
30. 7
7. 2

38. 9
36.8
46. 5

6 6
8. 8
1 42. 8

367
64

11.4
9.4

19. 2
15.6

46. 0
43.8

23. 5
31. 3

78

2 41.0

11.6

44. 8

2.6

215
64
137

3.3
3 26. 5
1.4

17.2
9.4
3.0

33.0
29. 7
25. 5

46. 5
34.4
70. 1

113
224

2.7
2.1

4.5
1.8

14. 2
9.8

78.8
86.2

MEN
Hotels:

Independent restaurants:
Kitchen___________ _____ ___________________
1 28.6 percent exceeded 54 hours.
2 21.8 percent had a week of under 28 hours.
318.7 percent had a week of under 32 hours.

In independent restaurants the workday was from 7 to 9 hours
long on more than four-fifths of the days worked by women.
In store restaurants the most usual hours were 7 or 8, but a con­
siderable number of days were over 8 and including 11 hours in length.
On almost one-fourth of all the days worked the spread from beginning
to end of the day was 10 to 16 hours.
Men’s hours were longer than women’s. Though 27 percent of the
men in hotel dining rooms had a week of under 40 hours, 52 percent
in hotels as a whole and 70 percent in hotel kitchens had a week of 54
hours or over; and figures for men in independent restaurants show
that 75 percent of them exceeded 54 hours. The most usual daily
hours for men were 8 to 10, but more than one-fifth of all days worked
by men in independent restaurants were over 10 and including 15
hours.
Week’s earnings.
Because of the nature of the hotel and restaurant business it is
customary for employees to have their cash wages supplemented by
meals, and in some cases by lodging, though this practice varies
widely among firms and individual employees. As the cash equivalent
of such supplements was not reported, separate tabulations have been
prepared for employees receiving and those not receiving wage sup­
plements so as to show the extent to which this practice affects the




HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

23

cash wages paid. The earnings figures given represent the net cash
earnings in the period reported.
For 100 women hotel employees who received meals and lodging,
average earnings were $7.25, 38 percent earning less than $6; for 284
who were given meals only, the average was $6.45. and 44 percent
earned under $6; and for 119 with no wage supplements it was $12,
only 7 percent receiving less than $6.
For 404 women in independent restaurants who were given meals,
average cash earnings were $6.75 and 63 percent earned $4 and under
$8; 41 women in such restaurants who had no wage supplements
averaged $9 95, 66 percent receiving $8 and under $12.
Seventy women in store restaurants (67 of them dining-room
workers), not receiving meals, averaged $12.10; 52 percent earned $12
and over, but 24 percent earned under $6.
Table 13 gives these figures and those for men. As in the other
industries, earnings of men greatly exceeded those of women and in
most cases earnings were higher in Portland than elsewhere. The
women in the dining rooms of independent restaurants in Portland
averaged $6.50 in addition to meals. Such women in other places as
a group averaged $6.60, though in Bangor the average was only $5.70.
Another exception to the general rule was that of men in hotel
kitchens, also receiving meals, whose cash earnings averaged $17.50
in Portland and $19.50 in other places. In contrast to women’s
earnings in independent restaurants in Bangor, men’s earnings in
these restaurants were distinctly higher than those in other places,
kitchen workers averaging $15, as in Portland.
Table

13.— Week's earnings in hotels and restaurants, by service department and
wage supplements
WOMEN

Service department1

Num­
ber
re­
ported

100
60

Percent of women who earnedAver­
age
week’s Under $2,
$4,
$6,
$8,
$10,
$12,
earn­
$2
under under under under under under
ings
$4
$6
$8
$10
$12
$14

$14
and
over

Received meals and lodaina

$7 25
7. 20

3.4

11.6

6.7

8.3

9.9

meals
25.7
45 6
17.0
30.0

21.2
35 3
14.2
27.5

2.9

1.4

5.4

1.7
7.5

.6
7.5

2. 3
15. 0

34.9
39.1
13.7

Hotels—total.............................
Lodging_____ ____ _ . .
Diningroom___ ______
Kitchen________ ____
Independent restaurants—
total__ _ _
Dining room___________
Kitchen______ _______

284
68
176
40

$6. 45
7.80
5. 45
8.40

3.5
5.1
2.5

11.9
5.9
15.9
5.0

Received
28.2
2.9
43.2
5.0

404
338
66

6.75
6. 55
8.75

1.7
1.8
1.5

4.2
3.6
7.5

28.5
31.4
13.7

17.1
14.8
28.8

7.2
6.8
9.1

3.4
2.4
9.1

2.9
.3
16.7

Hotels—total_______
.
Lodging____ __
Independent restaurants—

119 $12.00
110 12.20

2.5
1 8

No additions received
3.3
.8
10.1
6.8
3 6
5.4
6.3

26.9
29.1

36.1
39.1

13.4
14.5

Store restaurants—total..........
Diningroom.. ..
.

