The Lynn Shoemaker’s Strike took place in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1860. Specifically, on George Washington’s birthday, February 22. The town of Lynn was the go-to place for shoe making. Women sewed or binded and the men finished the process. Everything was at the shoemaker’s pace and they received pay by each (pair of) shoe(s) finished. The shoemaking business became so popular, farmers changed their work for it. Many, setting up “ten-footers” next to their houses entirely for shoemaking. Men realized how much faster production could go if they moved industry into factories. Once sewing machines were able to sew shoes and the machines became steampowered, the making of shoes changed forever.
It was not the physical exhaustion or constant pressure