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Forms to be Filled out for Each Interview
FORM A
Circumstances of Interview
STATE" New York
NAME OF WORKER Irving lieholoce
ADDRESS 4507 15th Ammo. Brooklyn
DATE Desember Us 1034
SUBJECT slog wawa 111#411 1411
FOLKLORE
NEW YORK
1. Date and time interview Oseeiber 21 aed Desaiber 22 et 12 aed 10
Oslo* respeetively
2. Place of interview
165,5 Sett 4th 'tree% droOklys home or the Jareresat
3. Name and address of informant Philip Dash, 144$ last 4th Street, Inveklye
4. Name and address of person, if any, who pot you in
touch with informant. lam infermat through lees aelmaintaneol. Originally
Uwe* NV Mb*,
5. Name and address of person, if any, accompanying you MONO
6. Description of room, house, surroundings, etc. (BOO .01/04Mg OVA Pore 0)
(Use as many additional sheets as necessary, for any of the forms, each
bearing the proper heading and the number to which the material refers.)
STATE
NE OF WORKER
ADDRESS
DATE.
SUBJECT
FORM C
Text of Interview (Unedited)
New York
Irvii1A.cholson
4Q ltt A.46LUO, T7'rooklyn
Deeo-bcr 23, 1938
SRO"'XCTER Ti -'11,9 A TALE
FOLKLORE
NE": YORK
The Douglas Shoe factory so in this factory was working
a father and two sons. So Douglas's son, he had a young IOU, about
23 years of age, he met a irl in church and he notices it she's a
very beautiful girl.
Two of her brothers were working with the :other of this
-,1r1 in tha shoe factory. One of her 1,rothers who was soing to hich
e000l noticed that his sister wus going with a rich guy who he knew
VAIS the son or rfouglas where his father and brothers was vorking.
And he start to tell in the aouse, "Uy sister is keeping
empany with the son."
So they have a dieoussiot in the family. The old nan was
glad. "I'll 6et a rich son-in...1m." The sons thought that he'll be
ashamed of them and all would have to pit their jobs.
Very often they had disoussions like that. It acme out,
once, that when the rich son had to come to the house, he met her
outside. So the youn6er son always used to warn her that her boy
friend was too rich for her.
In the end was he married her. It happened that six months
after, the independent union got a hold on Douglas's and two sons and
the father that worked there was striking and the strike was lost and
the superintendent wouldn't take them baok.
Then the trouble began. She used to beg the husband to take
back the lather and sons. But the firm wouldn't do it. :,radually it
went a taw months and the oaujiter decided to leave him. So she did.
She came back to her father and mother and from that time went to work
in tha fitting roam of a shoe factory. And she became a great leader
of the shoe union.
Later 'when Douglas had another strike this girl was the loader
of the union. Her former husband tried to have her arrested but she
always laughed at him. That's a shoe worker's revenge.
In 1910 Beek's Shoe Company had employed about $00 people.
We start to organise.
The bons said he didn't mind, only he didn't want outside
people. He wanted we should all give him $50 each and become share-
holders. At the end of the year we would get bonuses.
We worked like that for a year. We decide we wouldn't go
no more to the union. The salary was about $12 a week. And we worked
a year. By the end each one of us got $40. But a couple of smart
boys ealleo us to a private meeting that the boss should not know.
And he proved to us that for that year the salaries in the factories
was raised about 15% eve, without any unions.
So, he start to figure that each of us lost about $300 and
gained .A0. 14 decide to ask our $50 shares buck from the boss. He
gave it back but he looked us out and forced us to strike. And we
striked 20 weeks without any results. The strike was broken.
When Iturg and Lapidus was still in operation, I was con-
tractor and foreman. Lapidus wee :oinr, to Paris. femade a dinner
for all the workers because he made a suoeess in business. He had
two man who were in the business with Lapidus from the first day.
They were rular fixtures there. One was Domapee and the second
was Filippo Delis°. That was his two loving workers who Lapidus
figured brought luck to him.
So we had a dinner, eat and drink, plenty of wine, chicken
and spaghetti. So Domapee, he Ault only that Lapidus should be lucky
in Paris. So he put soul -thread (what you sew the soul) on Lapidus's
shoe. He was superstitious and he thought that would bring him luck.
And Filippo took out an eye from a little mouse, and he talk
into Lapidus's wife (Filippo still comes to my house) that, when her
husband will go on the boat, she should throw the eye of the mouse
over his had. Filippo said that would keep her husband from running
after good-looking women in Paris.
When Lapidus come back, they find it out that he had been
sick from having too many women in Paris. And the little mouse's eye
didn't help. Such an industry.
4
In Garside Son, when the Brooklyn *hoe raoteries vas in
a general strike, we were very peaoeul there. 'Newer* all satisfied.
But the Brooklyn Shoe workers used to come to UJI and beg us that we
should go out in sympathy with them, because Garold' was the president
of the boss association. And we must help thee.
It took us three or four weeks to oonsider. 14 were satis-
fied. But they were on the top of us that we should do it.
30 the whole shop held a meetin and the Jewish workers
swore by the Torah in a little empty synagogue where we held our own
meeting, and the others they also swore by their own holy book'. 14
all swore to go the next day and tell him to settle the strike bemuse
he's the president. In case he'd refuse, we should call a strike.
The boss was a very fine feller, and he said to us, that
how can I settle a strike when all the factories are occupied by
other people. He agreed to take a °committee in the machine to every
factory where they are striking, and he'll prove they are occupied.
El told us the workers were spoiling the strike. They were
leaving one factory and going to week in another factory where they
were striking.
The oommittee found that the boss, Garside, was right in
what he said. 14 went back to the people. We told them that. So
he advised us to take back our sworn pledges. 140 followed his advise
and went back to work but he promised us that he'd try to make the
bosses take back most of the strikers now, and the rest in one month.
5
'Remould try to get rid of the samba. We announsed to the Brooklyn
workers what Oarside promised. And, you can believe me. The boos
kept his promise. Tan thousand workers returned to work in two months'
tine With an inorease wa4es.
We always called John Garside the peaceful manufacturer
because he stopped a very big strike. This is true thing. The
boss was gentleman. I worked for him for thirteen years. Ones
me made a party for the boss and carried him on the hands fran ex-
oitomont.