July 29, 2020 • 11 mins
White Plains residents and married couple Evelyn and Larry Eidelberg share personal stories of doll making, sewing machine collecting and of NYC's fabric and garment design industry.
For podcast audio with images go to ArtsW's YouTube Channel
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Sewing Community is part of ArtsWestchester's Folk Arts Program, made possible in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Evelyn Eidelberg (00:07):
Hi, my name is Evelyn Eidelberg.
(01:29):
I learned how to sew o n asewing machine when I was four
years old.
An old treadle, of course, andmade my doll's c lothes, f irst
out of paper.
Then my grandma showed me how tomake simple patterns, mostly out
of necessity because we weren'trich enough to be able to afford
ready-made things.
(01:50):
I grew up in a very poor sectionof Brooklyn, which was called
Oceanhill Brownsville.
When I went to college, Imajored in textiles and minored
in education.
So it wasn't surprising that Ibecame a junior high school
sewing shop teacher.
At that time, we were notallowed to wear pants at all.
(02:10):
So I made all my own dresses andskirts.
And finally, when they a llowedp ant s uits, I made my own p
ants s uits.
After teaching for 12 years, Ireally was missing wanting to be
a designer.
I left teaching and I got a jobselling i n a textile design
(02:31):
studio in the garment center.
Before long, I was making samplegarments for showrooms, for
fabric converters.
When a salesman came up, insteadof showing them a bolt of
fabric, they would hold up adress or a vest that I had made
from their fabric.
So it was more understandableand so that they could see it
(02:51):
within their line.
Necessity made me leave thegarment center because I got
into it kind of late and Iwasn't being paid enough, but I
started to do freelancedesigning, especially for
women's coats.
While I'm walking around with ahuge portfolio of textile
designs that I'm showing todesigners and t o converters, in
(03:14):
walks another man, w ho's alsocarrying a large portfolio and
somebody had overbooked.
And the man sitting next to mewith the large portfolio became
my husband.
My interest in sewing led to a50 year a ntiques collection.
(03:34):
One day while I was in a shop, Ilooked down at the floor and I
saw a small painted box with aflower on it.
I opened it.
I thought it might be humidor.
L o and behold, it was an actualsewing machine from the 1880s
that was made to sit on a tablewith no bobbins.
(03:55):
And that became my interest.
For the next 50 years, I scoutedout hand machines, toy machines,
pin cushion dolls, anythingrelating t o s ewing.
I l ike the toy sewing machines.
T hey a re very sweet.
They really work.
They're tiny and they're castiron.
(04:16):
The shapes on them are verygraceful because the regular
hand machines are cast iron andheavy and bulky.
The t oy sewing machines of thatera were absolutely charming and
delicate.
And even in a studio apartment,I would always have shelving
that went around towards theceiling and the room would be
(04:38):
wrapped in sewing machines onhigh shelf.
Then I discovered the pincushion dolls, which of course,
again, had two things in my lifethat meant a lot to
me...dolls...I was a g irly girlwho remembers the name of her
first doll.
Also f rom my g randmothershowing me how to...my
grandmother was a doll maker ina factory.
(05:01):
My whole family came from Russiaor the Ukraine, depending on
what year it was.
My father never really made ithere.
He never really had time todevelop a lot of skills.
He was the youngest of thechildren when he came, he was
nine.
(05:22):
His siblings who w ere 12 and 15and 18 and 20 and 22, most of
them never learned how to readand write in English.
They never really had jobs otherthan working in textile f
actories, sweater factories, orbeing cutters.
So they never really made it.
They really couldn't overcometheir beginnings.
(05:43):
So there wasn't...there wasn'tornament in the house.
I mean, we didn't have nicethings.
I never wore anything n ew.
Everything my mother sewed toshorten, take in, because she
was remaking clothes that wouldhave been for a woman that was
now going to a little girl.
I was the little girl, ofcourse.
(06:05):
I was embarrassed by it and Iwas ashamed of it.
When I was about five or six, acousin of mine was getting
married and we had to wear afancy dress.
And so my mother was forced tobuy me a new dress and it was
turquoise.
I remember twirling in it.
It was nylon and i t was sort ofiridescent and it was magical to
(06:27):
me.
And to this day, my favoritecolor is turquoise.
And when I wear it, it makes mefeel like that happy little
girl.
When I was a little girl, theyhad this doll that came out
called the G inny doll and itwas like four or five dollars.
And it was the first doll tocome out where you could buy
clothes, a bed, playground.
(06:50):
She had all kinds ofaccessories.
We couldn't afford that.
So my mother bought me a$1 knockoff in the Quarries, like a
Woolworth's.
An outfit for the doll was like$3.
Guess what?
I was wearing dresses t wo for adollar from M ay's basement.
So they weren't spending$3 on adoll's dress.
So I'm sitting in mygirlfriend's apartment, three of
(07:12):
us, and they both have Ginnydolls.
And it came with a little pinkcase.
Mine was a shoe box that I putpink construction paper on.
And u m, they said, okay,everyone let's pretend our dolls
are going to a party now.
