Labor Day has come to mean two different things in our country, a day to honor the working man and the last three-day weekend of summer. Both are great reasons to celebrate!
Coming from a family of hard workers, I appreciate the day in their honor. Our country was built by these people! My grandfather toiled each day on the railroad, and my father spent over thirty years building automobiles. I’m grateful to have been taught their strong work ethic and to have learned the satisfaction that a hard days work brings.
Labor Day is the last real chance for a summer getaway or get-together. Don’t miss the chance to take the family on a mini vacation to the lake or beach, or an opportunity to have another barbeque or big summer bash. The weather will change soon, the kids will go back to school and the transition into another season begins yet again.
Jennifer Thompson, Column Editor
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Comments from our Readers
Trolley photo
I have some information for you about one of your photos on your web site. The photo is titled Old Trolley1910s or 1920s PA. My ex-father-in-law is an authority on trolleys. His name is Clarence L. Groff, age 97, from Palmyra, PA. I showed him the picture of the trolley and he immediately identified it as one of the Hershey Transit Co. trolleys. The trolley on the photo is either #1,2,3 or 6. The roofs on those trolleys have a smaller higher roof with small windows on each side of the roof. The other Hershey trolleys have a rounded roof.
Trolley # 2 was used as a funeral car for a short time. The first four windows on each side of the car were covered and the casket was placed in the front part of the trolley. The family and other mourners sat on the seats in the rear part of the car. It was soon found that this use was not practical since most of the burial places were too far from the trolley line and the funeral car use was discontinued.
The trolley company was established by Milton S. Hershey at the same time he was building the chocolate factory in Hershey. The trolleys were purchased by Mr. Hershey in 1905, and were used to transport factory workers from surrounding communities. The main line ran from Hershey to Lebanon, and from Hershey to Hummelstown. Another line ran from Hershey to Elizabethtown, but it was discontinued after some years. The trolleys ran until December 22, 1946 when they were replaced by buses.
In 1946, I rode the last trolley from Hershey west to Hummelstown and have pictures of the trolley in Hummelstown before it return to Hershey for the last time. The old car barn is still standing in Hershey.
Joe Long
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Changing Times
Where I grew up in Dubois County, Indiana, we did not have electricity until after WWII, so we didn’t even have fans in our house to keep us cool in the summer time. In the evening we would go out and sit on the porch, and it was nice and cool out there. Going to town was different, too. When I was young, we would only go to town one time each month. While we were in town, we might get a large ice cream cone for a nickel, or one candy bar or a bottle of pop, but money was tight so you could not get four or five candy bars at a time or several bottles of pop each day like the kids do now. There were also times that we would make ice cream at home. You could take your vanilla, ice and what ever else you wanted to use and put it into a bucket. Then by twisting the bucket from side to side for about half an hour, you would have ice cream. It was not as hard as the ice cream is that you get today, but it was still good to eat. What we didn’t eat, we would throw away, because we didn’t have any way to store it.
Charlie Hobbs
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100 years ago - September 1903
September 6 - Sherlock Holmes Adventure of Creeping Man begins.
September 7 - The Federation of American Motorcyclists organized in New York.
September 13 - Birthday of Claudette Colbert [Lily Chauchin], Paris, actress (Texas Lady)
September 14 - New York Giant Red Ames throws a no hitter vs. the Cardinals; game reduced to five innings.
September 15 - Birthday of Roy Acuff, Maynardville, TN, of TVs Hee Haw.
September 21 - The first cowboy film, Kit Carson, premiers in the United States.
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75 years ago - September 1928
September 4 - Birthday of Dick York, Fort Wayne, Indiana, actor (Darrin - Bewitched, Inherit the Wind.)
September 11 - Birthday of Earl Holliman, Delhi, Louisana, actor (Policewoman, Tribes, Cry Panic)
September 14 - Birthday of Albert Shanker, American Labor leader (American Federation of Teachers)
September 15 - Kalmar & Rubys musical Good Boy premieres in NYC
September 17 - Birthday of Roddy McDowall, London, England, actor (Planet of the Apes, Lord Love a Duck)
September 18 - Birthday of Phyllis Kirk, Syracuse, New York, actress (Thin Man, Red Buttons Show)
September 20 - Birthday of Joyce Brothers, New York City, New York, pop psychiatrist ($64,000 Question Winner)
September 30 - Birthday of Elie Wiesel, author (Souls on Fire) Nazi Hunter, Nobel Prize 1986.
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50 years ago - September 1953
September 4 - Birthday of Lawrence Hilton Jacobs, New York City, New York, actor (Freddie - Welcome Back Kotter)
September 10 - Birthday of Amy Irving, Palo Alto, California, actress (Yentl, Carrie, Crossing Delancy)
Swanson sells its first TV dinner
September 12 - Senator John F Kennedy, 36, marries Jacqueline Bouvier, 24
September 13 - Birthday of Tayrn Power, Los Angeles, California, daughter of Tyrone Power.
September 14 - Comedians Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara marries.
September 16 - Birthday of Jerry Pate, Macon, GA. PGA Golfer, won US Open in 1976 and also the Canadian Open, 1986.
American League approves St. Louis Browns move to become Baltimore Orioles.
September 17 - The first successful separation of Siamese twins.
Ernie Banks becomes Chicago Cubs first black player.
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The History of Labor Day
The Movement That Created More Than Just a Holiday
Peter McGuire was already working at age eleven, selling newspapers on the streets of New York City, shining shoes, cleaning stores and running errands. It was his job to help support his mother and six brothers and sisters when his father went away to fight in the Civil War in 1863.
Peter’s parents were among several immigrants who had settled in New York, and among the majority finding the dream to not be what they had imagined. Living and working conditions were poor; families crowded into single-family dwellings and everyone worked long hours for low wages, including the children. It was difficult to complain about the work when so many were eager to take jobs that others may lose.
In his late teens, Peter began classes in the evenings in economics and social issues. Labor conditions were a concern among those attending these meetings. Finally, after enough talk of these issues and support among the masses, 100,000 workers, including McGuire, went on strike and marched the streets, demanding a shorter workday.
Deeply moved by the organization, Peter realized the importance of workers rights and spent the next year speaking to workers and unemployed people, and lobbying to city governments on their behalf. He strived for jobs and relief money to be provided to the workers, while he himself was out of a job.
He traveled, speaking to workers of the idea of unionizing. Peter moved to St. Louis in 1881, in an effort to form a carpenter’s union. At a convention in Chicago, he succeeded in forming a national union of carpenters. He took the position of General Secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Soon the concept of unions spread, and workers of several trades began to organize, demanding a shorter workday and security in their jobs.
Peter McGuire planned a holiday for workers the first Monday of each September. On September 5, 1882 the first Labor Day parade was held in New York City, followed by picnics and fireworks around the city. As it turns out, we have this man to thank not only for an extra day off work, but also for his bravery in enforcing an idea of organization of workers to strengthen the fight for fair working conditions and job security. After all, these are the types of people who deserve credit for the growth and prosperity of our country, and the opportunities available to every American.
There is some dispute as to who actually founded Labor Day. Some insist that credit is due to a man by the name of Matthew Maguire, a machinist, and the Secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey, who was said to have proposed a working man’s holiday in 1882 during his service as Secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.
By Jennifer Thompson,
Column Editor and Contributing Writer.
U S Legacies Magazine September 2003
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