The Professional Tailoress Wanted in 1891
A job advertisement from a ladies' intelligence bureau signals a high demand for skilled female labor in early Seattle.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
In the help wanted—female column of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for Thursday, February 5, 1891, an advertiser sought a “first-class tailoress” for a neighboring city, offering “good weekly wages or piece work” and specifying that “none but first-class need apply.” Applicants were directed to call on Mrs. M. J. Peck, room 16, 719 Second street.
The same classified page lists Mrs. M. J. Peck’s Ladies’ Intelligence Bureau, room 16, as seeking first-class help, and carries other female-help notices: a girl for general housework at 212 Virginia street; a girl at 619 Yesler avenue; a pastry cook and a laundress at the Vendome, 1,117 Front street; a laundress to take washing to her own home for Mrs. H. H. Lewis at Tenth and Jefferson; cooks, chambermaids, waiters and girls for homework through Mrs. Clark’s employment office, 307 Union street; girls for restaurant, lodging-house and general housework through Mrs. Randall’s intelligence office, 1,216 Second street; and cooks, waiters, nurses and girls for general work at the Day Nursery, 1,114 Third street.
“None but first-class need apply.”
This 1891 advertisement reflects a time when Seattle's economy relied heavily on skilled trade labor and middle-men 'intelligence bureaus' to connect workers with employment. It mirrors today's persistent need for specialized labor, though today's 'job boards' have moved from physical storefronts like Mrs. M. J. Peck’s office to digital platforms.
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