LB2007.1.70195

LB2007.1.70195

Corner of Cutting Room, Jan 12, '08, 216 FROM VOL. II OF WILLIANSON'S HISTORY OF BELFAST This shoe factory was built by the Belfast Manufacturing Company on lower Main Street in 1872. It was first leased to Richardson and Critchett, who employed one hundred fifty workers. From 1875 to 1897 the factory of the Critchett, Sibley Company, was operated by Oliver Gordon Critchett, successor of Richardson & Critchett, under a lease from the Belfast Manufacturing Company and made shoes for Jenkins, Lane & Sons of Boston. Mr. Critchett, with Adin V. Chipman, of Boston, then conducted the business on their own account until the summer of 1880, when it was terminated, and the factory remained idle for two months. In October of that year, Ami Cutter Sibley became interested, and formed a partnership with Mr. Critchett. In 1884, Horatio Palmer Thompson was admitted as a member of the firm, which adopted the name of Critchett, Sibley & Co. Three years later, Mr. Sibley purchased the property of the Belfast Manufacturing Company for $7245, and increased the size of the building. The next year further enlargements took place, including a detached power-house on the opposite side of the street, and a tower. Another addition was made in 1893. After the death of Mr. Critchett, in September, 1900, the manufacturing business of the late firm passed to a new corporation, called the Critchett, Sibley Company, and its real estate to the Manufacturing Real Estate Company, Mr. Sibley being president of both. Since 1880, the factory has run steadily more days than any other establishment in New England. Its specialty is now boys' and youths' medium-priced shoes; the capacity being two thousand pairs a day. It is fully equipped with the most approved machinery, and the employees are nearly all permanent citizens. FROM A HISTORY OF BELFAST IN THE 20th CENTURY For nearly one hundred years, men's, boy's and women's shoes and boots were produced. During World War II the factory supplied combat boots to the U. S. Army. As many as 500 workers stood shoulder to shoulder in the shoe factory, producing up to 3,600 pairs of shoes per day. Shoe production continued at this factory until 1949, when a more modern facility was built. This building was razed in 1965. Trouble began in the shoe factory on August 1899 after the posting of wage cuts in each of the factory's work rooms. An accompanying explanation by the owners, Oliver Critchett and Ami Cutter Sibley, said the cuts were necessary due to a decline in the competitiveness of their product. "Trusting that the changes which we are now compelled to make will result, as we think it will, to the material benefit of yourselves and of our community as compared with what might occur if we allowed your wages to remain as they are, we remain, your friends and employers, Critchett, Sibley & Co." What was unusual about the first serious labor trouble in the history of Belfast was not that the workers struck, but the remarkably civil manner in which the strike played out. An aging gentry, many wealthy from fading shipbuilding fortunes, ran the city's important institutions. The relationship between the gentry and the working class was based on mutual respect, and it was strongly patriarchal. Worker were taken care of, managers were obeyed,. Workers and managers did not mingle, and blue collars spoke to white collars only with deference , no matter how angry or disgruntled they were. The workers finished making the shoes on hand that day and packed them up for delivery before walking out, without the report of a harsh word. Critchett and Sibley then gave them a choice. Either work at the old wages, without the promise of steady employment , or at the new lower scale, with guaranteed steady work. The owners asked each employee to report personally his or her decision. Within a week the strike was "amicably adjusted" presumably at the lower wage scale, and all returned to work. It was the end of labor trouble in Belfast for almost a quarter century. When, later, power began to shift from the firm grasp of owners into the shaky, not always willing hands of the workers and citizens of Belfast , it signaled not only the changing relationship between workers and owners, but also how Belfast had been transformed from a genteel coastal Maine city into a working, "company" town. The shoe industry, which dominated Belfast's economy for 80 years, encompassed these changes, and in many ways the story of Belfast shoemaking is the story of the coming of age of labor in the city. The original shoe factory was built in 1872, as industrialism picked up speed after the Civil War. Shops ere evolving into factories, and the large wooden building was constructed on Pleasant Street, off lower Main Street, on a shoulder of the hill overlooking the harbor. It was the largest employer in the city almost from its inception , and it grew steadily. At the turn of the century 300 workers produced 2,000 pairs of shoes each day. The payroll to the workers supplied the substrate upon which the townspeople - the merchants who sold them their clothes, the grocers who sold them their food, the bankers who