| Summary: | Officially opened in mid-1882, Antonio José Maia & Cia.'s steam factory had Portuguese owners. They were required by law to hire a quota of national apprentices and secure their livelihoods. At the heart of this demand was the problem of the “transition” from slavery to free labour and the historical conflicts between natives and foreigners in the labour market. At the beginning of the operation of the factory work, most of the specialized workforce was Portuguese. Pernambucans men and women of various ages were generally assigned
the most simple and provisional services. Between 1882 and 1886, the Portuguese were gradually replaced by nationals, trained at the very hat steam factory, thus making production costs cheaper. In that same period of time, boys, girls, teenagers and adult women, all Brazilians and hired as apprentices, were the ones who suffered the most from precariousness and the high turnover in the headgear workshops. Our article analyses the complexities of the object of study through the instruments of social history of labour.
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