Chapter III: Introduction

The manufacture of saddlery and harness, exclusive of all collateral branches, stands thirty-fourth in magnitude out of the two hundred and fifty-eight specified industries tabulated in the census report of 1870. At that time there were in the United States 7,607 saddlery and harness establishments, giving employment to 23,557 workmen; all but 841 were males above 16 years of age; employing a capital of $13,935,961; paying in wages $7,046,207; for materials, $16,068,310; and producing goods to the value of $32,709,981. Missouri stands first in the list in value of products, but fifth in the number of workmen employed, and second in the wages paid. New-York stands second in value of products, first in every other particular. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and New-Jersey are next in order.

By the total figures it will be seen that the average wages of the workmen is about $299 a year, being $78 below the average for the whole country in 1870, and $10 above the average of 1860.

There are but eleven branches of industry in which the number of establishments exceeds those of saddlery and harness, and in view of this fact, the average rate of wages is remarkably good. The harness maker is called upon to supply harness, saddlery, etc., for 7,145,370 horses, 1,125,415 mules and asses, a total of 8,270,785 animals; yet the total value of products of a year show but $4 a head for each animal—a figure disproportionately small, and one which explains, in part at least, why the trade is less prosperous than it should be. Were it a business which required the investment of a large capital, the case would be different; but as it is, the investment of a few hundred dollars enables a man to engage in a small business which returns him a moderate living, but one that might be lucrative if conducted in a proper manner. The harness maker supplies an article of absolute necessity, and there is no excuse for his placing his prices below fair business rates. If each man in the business would properly estimate the cost of every article, and add thereto a fair percentage of profit, there would be less complaints as to the unprofitableness of the harness trade. In preparing this manual the author has aimed to give information of a practical character to the trade, which will enable those engaged in it to conduct the workshop in a systematic manner. If this end is accomplished, it will be one important step toward making the business a profitable and pleasant one.

THE HARNESS MAKERS’ ILLUSTRATED MANUAL.