2 41
70
67

8.6
9.0

111 4
10.5

32.9
32.8

4 0
18l 6
17.9

9.95
12.10
12.05

14.3
14.9

7 3
1.4
1.5

4.3
4.5

8.6
9.0

1 Departments with fewer than 40 employees are included in totals but not shown separately. Also not
shown are 37 women in store restaurants who received meals, 26 men in independent restaurants with no
supplements, and 24 men in store restaurants, 11 with meals and 13 with no supplements
2 All in dining-room service.




24

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Table 13.—Week’s earnings in hotels and restaurants, by service departments and

wage supplements—Continued
MEN

Service department1

Percent of men who earned—
Aver­
Num­
age
ber week’s
$25,
$20,
$15,
$10,
$5,
re­
Under under under under under under
ported earn­
$5
ings
$25
$30
$20
$15
$10

Hotels—total--------- ---------------

60 |$12.80

Hotels—total________________
Lodging----------------- -------Kitchen_________________
Independent restaurants—total
Dining room_____________
Kitchen_________________

229 $15.10
6.30
74
118 18. 50
328 15.15
100 16.10
228 14.15

Hotels—total................ .............
Lodging........................... ....... i

$15. 50
16.50

Received meals and lodging
11.7 | 21.7 | 23.3 | 13.3 | 13.3 |
16.1
45.9
.8
3.3
2.0
4.0

Received meals
14.8
18.3
15.3
9.5
15.0
14.8
14.4
22.8
16.2
24.1
31.5
14.5
37.0
33.0
7.0
18.4
30.7
18.1

14.0
8.1
16.9
13.4
17.0
11.8

21.2
21.6

No additions received
21.2
3.4
23.6
3.6
23.0
18.0

11.2
12.9

8.3 |
11.4
2.7
13.6
7.3
4.0
8.8
8.4 1
7.9

$30
and
over

8.3
10.0

4.1
15.2
5.7
8.3
11.2

12.9

i Departments with fewer than 40 employees are included in totals but not shown separately. Also not
shown are 37 women in store restaurants who received meals, 26 men in independent restaurants with no
"supplements, and 24 men in in store restaurants, 11 with meals and 13 with no supplements.

Tips.
In all comparable cases the lowest earnings of women were those of
dining-room workers, in which occupation it frequently is taken for
granted that tips will comprise an important part of earnings. In few
cases, however, can tips be relied on, and in Maine most employers
said that they were not an important source of income.
Hotel tipping was the most general; 28 hotels said that tipping was
customary, though varying with the season. Four hotels reported
that no tips were received.
.
Of 89 independent restaurants reporting on tips, 18 stated that no
tips were received; 31 that tips were infrequent and negligible; 34
that tips were usual or frequent; 6 that the winter trade (local) did
not tip but that summer tourists usually did.
Of 15 store restaurants reporting, 9 said no tips were received, 5
said they were very rare, and only 1 said they were usual.
Uniforms.
An expense to employees, instead of an addition to wages, is the
wearing of uniforms. In all but 14 of the 146 establishments report­
ing, employees were required to wear uniforms. The conditions in
these 132 places, in 70 of which the whole expense of uniforms was
borne by the employees, were as follows:
Of 36 hotels, only 5 supplied all uniforms, 4 of these paying also lor
laundry; 9 supplied them to certain employees; but in 22 the workers
had to furnish their own, and in 19 of these had to launder them.
Of 81 independent restaurants, 18 supplied uniforms to all em­
ployees, 12 of these paving also for laundry, and 14 supplied them to
some of the workers; but in 49 the cost of buying and laundering the
uniforms was borne by the employees.
.
Store restaurants were an exception, as 13 of the 15 supplied uni­
forms to their employees and 9 of these also laundered them. In 2
store restaurants employees both bought and laundered their uniforms.




