OSAGE—It’s July, but things aren’t too hot in the mitten business.

At least that’s the viewpoint of Urban Marr who owns and operates Marr Knitting, Inc., a small glove and mitten mill in this North Iowa community.

KNITTING MACHINE — Melvin Weaverling (left) and Tom Marr check on one of the American built circular knitting machines in the glove and mitten plant of Marr Knitting, Inc., Osage. Tom, son of the mill owner, is learning the business. Note the knitted "blanks" or bodies of the mitten being fed out from the machine into the sack.

"It’s the Japanese," said Urban as he removed one of a neat row of four cigars from the pocket of his nylon shirt. "They’re underselling us $3 a dozen, sometimes $4 and $5 on gloves—and what's worse, their quality is just as good as ours."

Urban tore the cellophane from his cigar.

"Gloves require a certain amount of handiwork. That’s where they have the edge on us. They can hand weave the whole glove on a frame with labor at from six to 12 cents an hour. Our help is guaranteed $1 an hour, but most get more on piecework."

Mr. Marr, however, is not an unhappy man. He doesn’t seem too much shaken by the fact that 17 out of 31 U.S. glove and mitten mills in operation in 1946 have liquidated and two others have closed down.

"Ours is the only one in business west of the Mississippi," he said with a rather jovial smile.

Mr. Marr and his smile in a white beard and a red suit would make a good Santa Claus. He has the pleasant warmth of a mitten about him, too. Maybe that’s why he makes and sells them.

Marr Knitting, Inc., might never have been if Urban hadn’t been an electrician in Kohler, Wis., in 1926. He was called out to a hosiery plant at nearby Sheboygan to fix a knitting machine. It was love at first sight and he has been in the business ever since.

"There’s something about knitting machines that’s fascinating—that gets in your blood," Urban said as he bit the end off his cigar. "They’re always breaking down—something different every day."

Mr. Marr has two makes of machines knitting the "blanks" or bodies of his mittens and gloves. His American machines make a mock rib

PICKING UP LOOPS — Ardith Hines picks up the loops on a thumb insert on her flat [machine] which knits fingers and thumbs, adding them to the "blanks."

cuff and fancy designs in several different colors of yarn on the hands. His English machines, typically more conservative, make true rib cuffs only and no designs.

The machines knit the "blanks" automatically leaving openings for attaching thumbs, fingers, too, if gloves are being made. Each machine can be set to make any length body from toddler to men’s sizes.

From the circular knitting machines, the "blanks" go to the flat machines where the thumbs and fingers are knitted. It takes but a few seconds [for] the machine operator to pick up the loops in the thum[b] or finger insert and set the shuttle in motion which adds a [digit] of the desired length.

Next is the "tipper" who closes the ends with a few quick stitches of a needle. The ends on the hand part of the mittens are sewn shut on a machine.

Both gloves and mittens are brushed, fancy stitches added if desired and then they are sent to the shaper. In the shaping department, they are pulled to size over wooden forms and given a dry steam bath.

Afterwards they are inspected, mated, the mates tacked together and packed.

Marr Knitting, Inc., makes gloves and mittens and mitten liners for jobbers and large chain stores all over the United States. Its chain store customers include Sears Roebuck and Co., J.C. Penney Co., McLellan’s Stores Co., W.T. Grant and J.J. Newberry Co. Some of the jobbers are Franklin TruFit Co., Chicago; Lindfelt Glove, Des Moines, Sidley [Hosiery], Minneapolis, and Miller Hat Co., St. Paul.

"Once you get your hand in this business, you can’t get out," Urban said.

He smiled, lit his cigar and paused to emit a few gentle puffs of smoke.

"Take Bob Doudna," he said with a gesture in the direction of his plant superintendent. "He was my first employe[e]. He has been with me since I started here in 1946."

Bob nodded.

"Bob also makes up the designs for the fancy mittens," Urban added.

Mr. Marr worked in Sheboygan until 1932 when he moved to Appleton, Wis., and another mill. He had two reasons for choosing Osage as the town in which to start out on his own. First, New Haven, his home town where his father still lives, is just eight miles to the east. Secondly, he believes in the superiority of small town laborers.

"They’re better workers in every way," he pointed out with a wave of his cigar. "We’ve got 50 people working here now. Last year

SHAPING MITTENS — Juanita Overfeldt slips a mitten over a wooden form preparatory to giving it a dry steam bath. The steam shrinks the mitten to size.

we produced 600,000 pairs of gloves and mittens."

Woolen glove and mitten production in the United States totaled less than 1,000,000 dozen in 1956. Domestic output in 1946 was over 2,000,000 dozen.

"We’re in kind of the same situation as the three little kittens who lost their mittens," Urban said. "We had 95 employe[e]s here in 1950 and ’51. That’s when all the mills had Army contracts for the Korean conflict—and that’s where the trouble started.

"The domestic industry was so busy filling Army contracts that it wasn’t meeting home demand. Imports consequently, increased from about 50,000 dozen in 1946 to in excess of 2,000,000 last year. Today 95 per cent of the gloves and mittens coming into this country are from Japan."

Mr. Marr thinks that the industry has learned its lesson, but maybe too late. Its oriental competitors are getting more of the market each year.

"If this keeps up for another 10 years, we’ll all be out of business," Urban said.

Mr. Marr said the industry has been trying to get Congress to set a quota on imports.

"So far we haven’t had much success," Urban said. "We’re a small industry — domestic consumption last year totaled $25,000,000. So you see we don’t get much attention.

FINISHED PRODUCT — Urban Marr (left), owner and operator of Marr Knitting, Inc., chats with mill superintendent Bob Doudna in the plant’s packing department. The mill turned out 600,000 pairs of gloves and mittens last year.

"I guess there’s nothing to do but wait and hope for relief. We pick up a bit when another one of us goes out of business. And some chain stores and jobbers, realizing the importance of maintaining our home industry, still buy from us. Otherwise it’s pretty tough."

Mr. Marr took another puff of his cigar. And it looks as though he’ll go on puffing and waiting and hoping. It’s about all he can do, that is, except tend to his knitting.