Byrne, Jim: Transcribed interview

Archive

-

Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

Name/Title

Byrne, Jim: Transcribed interview

Entry/Object ID

2021.08.27

Scope and Content

TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW - audio on cassette, no video Interviewer: Barbara White Interview Date: August 8, 1989 Jim started working at the Rosamond mill at fourteen years old and also mentioned that he may have been ten years old. His father also worked at the mill. There were seven to nine mills operating at the time and he talked about the population of workers in them. Mills would often hire underage workers on a part-time basis and Jim relayed a story of when inspectors would come into the factory the children would be hidden. The typical age people would be hired was between fourteen and sixteen years old. He gave a description of different rooms in the mill: design room, finishing room, picking room, carding room. Talked about wages, how the people working on the warping machine made extra money and explained what being a warper entailed. Jim enjoyed his work. He talked about the Depression and rations, how the mill during this time made upholstery for Ford vehicles and made uniforms during World War Two during a wartime boom. He talked about the oil on the floors from the machines and raw material, practical jokes that were played, and community life. No video recording available, recorded on cassette. Interviewer: Barb White Conducted August 8, 1989

Collection

Mill Workers Memory Project

Cataloged By

Natalia Pochtaruk

Lexicon

Search Terms

Rosamond mill, underage workers, design room, finishing room, picking room, carding room, wages, warping machine, warper, The Depression, rations, uniforms, Second World War, World War 2, wartime boom, pranks, community life, 1989, barb white, child labour, depression, Ford, cars, upholstry, automotive textile, navy, Royal Canadian Navy, military textile, military uniforms, war, wwii, second world war, wartime, khaki, Bob Morris Cap Company, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1938, sports, bowling, dancing, carleton place, Carleton Electric, canoe club, music, mens fashion, Ireland

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Byrne, Jim: Transcribed interview

Archive Details

Creator

MVTM

Location

Location

Building

Library

Category

Permanent

Date

November 7, 2023

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Byrne, Jim

Person or Organization

White, Barb

Person or Organization

Scott, Harvey

Person or Organization

Jordan, Ernie

Person or Organization

Brown, Henry

Person or Organization

Edmonds, Bobby

Person or Organization

O`Donohue, Jimmy

Person or Organization

Rosamond, Archie

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

August 5, 2021

Updated By

Unknown

Update Date

February 10, 2023