So they're g oing t o all getdressed up.
So J anie and Sandy t urn aroundand they, they open the little
(07:34):
pink closet a nd they put adress on the doll.
And I opened my shoe box and Iput one of my homemade dresses
on the doll.
And my friend says to me, let'spretend y our doll is the maid
since she doesn't have any goodclothes.
A nd right then and there, Isaid to myself, I'm going to
learn how to sew well enough sothat my doll never has to be the
(07:56):
maid again,
Larry Eidelberg (08:00):
I'm Larry Eidelberg.
I'm currently a Westchesterresident.
I have lived in Manhattan andBrooklyn, my home borough.
And for about two years or so inthe 1980s, a friend who owned a
fabric design studio, asked meto sell for her..to sell artwork
to manufacturers of garments andfabric.
(08:25):
And I took it on as a, as achallenge.
I knew nothing about theindustry at the time.
It was fascinating working withartists who came up with ideas
that they hoped would sell inthe market.
They did a sample of paintingson silk and I, as a salesperson
would take them to designers andfabric companies and try to sell
(08:46):
them.
And then they would take thosedesigns and put them on the
fabric that they would thencreate.
It was interesting to learnabout an industry that often
made decisions based on whim andwhat they thought would be
selling, what they thought wouldbe current, what they felt would
be fashionable.
And I was often asked"what'sselling?" as though I was a
(09:08):
Maven about trends.
I wanted to learn more about it.
So I took a course at theFashion Institute on fabric
design.
Not the artistic side, but theprocess of design, how fabric is
printed, how it's designed.
It was not a world I planned tostay in, but it gave me an
insight into the garmentindustry, fashion, that I didn't
(09:31):
have before and that has been amainstay of New York city and
the New York area economy fordecades.
So my interaction with fabric ismore on the sales side, but it
also enhanced an understandingand an appreciation of design,
(09:52):
clothing, selling andcreativity.
My grandfather had been atailor, a very talented tailor
of women's clothing.
He did come here from Poland atthe age of 16, I believe.
Spoke, no English.
Came alone and had sometailoring skills, I
understand,from Europe andparlayed them into a business
(10:14):
and a career and an incomestream that then raised a
family.
He's an interesting, and notuncommon example of a successful
immigrant story.
But I did know that the women'swear that he created was
appreciated.
He sold to women with some moneyin Brooklyn and he made some
(10:39):
beautiful outfits.
I have one memory of himvisiting in his store.
Whenever I visited him, he wouldhave his sewing machine in the
front of the store and he wouldbe sitting at it and he'd look
up and he'd always have a pieceof thread hanging from his lip.
He never used the scissors.
He always bit the thread.
And that's my image of him withhis thread hanging out.
Hi, my name is Evelyn Eidelberg.
(01:29):
I learned how to sew o n asewing machine when I was four
years old.
An old treadle, of course, andmade my doll's c lothes, f irst
out of paper.
Then my grandma showed me how tomake simple patterns, mostly out
of necessity because we weren'trich enough to be able to afford
ready-made things.
(01:50):
I grew up in a very poor sectionof Brooklyn, which was called
Oceanhill Brownsville.
When I went to college, Imajored in textiles and minored
in education.
So it wasn't surprising that Ibecame a junior high school
sewing shop teacher.
At that time, we were notallowed to wear pants at all.
(02:10):
So I made all my own dresses andskirts.
And finally, when they a llowedp ant s uits, I made my own p
ants s uits.
After teaching for 12 years, Ireally was missing wanting to be
a designer.
I left teaching and I got a jobselling i n a textile design
(02:31):
studio in the garment center.
Before long, I was making samplegarments for showrooms, for
fabric converters.
When a salesman came up, insteadof showing them a bolt of
fabric, they would hold up adress or a vest that I had made
from their fabric.
So it was more understandableand so that they could see it
(02:51):
within their line.
Necessity made me leave thegarment center because I got
into it kind of late and Iwasn't being paid enough, but I
started to do freelancedesigning, especially for
women's coats.
While I'm walking around with ahuge portfolio of textile
designs that I'm showing todesigners and t o converters, in
(03:14):
walks another man, w ho's alsocarrying a large portfolio and
somebody had overbooked.
And the man sitting next to mewith the large portfolio became
my husband.
My interest in sewing led to a50 year a ntiques collection.
(03:34):
One day while I was in a shop, Ilooked down at the floor and I
saw a small painted box with aflower on it.
I opened it.
I thought it might be humidor.
L o and behold, it was an actualsewing machine from the 1880s
that was made to sit on a tablewith no bobbins.
(03:55):
And that became my interest.
For the next 50 years, I scoutedout hand machines, toy machines,
pin cushion dolls, anythingrelating t o s ewing.
I l ike the toy sewing machines.
T hey a re very sweet.
They really work.
They're tiny and they're castiron.
(04:16):
The shapes on them are verygraceful because the regular
hand machines are cast iron andheavy and bulky.
The t oy sewing machines of thatera were absolutely charming and
delicate.