lent them their money - thrived, providing a measure of economic health to the entire community. In 1900 they tabulated a sampling of 55 Maine shoe factory workers' annual expenditures in 1900 and compared them to workers in other industries. Having brought home $561.22 for a year's work, the average of these shoe workers spent: $132.63 on rent $241.38 on food and drink for their families $45.42 on fuel and light Clothing, doctor and funeral bills, church tithes and other expenses added up to a total of yearly expenses of $610.29, a deficit of $49.07 Though the shoe factory dominated , there were other factories in town too. A 1914 Maine Bureau of Industrial & Labor Statistics survey noted total employment in Belfast manufacturing was 1,389, including 569 females. " The Lubec Packing Company employed 150 people canning sardines " The Coe Mortimer Fertilizer Plant employed 110 " Mathews Brothers Sash & Blind Mill employed 75 " Clarence E. McIntire employed 47 processing fish " Saco Valley Canning employed 42 canning vegetables " Pierce-Billings employed 41 making lines of clothing " Thompson Manufacturing employed 69 making lines of clothing " J. B. Pearson employed 30 making lines of clothing " The Pearl Brook Cigar Co. employed 30 making cigars " The F. M. Bailey Co. employed 20 making cigars Almost all were located near the Belfast waterfront and used both the Boston steamships and the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad to bring in supplies and transport finished goods to market. In addition the Kelley Axe Factory produced a well-known and highly regarded household staple, and the Sherman Leatherboard mill supplied leatherboard filler to the shoe industry. It was a surprisingly diverse mix of industries producing a range of commodities basic to early 20th century life. The shoe factory owners were the gentry. Oliver G. Critchett, operator of the shoe factory since the beginning, was of "quiet and domestic tastes, unassuming in his manner, and strictly honorable in all his dealings. His partner Ami Cutter Sibley was extremely civic-minded, believing in the power of commerce and education. When 69-year old Critchett died in 1900, Sibley took over. A year later the business went bankrupt for unexplained reasons. The responsibility for foreclosure must have been burdensome as Sibley died suddenly the day following the foreclosure, most probably of suicide, according to the local medical examiner. Many businesses depended on the shoe factory dynamos for power causing much of Belfast to grind to an economic halt with the its closing. Three hundred people were out of work and on the street. The only help that was available was supplied by the city funds for the poor. A week after the closing Mayor Elmer Small spoke at a meeting called by the employees. Shoe factory woes were town woes. Promising help from Belfast's business leaders, he proposed that if each of the workers gave two weeks' work free and accepted a 5 to 10% wage cut, the company could be reorganized and put on its feet again, provided someone could be found to run it. Like orphaned children, the bereft workers were than willing "to assist in all their power". In late January of 1902, Leonard & Barrows Shoe Co. of Boston agreed to take possession of the factory. On March 12th the whistle blew once again. The cutters began work and gradually as enough pieces were cut out, the edge setters and lasters, the bresters, the brushers, buffers and polishers, the finishers, the eyeletters, the treers and the packers successively went back to their places in the factory. Within two weeks 100 were back to work and soon over 200 were making shoes. In 1903 the National Boot & Shoe Workers Union Local ? 362 was formed. It disappeared around 1920 with no record of a strike or work stoppage to its credit with over 200 of the workers as members. Under the management of Leonard & Barrows there continued the hallmark 19th century patriarchal relationship of trust and absolute power of the owners over workers. Business prospered and soon the factory was back to its previous level of 300 workers. In 1907 an addition brought the building out to the edge of Main Street. By 1911, 2,400 pairs of shoes were being produced daily by over 360 employees. In April 1911 at a crowded public meeting at the Opera House $8,600 was raised by local Belfast residents within a few short hours. The money helped fund a massive 3 story factory addition to span Pleasant Street, permitting free passage of teams on Pleasant Street under the extension. Shoemaking began in the newly built addition by the end of the year. In 1923 Arthur H. Leonard retired and sold the factory to R. P. Hazzard who lived in Gardiner and owned a larger factory there along with a string of shoe stores. By 1924 Hazzard had increased the factory's output to 3,600 pairs of shoes per day, the largest amount to date. He did this by driving his work force harder and by increasing their numbers. By 1925, Hazzard employed over 500 people. In December 1925 he came to Belfast to announce a production cut back due to a slump in national shoe sales, and would close the factory in January if the employees would