Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1992. History Bibliography: leaves [410]-430 The purpose of this study was to examine class and gender relations in the Toronto printing trades during a period of intensive industrial capitalist growth between 1870 and 1914. Consistent with social...
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ftmemorialunivdc:oai:collections.mun.ca:theses3/30839 2023-05-15T17:23:32+02:00 Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 Burr, Christina Ann, 1959- Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of History. Canada--Ontario--Toronto 1992 xiii, 436 leaves Image/jpeg; Application/pdf http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/30839 eng eng Electronic Theses and Dissertations (57.55 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Burr_ChristinaAnn.pdf 76118624 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/30839 The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries Printing industry--Employees--Labor unions--Ontario--Toronto--History Women bookbinders--Ontario--Toronto Women printers--Ontario--Toronto Women--Ontario--Toronto--Social conditions Text Electronic thesis or dissertation 1992 ftmemorialunivdc 2015-08-06T19:17:48Z Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1992. History Bibliography: leaves [410]-430 The purpose of this study was to examine class and gender relations in the Toronto printing trades during a period of intensive industrial capitalist growth between 1870 and 1914. Consistent with socialist feminism, it is argued that the experience of class cannot be comprehended without a consideration of gender relations. -- During the late nineteenth century segmentation and specialization occurred within the Toronto printing industry with technological innovations in the production process, the emergence of the daily press, and a proliferation of firms specializing in a product line or in a particular aspect of the production process. Throughout the period from 1870 to 1914 male workers dominated the Toronto printing trades. Women were segregated in those jobs socially designated as unskilled/ specifically, pressfeeding, and folding, stitching, and collating in the binderies. -- The bulk of the study focuses on printing-trades workers employed at the Methodist Book and Publishing House, a large Church-owned multi-faceted printing and bookbinding establishment. An analysis of a select group of printing-trades workers derived from the firm's extant payrolls for the fiscal years 1882-83 and 1890-91, and for the calendar year 1902, and identified by occupation through linkages with the city directories, revealed a hierarchical and gender division of labour typical of the broader late nineteenth- and early twentieths-century Toronto printing industry. Developing the argument that to understand fully the complex interaction of patriarchy and capitalism we must go beyond the workplace and consider the family, the household economies of the sample group of Methodist Book Room workers were analysed using linkages between the decennial census manuscripts and the municipal tax assessments. The majority of Book Room workers studied lived in subsistence-level conditions and tended to rely on the income of one or more secondary wage earners. A breadwinner wage was a reality only for comparatively few skilled male printing-trades workers. -- In the latter part of the study, the trade unionism of Toronto printing-trades workers was explored. Male unionists in Toronto Typographical Union, Local 91 successfully defended their skilled-worker status with industrial capitalist incursions and effectively excluded women compositors from membership in the local typographical union. Considerable attention was also given to the organization of bookbinders, including the formation of the short-lived Women's Bindery Union. -- The study is thus an attempt at a convergence between socialist feminist theory, and working-class and labour-history, feminist history, and family history. Thesis Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) Canada |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) |
op_collection_id |
ftmemorialunivdc |
language |
English |
topic |
Printing industry--Employees--Labor unions--Ontario--Toronto--History Women bookbinders--Ontario--Toronto Women printers--Ontario--Toronto Women--Ontario--Toronto--Social conditions |
spellingShingle |
Printing industry--Employees--Labor unions--Ontario--Toronto--History Women bookbinders--Ontario--Toronto Women printers--Ontario--Toronto Women--Ontario--Toronto--Social conditions Burr, Christina Ann, 1959- Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 |
topic_facet |
Printing industry--Employees--Labor unions--Ontario--Toronto--History Women bookbinders--Ontario--Toronto Women printers--Ontario--Toronto Women--Ontario--Toronto--Social conditions |
description |
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1992. History Bibliography: leaves [410]-430 The purpose of this study was to examine class and gender relations in the Toronto printing trades during a period of intensive industrial capitalist growth between 1870 and 1914. Consistent with socialist feminism, it is argued that the experience of class cannot be comprehended without a consideration of gender relations. -- During the late nineteenth century segmentation and specialization occurred within the Toronto printing industry with technological innovations in the production process, the emergence of the daily press, and a proliferation of firms specializing in a product line or in a particular aspect of the production process. Throughout the period from 1870 to 1914 male workers dominated the Toronto printing trades. Women were segregated in those jobs socially designated as unskilled/ specifically, pressfeeding, and folding, stitching, and collating in the binderies. -- The bulk of the study focuses on printing-trades workers employed at the Methodist Book and Publishing House, a large Church-owned multi-faceted printing and bookbinding establishment. An analysis of a select group of printing-trades workers derived from the firm's extant payrolls for the fiscal years 1882-83 and 1890-91, and for the calendar year 1902, and identified by occupation through linkages with the city directories, revealed a hierarchical and gender division of labour typical of the broader late nineteenth- and early twentieths-century Toronto printing industry. Developing the argument that to understand fully the complex interaction of patriarchy and capitalism we must go beyond the workplace and consider the family, the household economies of the sample group of Methodist Book Room workers were analysed using linkages between the decennial census manuscripts and the municipal tax assessments. The majority of Book Room workers studied lived in subsistence-level conditions and tended to rely on the income of one or more secondary wage earners. A breadwinner wage was a reality only for comparatively few skilled male printing-trades workers. -- In the latter part of the study, the trade unionism of Toronto printing-trades workers was explored. Male unionists in Toronto Typographical Union, Local 91 successfully defended their skilled-worker status with industrial capitalist incursions and effectively excluded women compositors from membership in the local typographical union. Considerable attention was also given to the organization of bookbinders, including the formation of the short-lived Women's Bindery Union. -- The study is thus an attempt at a convergence between socialist feminist theory, and working-class and labour-history, feminist history, and family history. |
author2 |
Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dept. of History. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Burr, Christina Ann, 1959- |
author_facet |
Burr, Christina Ann, 1959- |
author_sort |
Burr, Christina Ann, 1959- |
title |
Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 |
title_short |
Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 |
title_full |
Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 |
title_fullStr |
Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Class and gender in the Toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 |
title_sort |
class and gender in the toronto printing trades, 1870-1914 |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/30839 |
op_coverage |
Canada--Ontario--Toronto |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
op_source |
Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries |
op_relation |
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (57.55 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Burr_ChristinaAnn.pdf 76118624 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses3/id/30839 |
op_rights |
The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. |
_version_ |
1766113059939549184 |