25

HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS

The most usual cost of uniforms was from $2 to $5, in a few cases
$6 or $8; bellboys’ suits naturally were much higher. Laundry
charges varied from 15 to 35 cents a garment. In about 60 estab­
lishments it was stated that waitresses laundered their own uniforms.
Hourly earnings.
Hourly earnings have been computed for each employee with full­
time week’s earnings and scheduled hours reported. Of about 240
women in hotel lodging departments, those who received meals and
lodging averaged 14.3 cents an hour in cash earnings, those with only
meals 16.5 cents, and those with no wage supplements 28.5 cents.
About 150 women in hotel dining rooms who were given meals aver­
aged 13.3 cents.
Of practically 380 women in independent-restaurant dining rooms,
those who were given meals averaged 13.1 cents an hour, and those
who were not averaged 20.7 cents. Kitchen workers in these restau­
rants who received meals averaged 16.8 cents.
Women in store-restaurant dining rooms, not a large group, and not
receiving meals, averaged 27.2 cents an hour.
The table following shows for men as well as women the averages
and distributions of earnings for all service departments with 40 or
more employees reported.
Table 14.—Hourly earnings in hotels and restaurants, by service department and

wage supplements

Service department1

Ho tels—Lo dging ............................— ............ ............
Hotels:
Lodging----------- -------------- -------- ----------------DiningroomIndependent restaurants:
Dining room______________ _______ _________
Kitchen________ _____________ __________
Hotels—Lodging.......... ........................ ......................

Hotels:
Lodging......................................................................
Kitchen. ____ _________________________
Independent restaurants:
Diningroom
_______ _____ ______ ________
Kitchen___________ _____ ____ _____ ____
Hotels—Lodging

................. ..................... ...............

Average
hourly
earnings
(cents)

Percent of employees who earned—
Under
10 cents

10, under 20, under 30 cents
20 cents 30 cents and over

Women who received meals and lodging
14.3
12.5
75.1
6.3
16.5
13.3

Women who received meals
7.5
73.2
16.4
23. 2
69.6
6.0
9.5
7.8

13.1
16.8

80.7
59.5

9.5
21.7

Women who did not receive additions
8.3
28.5
1.0
56.3
22.5
77.5
20.7
27.2
3.0
79. 2
Men who received meals
44.9
24.5
11.4
3.7
23.8
23.0

10.7
29.9
26.0
22.3
30.2

1.0
4.4

24.9
34.6

6.2
3.0
1.3
.3
10.9
34.4
17.9
19. 1
49.5

40.7
29.2

33.3
31.7

Men who did not receive additions
29.3
9.6
10.5

50.5

' Departments with less than 40 employees not shown separately.

Only two of the hourly averages for men, and none for women,
equal the 30-cent minimum required under the Federal Fair Labor
Standards Act for interstate industries: 123 men in hotel lodging
departments, with no wage supplements, averaged 30.2 cents an hour,
and 109 men in hotel kitchen departments who were given their meals
averaged 29.9 cents, actually a somewhat better rate because of the
free meals.




26

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Year’s earnings.
Records for the whole of 1939 were available in 40 hotels, 78 inde­
pendent restaurants, and 9 store restaurants. The persons they em­
ployed at some time in the year, including seasonal and part-time
workers as well as the regular staff, comprised 2,180 women and 1,700
men.
Three-fifths of the employees reported worked half the year or less.
Those who worked 27 weeks and more included 53 percent of the
women in hotels, 29 percent of those in independent restaurants,
and 39 percent of those in store restaurants; 47 percent of the men in
hotels and 35 percent of those in independent restaurants. Only
23 percent of all women reported and 26 percent of all men worked in
49 to 52 weeks; 36 percent of all women and 35 percent of all men
worked 9 weeks or less.
Women in hotels who worked 49 to 52 weeks and had no wage sup­
plements had average year’s earnings of $705, equivalent to about $59
a month. Over two-thirds of these women earned $500 and under
$700 and one-seventh earned under $500. Those who worked less
than 27 weeks averaged $101. For those who worked 27 weeks or
more, the average was between $500 and $600.
About seven-tenths of the women in independent restaurants
worked only half a year or less. Of those with no additions to their
wages, the average earnings were $93. Only one in eight of the
few year-round women workers in independent restaurants with no
additions to wages earned $600 and over.
In store restaurants also most of the women worked only half a
year or less. The average earnings of those not receiving meals were
$92. Of the very few who worked all the year, only three-fourths
averaged as much as $50 a month.
Men in hotels who worked in 12 months of 1939 and who had no
wage supplements had average earnings of $857, or about $71 a month.
Almost three-tenths of these earned $1,200 or more, but a larger
group—35 percent—earned less than $400. Men in hotels who worked
27 weeks or more and who had no additions to wages averaged total
earnings of between $600 and $700.