not accept a 10% cross-the-board pay cut. He could take up the slack at his factory in Gardiner. Later, at meeting of the Chamber of Commerce he boasted that he had bought the factory in 40 minutes in 1923 and could close it in less than 20 minutes. The employees voted 245 for and 214 against the pay cut. this ended the belief that the owner was a benevolent father who took care of his workers in return for their obeisance. Sales did not improve over the next two years and in 1927 the work force was reduced to 300 with workers reduced to part time work. In August 1927, 120 workers struck in sympathy with a foreman that had been fired by unpopular superintendant, Walter Glidden. They asked, more out of a plea for dignity and respect, for the foreman's reinstatement and the superintendant's dismissal. They were flatly refused. General Manager, Jack Thompson threatened " if they did not care to go back to work, the factory would be closed." The powerless workers returned to work. Labor troubles erupted again in 1928 and Hazzard finally closed the factory. The Belfast Building Corporation now owned the building and again went to the citizens of Belfast for aid to revive the shoe factory. Within three weeks an incredible $70,000 of the $75,000 needed to attract one prospective client was raised. In June of 1929 John and Leo Daly of Daly Brothers Shoe Company, a division of Spencer Shoes, Inc. signed a contract to come to Belfast if $110,000 could be raised in local funds through the sale of preferred stock. The money was raised by July. On August 8, 1929 mayor Foster Small officiated at the throttle and the shoe factory whistle blew again for the first time in 16 months. Forty-five workers entered the factory the following morning. within two months, 2,400 pairs of shoes per day were being manufactured. By 1932, 350 were employed and the payroll distributed $6,000 per week to workers. Prospects looked good in spite of the Depression and the Daly Brothers shoe factory was expanding. At the same time that the shoe factory was prospering, others were being battered by the Depression. By 1940 the sardine factory, at best, was a seasonal operation. The small clothing manufacturers, Thompson Manufacturing and Belfast Manufacturing were active but Saco Valley Canning, Coe-Mortimer Fertilizer, the cigar makers, the fish processing factory, the Pejepscot pulp yard and creameries were gone. As part of the new deal, the National Industrial Recovery Act was passed in 1933 guaranteed the right of workers to bargain collectively in unions, increasing the power of labor. New troubles began at the shoe factory in January 1933 as shoe sales slumped. Daly decided to cut wages by 10% and increase production from 2,400 to 3,600 pairs of shoes per day to boost profits. There was a brief strike of 200 of the 400 workers that was only partially successful. Later that month, a local union was formed discreetly. When John Daly found out, he dealt with it forcefully, threatening to close the Belfast factory. Having experienced the loss of the factory just five years previously due to worker unrest, Paul Thompson, the newly elected president of the union along with nine members backed down and disbanded the union. However, times were changing and even the Republican Journal wrote sympathetically with regard to the worker's plight of wanting a reasonable wage. The employees were considering organizing a local of the Boot & Shoe Workers Union. A week later Daly granted a 40 hour work week and a 10% raise in wages. Daly was still free of a union but was forced to make concessions to keep the workers happy. In July of 1935 Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act to give legitimacy to labor unions and created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Although, nationally, labor unions were dramatically gaining power, not so in Maine. In Belfast, the NLRB set July 7, 1938 as a date for a vote for or against a union. The vote was 222 in favor and 130 against. Local 362 of the Boot & Shoe Workers, A.F.L. was resurrected from its retreat in the 1920s. The Dalys grudgingly accepted the vote. On July 27, 1938, a strike was called, the reasons murky: wages, conditions, closed shop etc. The strike lasted three weeks and on August 16th a settlement was reached. The statement read: The company agrees to reinstate all employees without discrimination. A new wage is to be arbitrated by the State Board of Arbitration of Maine and the decision shall be effective on all orders for shoes on and after August 17, 1938. The next day the factory opened to finish orders on hand. All awaited the decision of the state arbitration board. On October 7th, the board announced an across the board whopping 22.5% increase for all workers. But, at the grossly inflated wage scale, Daly found no contract orders for shoes. The factory lay idle for months and the consensus was that the union was to blame. The City's poor relief had risen an alarmingly high 150% to become its fourth largest expense. Jobless, hurting and feeling betrayed, on January 26, 1939 the workers relented, agreeing to go back to work at the old wage rates regardless of the NLRB