Needed: Ladies shirtwaist blouse, Lit Bros. Philadelphia label (or pic of same)

Hey, all

I know that I may have to cast a wider net on this request, but I thought I'd start here. As I mentioned once, I'm writing a book on women's fashions of 1901-1919, with as much social history as I can cram in. One of my sub-chapters is on the popularity of the shirtwaist blouse ...and the conditions endured by the factory workers who produced the ready-mades, which inevitably leads to the Triangle Fire.

I really, really want to illustrate this section with a waist that can be linked to the Triangle. As you can imagine, this isn't the easiest of items to track down. One of the archivists at Cornell pointed me to the trial transcript for the testimony of a buyer who was in the building that day, which is how I found Lit Bros. of Philadelphia. It's also possible that they used the factory name on their labels; I just know that I haven't managed to find one labeled as such.

I know that it's a real long shot, but if any of you have (or know where to find) a shirtwaist, preferably pre-1911, with either the department store or Triangle Factory label, I would be immensely grateful. I would also be happy with an archive photograph.

Many thanks,
Becca

 

Hi,

Are you sure you don't mean Lit Bros. Department Store (not Litt)? Who is publishing the book and when does it come out? I would love to read this as it is one of my favorite eras for fashion. Best of success...

 

Barbara, I think you're right: it's Lit with one t. I was going by the trial transcript. To make matters even more interesting, there was a Litt-with-two-ts chain as well, and I've sacrificed a good chunk of sleep since posting my request trying to find dates to figure out which was which. Finally. Litt's wasn't founded until the late 1920s. Thank you; it's good to have a confirmation.

I don't actually have a publisher yet. I'm determined to do this right and have semi-polished sample chapters and an agent to go with the pitch letter. If all goes according to plan *crosses fingers*, I'll have things nailed down before the end of the year. If the universe cooperates, that is, and the universe is notorious for having its own agenda and not sending out memos.