The Dressmaker Chase: Bertha Lucas

One of the best things about researching vintage fashion is that every once in a while, when a label or designer is shrouded in mystery, it gives me a chance to slip on my gumshoes and follow some clues. The fashion world is full of stories - large and small - but there’s nothing quite like digging a little deeper into the story of a dressmaker that didn’t really make a big splash in the fashion pond. There are more instances of women who just went about it than who went about it and made their fortune; while they might have labored in relative obscurity, for these women, their life’s work was to create beautiful garments for the ladies who lived in the places they lived. Bringing their labor to light, and sharing their stories, is a privilege and a joy.

One such woman is Bertha Lucas of Cleveland, Ohio. It is her story that I will try to piece together today.

Bertha Lucas, date unknown. Via Ancestry

Bertha’s early life was spent in an area of about ten miles in two small communities in north central Ohio - New Pittsburg in Wayne County, and Rowsburg in Ashland County. Both places were about an hour southwest of Akron. Bertha’s parents Hiram Lucas and Rebecca Flick got married in Ashland County and her older sister Lilla was born near Rowsburg. By the time Bertha was born in June of 1870, her father Hiram was a farmer in New Pittsburg, and a few years later purchased a lot in the town. Before Bertha was ten years old, Hiram decided to move the family back to Rowsburg and establish himself as a hotel keeper. Bertha and her sister Lilla grew up around the hotel business in the Rowsburg area.​​​​​​​

Bertha must have been a very independent woman, because by the time she was twenty-two, she had picked up and moved to Cleveland by herself. I haven’t been able to find out whether Bertha had picked up her needle professionally before she moved to the city or when she rented a room at 1257 Euclid Avenue, but by 1897 she most certainly had done both. She called herself a dressmaker in the Cleveland city directory, and what’s more, she had already traveled to New York City for business.

I’d hoped to find out whether she maintained a separate address for her firm, so I thought I’d try poking around in the Cleveland city directories. They’re usually a fabulous resource for the researcher on the hunt for an elusive old-time fashionista. Cleveland has a wealth of them, lucky me! But I didn’t run into much luck there, because even though many of the city directories of the time separated business addresses from residential addresses, the Cleveland Company - who published the city’s directories - either didn’t seem to bother, or Bertha didn’t want to pay to advertise. So I’m not sure if this means she operated her business out of her home, or not. She may well have done so in the early years, but by the turn of the twentieth century it seems doubtful she would’ve been able to do so. 

Harpers Bazaar, page 25. February, 1903.

Why? Because she was certainly successful at what she did. She made at least three more trips to New York City on business before 1903 - not an inexpensive endeavor at the time - and participated in an ad in the February issue of Harper’s Bazaar. In it, she endorsed a newly-patented design for a ventilating underarm dress shield manufactured by the Anthony Shield Company of Chicago, Illinois. Besides her glowing endorsement, the ad happened to mention Bertha employed thirty employees! Since there’s no way thirty employees would’ve fit into her little rental room, I think it’s safe to say she had a different business setup by then.​​​​​​​

Bertha Lucas Label, courtesy of the FC Label Archive.

One thing she didn’t have time for was being a wife. Besides those trips to New York City - and wow, I wish I knew where she went, who she met and what she saw while she was there, don’t you? - she also swanned about taking resort vacations to St. Augustine, Florida and spending many a pleasant month visiting relatives all around Ohio. Surely she relished the independence of choice and movement a businesswoman like her would have.​​​​​​​

Bertha Lucas Gown, 1900s cusp.  Courtesy of the FC Label Archive.

But things shifted dramatically for thirty-seven year old Bertha in 1907. At some point she met a postal clerk named Otto Kadow, and maybe after a decade of working and being on her own, she was ready for a change. She and Otto married in June of 1908, right after her thirty-eighth birthday, and settled into life in Cleveland. I couldn’t find her listed as a dressmaker again, and by 1915 she had two children. So by all accounts, it appears Bertha Lucas settled into being a wife and mother, and hung up her professional needle.  

Bertha (Lucas) Kadow died in March of 1960 in Cleveland at the age of 89. She is buried at the Lake View Cemetery in that city.

Few of Bertha’s dresses still exist today. We’re lucky that a great example of her work has been listed at Fashion Conservatory, a delicate silk and lace two piece ensemble. Like most hundred year old silk garments it is shattering, but is suitable for study. Viewing it, one has to say this - retired or not, I bet she made some amazing clothes for her family and friends!​​​​​​​

Patricia Browning received her archivist degree in Information Management & Preservation from the University of Glasgow. Her lifelong fascination with research saturates nearly every aspect of her life. These days, when she's not nose-deep researching vintage fashion labels, she can be found doing geneology or working on her pet project, David Tennant's early theatre career in Scotland.