And even in a studio apartment,I would always have shelving
that went around towards theceiling and the room would be
(04:38):
wrapped in sewing machines onhigh shelf.
Then I discovered the pincushion dolls, which of course,
again, had two things in my lifethat meant a lot to
me...dolls...I was a g irly girlwho remembers the name of her
first doll.
Also f rom my g randmothershowing me how to...my
grandmother was a doll maker ina factory.
(05:01):
My whole family came from Russiaor the Ukraine, depending on
what year it was.
My father never really made ithere.
He never really had time todevelop a lot of skills.
He was the youngest of thechildren when he came, he was
nine.
(05:22):
His siblings who w ere 12 and 15and 18 and 20 and 22, most of
them never learned how to readand write in English.
They never really had jobs otherthan working in textile f
actories, sweater factories, orbeing cutters.
So they never really made it.
They really couldn't overcometheir beginnings.
(05:43):
So there wasn't...there wasn'tornament in the house.
I mean, we didn't have nicethings.
I never wore anything n ew.
Everything my mother sewed toshorten, take in, because she
was remaking clothes that wouldhave been for a woman that was
now going to a little girl.
I was the little girl, ofcourse.
(06:05):
I was embarrassed by it and Iwas ashamed of it.
When I was about five or six, acousin of mine was getting
married and we had to wear afancy dress.
And so my mother was forced tobuy me a new dress and it was
turquoise.
I remember twirling in it.
It was nylon and i t was sort ofiridescent and it was magical to
(06:27):
me.
And to this day, my favoritecolor is turquoise.
And when I wear it, it makes mefeel like that happy little
girl.
When I was a little girl, theyhad this doll that came out
called the G inny doll and itwas like four or five dollars.
And it was the first doll tocome out where you could buy
clothes, a bed, playground.
(06:50):
She had all kinds ofaccessories.
We couldn't afford that.
So my mother bought me a$1 knockoff in the Quarries, like a
Woolworth's.
An outfit for the doll was like$3.
Guess what?
I was wearing dresses t wo for adollar from M ay's basement.
So they weren't spending$3 on adoll's dress.
So I'm sitting in mygirlfriend's apartment, three of
(07:12):
us, and they both have Ginnydolls.
And it came with a little pinkcase.
Mine was a shoe box that I putpink construction paper on.
And u m, they said, okay,everyone let's pretend our dolls
are going to a party now.
So they're g oing t o all getdressed up.
So J anie and Sandy t urn aroundand they, they open the little
(07:34):
pink closet a nd they put adress on the doll.
And I opened my shoe box and Iput one of my homemade dresses
on the doll.
And my friend says to me, let'spretend y our doll is the maid
since she doesn't have any goodclothes.
A nd right then and there, Isaid to myself, I'm going to
learn how to sew well enough sothat my doll never has to be the
(07:56):
maid again,
Larry Eidelberg (08:00):
I'm Larry Eidelberg.
I'm currently a Westchesterresident.
I have lived in Manhattan andBrooklyn, my home borough.
And for about two years or so inthe 1980s, a friend who owned a
fabric design studio, asked meto sell for her..to sell artwork
to manufacturers of garments andfabric.
(08:25):
And I took it on as a, as achallenge.
I knew nothing about theindustry at the time.
It was fascinating working withartists who came up with ideas
that they hoped would sell inthe market.
They did a sample of paintingson silk and I, as a salesperson
would take them to designers andfabric companies and try to sell
(08:46):
them.
And then they would take thosedesigns and put them on the
fabric that they would thencreate.
It was interesting to learnabout an industry that often
made decisions based on whim andwhat they thought would be
selling, what they thought wouldbe current, what they felt would
be fashionable.
And I was often asked"what'sselling?" as though I was a
(09:08):
Maven about trends.
I wanted to learn more about it.
So I took a course at theFashion Institute on fabric
design.
Not the artistic side, but theprocess of design, how fabric is
printed, how it's designed.
It was not a world I planned tostay in, but it gave me an
insight into the garmentindustry, fashion, that I didn't
(09:31):
have before and that has been amainstay of New York city and
the New York area economy fordecades.
So my interaction with fabric ismore on the sales side, but it
also enhanced an understandingand an appreciation of design,
(09:52):
clothing, selling andcreativity.
My grandfather had been atailor, a very talented tailor
of women's clothing.
He did come here from Poland atthe age of 16, I believe.
Spoke, no English.
Came alone and had sometailoring skills, I
understand,from Europe andparlayed them into a business
(10:14):
and a career and an incomestream that then raised a
family.
He's an interesting, and notuncommon example of a successful
immigrant story.
But I did know that the women'swear that he created was
appreciated.
He sold to women with some moneyin Brooklyn and he made some
(10:39):
beautiful outfits.
I have one memory of himvisiting in his store.
Whenever I visited him, he wouldhave his sewing machine in the
front of the store and he wouldbe sitting at it and he'd look
up and he'd always have a pieceof thread hanging from his lip.
He never used the scissors.
He always bit the thread.
And that's my image of him withhis thread hanging out.
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