Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags

With everyone blaming President Obama for not doing this or that to help the country, this is a MUST SEE for all Americans. The film focuses on the rise and fall of the garment industry in Manhattan but the cause of it's demise is much larger than the tragedy of 7th avenue from W.34 st to W.40 st. It is proof, once and for all that the deregulation and trickle down economics of the 1980's put this country in the shape it is in today. The producers cover all of the vital history of what was at one time the largest employer in the City of New York from the tragic Triangle Shirt-Waste fire in 1911 that led to the founding one of the greatest union movements in American history. It's also about greed. Yes, this film is right on the money on what went wrong in the last 30 years in this country, not just in the garment industry.

This is truly an outstanding documentary dealing with the garment industry in the U.S.

George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is properly played at the beginning since the garment industry was synonymous with New York City itself.

The film is historical in nature tracing the beginning of the industry and detailing how the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory fire of March, 1911 paved the way for reforms as well as FDR's programs, which gave rise to the Wagner Act of 1935 and other reforms.

It dealt with the day to day activity of those 7th Avenue workers. The cutters, the designers, the movers and shakers of the industry are all discussed. What has happened to this once great industry? Out sourcing has ruined it and there is much talk of the Reagan years of the 1980s when unions were definitely frowned upon.

This excellent documentary shows the melting pot relationship of the garment industry to its people. Tastes may have changed, by this is definitely a piece of Americana, a bygone era which has left us and probably will never reappear. By the way, does anyone remember the Dress Walkout of 1958?