Worse than picking up pins? The search for dressmakers in nineteenth-century New Zealand

Abstract

One of the first jobs a dressmaking apprentice in the DIC workroom in Dunedin in the 1890s learned to do was to pick up the pins. For some young girls this was all they did for the first few weeks of their employment. For me, the task of rediscovering the work of dressmakers in nineteenth century New Zealand has been similar, in that there are always (it seems) more pins to pick up, more sources to locate. It has been worse too, because unlike the pins the sources are often not obvious, and certainly not all in the one room or institution. However, I have found the task infinitely more enjoyable and satisfying than my experiences of picking up pins.