OFFICE WORKERS
In the establishments visited, data were recorded for office as well
as industrial workers. These have been tabulated separately to show
the standards in office employment. Records were secured for 627
workers in 180 establishments; 87 of these places were stores, 56 wore
hotels and restaurants, 31 were laundry and dry-cleaning offices, and
6 were beauty shops. Three-fourths of the employees were women.
Most of the women (63 percent) were in the offices of stores, 20
percent were in those of laundry and dry-cleaning plants, and 16
percent were in the hotel and restaurant group. Less than 2 percent
were in beauty shops. Of the men, 86 percent were in hotels and
restaurants, 11 percent in stores, and relatively few elsewhere. As
only a few office workers—9 percent of the women and 5 percent of
the men—were on a part-time basis, they are included with regular
workers. The summary following gives the number of offices and
number of employees, by industry.
Industry

Total............................. .
All stores_______ _____ _______
Department; dry goods___
Apparel
Laundry and
plants___ ..

dry-cleaning

Hotels and restaurants...............
Hotels
Independent restaurants...

Number
of
offices

Women
Total

Portland

Men
Other
places

Total

Portland

Other
places

180

470

227

243

167

58

99

87
26
34
27

295
182
47
66

125
78
12
35

170
104
35
31

18
12

3
1

15
11

6

2

4

31
6
66
35
21

92
7
76
46
30

48
4
50
29
21

44
3
26
17
9

3
1
135
127
8

2
1
52
50
2

83
77
6

1

Most of the employees did usual clerical work, but a very small
group—too small to show separately—were cashiers and telephone
operators in stores, clerks in agencies of laundry and dry-cleaning
plants, and managers or assistant managers, buyers, hostesses, cash­
iers, telephone operators, even musicians, in hotels and restaurants.
Almost half the women (48 percent) but only 37 percent of the men
were in the 49 places in Portland that reported on office workers.
Hours of work.
Weekly hours of office workers, reported for 436 women and 138
men, were long. In Portland stores 63 percent of the 124 women
worked 44 and under 48 hours, and 14 percent worked 48 hours, but
no one exceeded 48. In other places, 34 percent of the 161 women
worked 44 and under 48 hours, 27 percent worked 48, and 30 percent
worked even more than 48.




27

28

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Twenty-two of the 41 women in Portland laundry offices worked
over 48 hours; of 38 women in other places, 12 worked 48 and including
54 hours.
In hotels and restaurants the week was under 40 hours for 26 per­
cent of the 72 women, but it was over 48 for 28 percent. Men’s
hours were longer. Though 16 percent of the 118 men had a week of
under 40 hours, it was 48 to 54 hours long for 31 percent and more
than 54 hours for 41 percent. In places other than Portland 63 per­
cent of the 73 men had a week of over 54 hours.
Week’s earnings.
Women’s earnings ranged from less than $5 to more than $30.
Women in stores averaged $15.65, and those in laundry and dry­
cleaning offices $15.20. Just over three-fifths of those in stores earned
$12 and under $18, and not far from one-fifth earned $20 and more;
those with earnings in these groups in laundry and dry-cleaning offices
were respectively 52 percent and 22 percent.
Table 15.—Week’s earnings of office workers, by sex and by industry
Office employees with earnings as specified
Men

Women
Week’s earnings
Stores

Number of employees-Average week's earnings.

Laundry
and dry­
cleaning
plants

295
$15.65

92
$15.20

3.8
2.7
20.7
45.4
17.6
6.0

6.5
4.3
28.4
28.3
21.7
7.6
2.1
1.1

3.8

Hotels and restaurants
Receiving
additions
40
$12.45

Hotels and restaurants

No addi­
tions

Receiving
additions

36

77
$16.80

58
$19.50

5.2
9.1
18.2
23.4
15.6
13.0
1.3
14.3

3.5
6.9
10.4
15.5
24.2
18.9
6.9
13.8

(■>

Percent of employees
10.0
17.5
37.5
27.5
7.5

No addi­
tions

1 Not computed; base less than 40.

Women in the hotel and restaurant group who received wage sup­
plements had average cash earnings of $12.45. More than half earned
$12 and under $16, but only about 1 in 13 earned as much as $18.
Of the small groups with no wage supplements, one-fourth earned
below $10, but more than half earned $15 and over—one-sixth, $25
and over.
Of the seven appointment clerks in beauty shops, two on part-time
earned $2 and $3, and the five regular workers earned from $11 to $18.
Women in Portland had somewhat better earnings than those
elsewhere.
Only in the hotel and restaurant group were there enough men
office workers for separate tabulation. Those who received meals or
other wage supplements averaged cash earnings of $16.80, and those
with no additions $19.50. Of the men with additions, 35 percent




