TOWN MADE RICH BY SHINGLING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 10 June 1926, Page 7

TOWN MADE RICH BY SHINGLING

WOMEN EARN WHILE 'MEN DO THE HOUSEWORK. All England can learn .a lesson from -|juloii, Uiib iioxy-recognised centre for ib,e jhanufaclrire of women's Jntt-% which is io-jia7-j!xperiencins ii rgmni'kable wave of industrial 'prosperity. Ninety-nine out of every hundred working men and women are to-dav in employment here. Wages are high, and in many cases £8 to £lO a. week is going into working-class households. Thcrie are otdy sixteen unemployed in the whole hatmaking industry, which provides work for 14,000 persons. In the whole town, with its 50,000 inhabitants, there, are only 301 unemployed. New methods, new machinery, and the hot pursuit of fashion, coupled with the determination to supply what the public wants —these provide an explanation of Luton’s astonishing prosperity. One remarkable feature of the industry is the number of women who earn high 1 wages. Cases are known where the mother and daughters in a family do the work and earn £2 to £3 a week each, while “father” stays at home ami looks after the house. “Women’s fashions in hats have changed, with the result that the pendulum of prosperity has swung over from the milliners’ shops to Luton,” says Mr Massey, assistant secretary of the Chamber, of .Commerce. ; “The silkcovered, heavily, trimmed 'hats have been displaced by the ‘pull-over’ £jtyle, which are manufactured in Luton, Shingling lias had much to do with the change. “Again, tlie manufacture of felt hats for men has been largely taken up by Luton manufacturers. Once upon a time there was a great ‘straw-boater’ industry here. The decline in popularity of the ‘boater’ has meant that there are now only three or four firms manufacturing them, while there are 400 firms making women’s ‘pullover’ hats in felt or straw and men’s soft hats. “Cheap electricity is also helping in our prosperity. Electricity is cheaper here than in hundreds of other manufacturing towns. Engineering firms are now coming, to Luton. Last, year there were nearly 7000 men and women employed in engineering works here. Today the figure is much greater.”