Document text
orpIsu MSS. OR FIELD NOTES (Cheek one)
PUB. Livinx Lore in New England
Naesaohueetta
TITLE Shoe /Aster of LAna
WRITER Jane K. LeerY
DATE 2/109 W. PP. 5
CHECKER DATE
SOURCES GIVEN (T) ,Interview
COMMENTS
Name: Jane K. Leary
2/15/39
Subject: The Shoeworker of Lynn Section #16"
The machines in the shoe shops din't only change
the way shoes wuz made but it changed most the hull way
that people lived. Before they come in strong, and
before they come in atall, people usta do a lotta other
things besides shoemakin' ta help feed their families
and ta get along.
c —"Fur instunce, along about 1869, a few year's after
the Civil War, when there wuz only aroun' (28,000 people
in Lynn, most a the people owned a pig, an' some a 'em
kept a cow. There wuz most always a barn er a shed in
the back a the yard fur 'em. An' 'most everybody had
a garden. Usta raise 'most enough potatoes ta see ya
through the winter, an' onions, tomatoes, an' other
things.,)
fish too.
a good many people lould cure their own salt
Cod and herrin"ould be salted an' strung up
on a string behin' the kitchen stove. An' then it 'ould
be stored in the attic with the onions.
In the fall the pig killer iould come aroun' Lynn.
He'd shave your pig a few inches at the neck befor' he'd
stick the knife in him, an' before night that pig 'ould
be ready ta eat. Most folks usta go aroun' among the
neighbors and give 'em some. Wan't considered bein' a
good neighbor 'less ya did that.
2
Ilslot every person 'ould own a cow, but at least
one man on a street 'ould own three er four and he'd
sell milk ta the rest. Most always he'd hire a boy ta
take the cows ta pasture in the mornin' an' bring 'em
home at night. I usta drive four cows up near Goldfish
pond every mornin"fore I went ta school fur a man;
and I drove 'em back again ta his stable after school.
He drove a wagon in the day time fur sOme brewer and he
got his hay from him wholesale fur his cows.
"So I guess he made something on 'em,- even though
he only got 6 or 7 cents a quart fur milk. People'd
come with their pails aroun' milkin' time, ta get their
own milk. Milk wan't delivered then like it is now,
.in bottles. It wuz jest measured out with a quart or a
pint measure, soon after it wuz milked.
"Sometimes I'd be in a hurry ta get home an' I
might hurry them cows home. But wouldn't that man be
mader'n hell if I did)fur then they wun't give no milk.
Ya can't get milk outa a cow that has been run.
elThere wuz some other people in Lynn an' Saugus at
that time that had goats, Ithe goat's milk they used
themselves or else sold it fur sick people ta drink.
Goat's milk is good fur sick people.
There wuz a central market in Lynn, but it wan't
nothin' like the markets taday. There wan't the fresh
vegetables fur instunce, mostly meat an' potatoes -inions.
3
Suger and crakers an' the like come in barrels loose,
an' if people wanted ta buy v4egar or molasses they
took their jug ta bring it home in.
"Nahant wan't built up like 'tis taday.
There
wuz one big hotel though, that theloutherners usta
come ta before the Civil War. In my day it had gone
down hill, cause the Civil War had spoiled the southern
trade. When them people lost their slaves they lost
their money and they din't travel an' spend money. Zoo,.
--617;Thotel was finally somehow spit in two parts
A
and floated across the Lynn harbor on a raft an' part of
it is still standinl.down near the beach. Last I knew,
there wuz a number a Italian families livin' in it. The
Lother part a that hotel went to anuther part a Lynn.
wuz soon after the Civil War that the machineS
47:00 begun an' the shoe business grew. The first that
come was the Howe machine. No power to it at first.
It wuz run by the foot. The first McKay machine fur
etitchin' soles wuz also run by a foot pedal.
—,c5r-11The McKay machine drove the hand workers out.
Before it come the hand workers lould wax end the shoes.
A thick thread lould be waxed, an' a pig's bristle lould
be fastened on the end. Then the hand worker 'ould make
a hole through the shoe with his awl, an' use the pig's
From Sec. 17, page 6:
People bought food diffrunt than they do taday. lverybody had a barrel
a flour in the house. Folk lould wonder what wus the matter with ya if
ya ever bought a ten pound bag a flor like ya do taday.
If there wus a wake, yald have ta get a big supply a food ready.
Amf one that 'mild come from outa town, lould havta stay over night fur
the funeral. And yald always give them as come from nearby cake an' sand-
wiches an' coffee, and maybe something stronger ta drink. Fur always plenty
ta eat in a house where there wuz a wake. itammxkkmigkk fur a lotta
peopleld come. 4-Netts-tiseesertr-iserrfritie-eepe-4frige...ta.4..malza.
4
bristle fur a needle ta draw the thread through. The
wax wuz used on the thread fur two reasons, ta strengthen
the thread, ant ta give it a coatin' so it wun't slip.
—"Them old hand shoes wuz made with a welt. The
inside innersole wuz sewed ta that welt, and then the
outside sole wuz sewed ta the welt. But when the McKay
machine come in, the shoe wuz made diffrunt and it drove
the old hand workers out. They never come back.
_
•--*'—fWith the McKay machine the innersole was sewed down
ta the upper sole. There wuz a channel itawuz sewed in,
sa the stitches wun't show on the bottom a the shoe.
—fihe welt shoe wuz a hand made shoe until a long
time after the McKay machine come in though. Later the
welt machine come in.
But all them improvements din't make sa much misery
fur them workers that got out could get somethin' else ta
do. There'd be some men get tagether and call themselves
teams, and they'd rent one a the old ten footer shops
an' make shoes on consignment fur some manufacturer.
There'd be a cutter, a heeler, and so on, ta make up a
team.
11Some a the hand shoe workers lould jest hire a
seat in a shop too, and make certain kinda shoes complete
by hand fur some manufacturer. One fella in a shop lould
be makin high class fancy shoes, anuther 'ould be makin
cheap shoes accordin' ta the kind he contracted ta
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0
make. When he gpt his work done, he'd take it down town
ta the shop and get his pay fur it.
when the lastin' machine come it, that caused
considerable resentment 'cause them fellas cun't do
nothin' else, and they wuz out. Might as well cut the
throats a them men as put a lastin' machine in their
shop.
„,---11Taday there's reems a tacks right in a lastin'
machine, but I remember when the old type a laster had
a hull mouth full a tacks in his mouth. k tack eater
we'd call him. He'd take one outa his mouth at a time,
ta nail it.
"A coui3e, eVen after the thachines come in, there
wuz some people that 'ould rather have their shoes made'
by hand. Custom made, they called it. Even taday there's
a few shops left in Massachusetts where a real rich guy!
who has his own last, has his shoes made. An' a guy
that has a bum leg or a bum foot, has ta have his shOes,
made special by hand still. But that costs a lotta money.