29

OFFICE WORKERS

earned $20 and over; 14 percent, $30 and over. Of those without
additions, 52 percent earned $16 and under $26, and 21 percent
earned $26 and over.
Of the 22 men in store, laundry, and beauty-shop office work, only
3—including 2 part-time workers—earned $10 or less; only 7 besides
these earned less than $20 (none of them less than $15). Five of the
group earned $30 and more.
Hourly earnings.
For employees with hours worked reported, hourly earnings were
computed by dividing week’s earnings by the number of hours the
employee worked; for hotel and restaurant workers, the weekly rate
was divided by the scheduled hours.
Table

16.—Hourly earnings of office employees, by sex and by industry

Industry and locality

Num­
ber of
em­
ployees

Average
hourly
earnings
(cents)

Percent of employees who earned—
Under
20
cents

20,
under
30
cents

30,
under
40
cents

40,
under
50
cents

50,
under
60
cents

60
cents
and
over

WOMEN i
Stores:
State.............................................
Other places
Laundry and dry-cleaning plants:
State. ...... .................................
Portland .................................

285
124
161

33.1
33.9
31.3

0.4
.6

28.9
12.0
41.7

50.0
62.8
40.3

15. 4
17. 8
13.7

2.5
1 6
3. 1

79
41

33.5
36.3

2.5
2.4

36.8
34.2

34.1
34.1

17.8
17.1

7.6
9.8

MEN1
Hotels and restaurants—Addi­
tions to wages:
Hotels and restaurants—No addi-

63
47

25.5
23.3

26.9
34.0

31.9
38.3

12.8
14.9

17.3
8. 5

3.2
2.1

55

52.5

5.5

12.7

10.9

18.2

16.4

i Distribution not shown for groups of less than 40.

The women office workers reported averaged 33.1 cents an hour m
stores and 33.5 cents in laundries. It is clear that the majority
earned more than the 30-cent minimum set by Federal law for inter­
state industries; however, 29 percent of those in stores and 39 percent
of those in laundry and dry-cleaning offices earned less than 30 cents.
Twenty-one percent in stores and 27 percent in the laundry group
averaged 40 cents and above, a few earning 60 cents or more.
The men office workers in hotels and restaurants who had no wage
supplements had average cash earnings of 52.5 cents an hour, but the
average was only 25.5 cents for those who had such additions. Only
18 percent of the group first named, but 59 percent of the other, re­
ceived less than 30 cents an hour in cash, 27 percent of those with wage
supplements receiving even less than 20 cents.
Only 3 of the 18 men in store offices (not shown in the table) earned
less than 30 cents; 4 earned 40 and under 50 cents, and 7 earned over
50 cents.




30

SERVICE AND TRADE INDUSTRIES IN MAINE

Year’s earnings.
Tbe total earnings in 1939 and the number of weeks worked were
obtained for 546 women and 52 men in office work in stores, the
laundry group, and beauty shops, and for 153 women and 202 men
in such work in hotels and restaurants. Just over half of the 546
women worked 49 to 52 weeks; but a third worked 26 weeks or less,
about 2 in 3 of this group working 9 weeks or less. Thirty-five of the
52 men in the same types of offices worked 26 weeks or less, 20 of them
9 weeks or less; only 12 worked as long as 49 weeks.
In hotel and restaurant office work 43 percent of the women and
51 percent of the men worked 49 to 52 weeks; however, 42 percent of
the women and 34 percent of the men worked not more than 26 weeks,
about half of these working 9 weeks or less.
Of the store, laundry, and beauty-shop office workers, all women
combined averaged year’s earnings of $559, or about $47 a month
when spread over the year. There was little concentration; 31 per­
cent earned less than $200, and 27 percent earned $800 and more.
The women in stores averaged $551; those in laundry and dry-clean­
ing offices, $596. For the women who worked 49 to 52 weeks, average
earnings were $869, or about $72 a month; they were $893 in stores
and $769 in the laundry group. About 1 in 11 of all earned less
than $600, and nearly 1 in 5 earned $1,000 or more. The full-year
group averaged $933 in Portland and $819 in other places; full-year
workers in stores, $957 in Portland, $847 elsevdiere.
Women in hotels and restaurants, without regard to weeks worked,
averaged $595 when they had no wage supplements.
The 52 men in office work in stores, laundry and dry-cleaning places,
and beauty shops averaged $450; those in the stores, $425. Eleven of
the 12 who worked 49 to 52 weeks earned at least $800—6 of them
$1,000 and under $1,400, 3 of them $1,400 and over. In hotels and
restaurants the 86 men with no additions to wages averaged $808.
The 49 w'ho worked 49 to 52 weeks and had only cash earnings averaged
$1,202, or $100 a month.




o