decision . The discredited union was seen more as a trouble than salvation with months of no work and a return to the same wage rates. The conclusion was that labor unions did not work in Belfast. By the late 1940s. Shoes were still the principal Belfast commodity. The Daly Bothers shoe factory enjoyed a decade of steady growth after the 1938 strike, helped, in large part, by many war contracts for army boots and shoes. Wages had steadily increased and renovation projects had improved working conditions. In November of 1948 Mayor Sherm English announced another shoe factory was interested in coming to Belfast and would employ 250 to 300 people. The unnamed company agreed to a ten year lease if the community would build them a new factory for $70,000. Charles and Leo Daly reacted strongly and adamantly opposed to another shoe factory, citing that there insufficient numbers of skilled stitchers in the area. In a public letter to the Republican journal, they made their position clear: "If plans progress for the establishment of a new shoe factory in the City of Belfast....Daly Brothers shoe Company, Inc., will abandon the Belfast plant and instead of transferring the Marion operation to Belfast, will reverse the procedure and transfer the Belfast operation to Marion, Indiana" He requested a response from the city within a week. Mayor English decided to put it to a vote. The meeting was held on December 2, 1948 at the Opera House with approximately 1500 attending. Mayor English spoke in favor of the new factory and James Collins, Daly Brothers general manager spoke against. The vote was 476 for the new factory and 397 against. There were charges that many outside the Opera house never got to vote but Daly delivered on his promise to leave town. Belfast was once again without its principal employer . It soon became clear that the new company had no interest in the, now idle, old shoe factory. They wanted a new factory. In February 1949 50 prominent businessmen met and established a new factory fund. The Industrial Building Association was formed and by April of 1949 had raised over $65,000 in local funds. On April 18th ground was broken for a new shoe factory building at the intersection of upper high Street and Field Street. In May incorporation papers were filed by the Belfast Shoe Company. The building was up in 53 days to the delight of the idle shoe factory workers. The dedication took place on the Fourth of July. Shoemaking had, once again, been resurrected in Belfast. In April of 1950 a second company, Truitt Brothers was recruited to occupy the old Daly Brothers building. In 1963 Truitt built a new, smaller building on the Perkins Road. Truitt thrived in its new location under the direction of Ann Larrabee, at the time, the only female shoe factory manager in New England. Two years later the old shoe factory, the bedrock for Belfast since its erection in 1872, was torn down. The Belfast Shoe Company was sold in 1968 and a few months later Waldo Shoe Company took over, locally organized with outside financial help. The end for shoes in Belfast came with President Ronald Reagan's open door policy in 1981. The market was flooded by foreign-made shoes. Truitt's president, Jimmy Klyne stopped shoe manufacturing in 1982 but continued to assemble Taiwanese , Mexican and Brazilian stitched shoes with a greatly reduced work force until closing altogether in 1986. Waldo Shoe closed its doors in 1981 and the factory remained vacant until Etonic, a subsidiary of Swedish-owned Tretorn Company, began assembling tennis shoes in December of 1987. The last Belfast shoe worker left his job when Etonic-Tretorn quietly closed its doors December 1, 1989. The building was remodeled and beginning at the turn of the century became the Belfast Center providing space for a lively mixture of community businesses, organizations and artists. EVENT CHRONOLOGY 1872 The shoe factory was built by the Belfast Manufacturing Company on lower Main Street . 1872 - 1875 Leased from Belfast Manufacturing and operated by Richardson & Critchett 1875 Leased from Belfast Manufacturing and operated by Oliver Critchett 1875 - 1880 Leased from Belfast Manufacturing and operated by Critchett with Adin Chipman of Boston 1880 Factory idle for 2 months 1880 Ami Cutter Sibley becomes partners with Oliver Critchett 1884 Horatio Palmer Thompson admitted to the firm, which adopted the name of Critchett, Sibley & Co 1899 Strike over wage cuts - lasts 1 week - workers return at lower wage rate 1900 Tabulation workers wages and expenses 1900 Oliver Gordon Critchett dies - Ami Cutter Sibley takes over 1901 Company declares bankruptcy - Ami Sibley commits suicide Jan 1902 Leonard & Barrows Shoe Co. of Boston agreed to take possession of the factory Mar 1902 The factory begins operations 1903 The National Boot & Shoe Workers Union Local ? 