{"id":14460,"date":"2021-10-14T16:59:36","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T20:59:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/?p=14460"},"modified":"2021-11-23T07:43:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T12:43:04","slug":"ordering-plated-flannel-for-the-civil-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2021\/10\/ordering-plated-flannel-for-the-civil-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Ordering “Plated Flannel” for the Civil Service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to the first annual report of the City\u2019s Civil Service Commission, Philadelphia received more than 4,500 applications more than 170 different\u202ftypes of positions in 1906. Twenty seven job-seekers applied to be bricklayers, 84 \u202fhoped to be hired as \u202fcarpenters, 692\u202f as clerks, 68 as elevator operators,\u202f37 as engineers, 50 as firemen, 2 as guards at the House of Correction, 156 as guides at City Hall. Twenty three hoped to become drain inspectors, 10 as masonry inspectors, 11 as meat\u202finspectors, 116 as street cleaning inspectors, 54 as janitors, 27 as “janitresses,”\u202f90 as machinists,\u202f364 as patrolmen, 131\u202fas mounted\u202fpatrolmen, 11 as photographers, 18\u202fas plumbers, 23\u202fas plumbers helpers, 112 as stenographers, 12\u202fas telegraph\u202foperators, 48 as telephone\u202foperators, 9 as tinsmiths, 14 as waitresses, and 180 as watchmen. That same year the Commission held civil service examinations for 3,801 candidates. More than 2,200 were \u201cplaced on eligible lists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Civil Service Commission Exam, August 31, 1933. Photograph by Maurice D. Abuhove (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By the 1920s, Philadelphia’s employment rolls made it the single largest employer with as many as 30,000 in 663 positions as diverse as, Walter Licht tells us, ambulance chauffeur, clock attendant, herdsman, traffic statistician, and writ server.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the 1950s this process had\u202fballooned\u201d still further, according to Licht. In 1953\u202falone the city processed 48,775 applications, arranged for\u202f34,215 civil service tests, notified the 10,479 who passed of their eligibility, and appointed 4,543\u202fto actual jobs.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Civil Service Exam for Iron Workers, July 8, 1930. Photograph by Wenzel J. Hess (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In many cases, especially for office jobs, the civil service exams were in a written format, but when it came to the trades like stenography, welding or ironwork, among others, the Commission devised and administered practical exams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October 1905, Frank M. Riter, the head of the Commission, personally tested eight applicants hoping to be hired as waitresses at the Philadelphia Hospital (presumably the Philadelphia General Hospital). According to The Inquirer<\/em>, Riter displayed his own \u201cstartling knowledge of the science of waiting\u201d as he posed questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Civil Service Exam for Stenographers, December 4, 1912 (PhillyHistory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is the meaning of \u2018draw one,\u2019 \u2018brown the wheat,\u2019 \u2018off the ice,\u2019 \u2018one in the dark,\u2019 \u2018wheat bread devil\u2019 and \u2018plate the flannel?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is the proper way to shoot a plate of biscuits?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow many oysters should be in a small stew? How many in a large stew?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a customer orders four sinkers, at three for five cents, a cup of coffee, without milk and a plate of \u2018ham and,\u2019 what should be the amount of his check?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, we have no idea. But we do know sinkers were doughnuts and \u201cham and\u201d was, and in some quarters still is, slang for ham and eggs. The rest, especially plated flannel, remains a mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not for long, one hopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Sources:  Walter Licht, Getting Work: Philadelphia, 1840-1950<\/em>, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992)]; \u201cFirst Annual Report of the Civil Service Commission of the City of Philadelphia, January 2, 1907\u201d in Annual Message of the Mayor of the City of Philadelphia with the Annual Reports of Directors of Departments<\/a>,<\/em> vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1907): Riter, the Versatile, Plays Head Waiter, The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em>, October 18, 1905.]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the first annual report of the City\u2019s Civil Service Commission, Philadelphia received more than 4,500 applications more than 170 different\u202ftypes of positions in 1906. Twenty seven job-seekers applied to be bricklayers, 84 \u202fhoped to be hired as \u202fcarpenters, 692\u202f as clerks, 68 as elevator operators,\u202f37 as engineers, 50 as firemen, 2 as guards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}