[From The Garment Jungle (dir. Vincent Sherman, 1957). Click for a larger view.]
ILGWU: the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. This sign stays on the screen long enough for the viewer to get the point: “where once the slums and sweat shops flourished.” Yes, the ILGWU created housing for its members.
I remember the song “Look for the Union Label” in television commercials from childhood. I remember it — perhaps accurately, perhaps not — as being sung by women. (There were several versions.) It was only when watching The Garment Jungle that I understood that though ILGWU membership was largely female, the members made ladies’ garments.
Also from The Garment Jungle
Park Avenue and E. 102nd Street
Monday, October 4, 2021
ILGWU Co-operative Village
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comments: 2
I've never been quite clear on whether or not my maternal grandmother was a member of the ILGWU or not. She definitely worked in a "dress factory," as we always called it through her 50s or maybe early 60s. My grandfather was a Teamster (he drove a bread truck).
But I remember the song and the ads well. Such different times.
DN3, I think you’d find The Garment Jungle interesting.
The thing that amazes me: I was a kid, and that song stuck. Talk about consciousness raising!
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