362 was formed 1907 An addition to the factory extends building to the edge of Main St. 1911 2,400 pairs of shoes were being produced daily by over 360 employees 1911 $8,600 was raised by local Belfast residents to fund a massive 3 story factory addition 1923 Arthur H. Leonard retired and sold the factory to R. P. Hazzard 1924 Hazzard increases the factory's output to 3,600 pairs of shoes per day Dec 1925 Hazzard announces a production cut back due to a slump in national shoe sales, and will close the factory in January if the employees would not accept a 10% cross-the-board pay cut 1927 The work force reduced to 300 with workers reduced to part time work Aug 1927 120 workers struck in sympathy with a foreman that had been fired by unpopular superintendent, Walter Glidden. After flat refusal of demands workers return to work 1928 Labor troubles erupt again and Hazzard finally closes the factory. The Belfast Building Corporation now owns the building 1928 Within three weeks an incredible $70,000 of the $75,000 needed to attract one prospective client was raised. June 1929 John and Leo Daly of Daly Brothers Shoe Company, a division of Spencer Shoes, Inc. signs a contract to come to Belfast if $110,000 could be raised in local funds through the sale of preferred stock. The money was raised by July. Aug 1929 Mayor Foster Small officiated at the throttle and the shoe factory whistle blew again for the first time in 16 months 1932 350 employed and the payroll distributed $6,000 per week to workers 1933 The National Industrial Recovery Act passed guaranteeing the right of workers to bargain collectively in unions, increasing the power of labor. Jan 1933 Troubles began at the shoe factory as shoe sales slump. Daly decides to cut wages by 10% and increase production from 2,400 to 3,600 pairs of shoes per day to boost profits. Brief strike of half the workers and interest in forming a union. John Daly threatens closure of the factory. A week later Daly increases wages and reduces work week to 40 hours. July 1935 Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act to give legitimacy to labor unions and created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) July 1938 The NLRB schedules a vote for or against a union. The vote was 222 in favor and 130 against. Local ? 362 of the Boot & Shoe Workers, A.F.L. was resurrected from its retreat in the 1920s. The Dalys grudgingly accepted the vote. July 1938 A strike was called, the reasons murky: wages, conditions, closed shop etc. The strike lasted three weeks and on August 16th a settlement was reached. The statement read: The company agrees to reinstate all employees without discrimination. A new wage is to be arbitrated by the State Board of Arbitration of Maine and the decision shall be effective on all orders for shoes on and after August 17, 1938. Oct 1938 The board announced an across the board whopping 22.5% increase for all workers but at the grossly inflated wage scale, Daly found no contract orders for shoes Jan 1939 The workers relent and agree to go back to work at the old wage rates regardless of the NLRB decision 1939 - 1948 The Daly Bothers shoe factory enjoyed a decade of steady growth after the 1938 strike due, in large part to Government contracts. Nov 1948 Mayor Sherm English announces another shoe factory was interested in coming to Belfast Dec 1948 Mayor English calls for a public vote on a second factory which receives a favorable vote. The Daly Brothers make good on their promise to leave town if this happens. Feb 1949 50 prominent businessmen met and established a new factory fund. The Industrial Building Association was formed and by April of 1949 had raised over $65,000 in local funds. April 1949 Ground was broken for a new shoe factory building at the intersection of upper High Street and Field Street. In May incorporation papers were filed by the Belfast Shoe Company July 1949 The dedication takes place on the fourth April 1950 A second company, Truitt Brothers is recruited to occupy the old Daly Brothers building 1963 Truitt builds a new, smaller building on the Perkins Road. Truitt thrives in its new location under the direction of Ann Larrabee, at the time, the only female shoe factory manager in New England 1965 The old shoe factory on Main Street is torn down. 1968 The Belfast Shoe Company was sold and a few months later Waldo Shoe Company took over, locally organized with outside financial help 1981 Waldo Shoe closes its doors and the factory remains vacant until 1981 1981 The end for shoes in Belfast came with President Ronald Reagan's open door policy. The market is flooded by foreign-made shoes 1982 Truitt stops shoe manufacturing but continues to assemble Taiwanese , Mexican and Brazilian stitched shoes with a greatly reduced work force 1986 Truitt Brothers closes. Dec 1987 Etonic, a subsidiary of Swedish-owned Tretorn Company, began assembling tennis shoes at the Waldo Shoe Company factory. Dec 1989 The last Belfast shoe worker left his job when Etonic-Tretorn quietly closes its doors OWNERSHIP CHRONOLOGY 1872 - 1875 Richardson & Critchett (leased from Belfast Manufacturing) 1875 Oliver Critchett 1875 - 1880 Oliver Critchett with Adin Chipman 1880 - 1900 Oliver Critchett with Ami Cutter Sibley 1884 - 1900 Critchett, Sibley & Co with Horatio Palmer Thompson admitted to the firm 1900 - 1901 Critchett, Sibley & Co run by Ami Cutter Sibley 1902 - 1923 Leonard & Barrows 1923 - 1929 R. P. Hazzard 1929 - 1948 Daly Brothers (Jon & Leo) 1950 - 1963 Truitt Brothers