Workingmen: Practise Real Economy (Montreal Star, 4 April 1903).
Employers consistently ignored the disparity between wages and the needs of the typical workman. The apparently low price of these overalls would, in fact, account for 16% of a labourer's weekly salary in 1911. The same year, the Canadian Department of Labour postulated a typical weekly budget for a family of five which required a weekly income of $18.38. The average male wage earner brought home only $10.55 per week. Obviously, economy alone could not close the gap between wages and necessity. Allan's clearly realized some of the concerns of the average workingman. They boast that the overalls are made in a new, roomy, well-lit factory by well-paid, experienced workers, and they acknowledge the worker's fear of injury or death by attaching an insurance policy to the purchase of the overalls.
