Interview Transcript
You said you lived in Haydenville for 71 years
71 years.
What's your
fondest memory of living in Haydenville?
I don’t know. I went to school down here.
Did you go to
school at the school house?
Down here at the school house right next to the church. It was a nice place a lot of kids
probably about 20 –25 in each room in 8 grades.
In high school you
went to Logan?
No uh Carbon Hill. People had a choice back then you could go to Carbon Hill or Union
Furnace or Logan so I went to Carbon Hill.
The teachers
there, did the company employ them?
The company I think . The helped built the school and church both, the company did.
What do you think
about the deterioration of the school house now?
That’s a shame you know that is a shame. It was built back in, I think 1928, and just
falling down, its just a shame. It should be tore down now . It has to be tore down.
Have you been in there
lately?
Walked by, I look in, you can’t see, fallen in. The roof's bad, I don’t imagine
you could fix it up. You might but I kind of doubt it.
You’ve seen
the vandalism in there? So what was it like living in a company town?
Everyone that lived in a company town, you worked at the plant. It was nice, rent was
cheap.
Did you know
everyone in the town?
Everyone in the town, you never had to lock no doors or nothing because everyone worked
down there you know .
So you worked at
the company? Can you tell me what you did there?
I ah pushed what you’d call a truck. I would go up the pug mill we would run up big
conduits and load them on a push truck on 4 wheels and I would push them back to a drier
and unload them and get another load all day long.
What other things
did you have to do there?
Well that’s my job pushing the truck, then you had guys that reamed them on conduits
they would have guys set them off. My job was to load them onto the dryer and go back and
get another load, 4 wheels.
How were the
working conditions?
Ah you worked hard but, you see, it was a good place to work. You worked hard.
How was health
care/ benefits?
No you never had them. In the late 40’s and 50’s you never had much of that.
When did you
retire out of the company?
I retired about 8 years ago I worked down at Diamond When this place went down I went down
to Diamond and worked.
Do you know where
all the bricks were shipped?
Ah the conduits went to ah mostly Pennsylvania. Western Electric bought them and they put
their power lines in them under the ground.
Could you describe
a typical day at work ?
Well I don’t know You worked hard. You started at 7 and you got a ten minute break at
9 o’clock and you worked till 11:30 and you had a 45 minute lunch, you went back you
worked till 2 you had a little break and then you worked till 4. So you know you worked
back then you had to work you know the unions was just starting and you had to work or you
never had a job.
Were the unions
involved with this company and NATCO?
Unions, well they formed a union down here
You were involved
in that?
Oh yeah unions we belonged to the union if you worked there you belonged to the union.
What was the
atmosphere? How were the foremen and the managers?
They was good foremen and they treated the men right.
Who was in charge?
Mr. Matheny was superintendent of the plant. He was kind of like mayor. If you got in
trouble or fights they would call him instead of the sheriff. They would call him cause
everyone lived in this town ah worked down in there, they lived in the company house about
all of them. If you never did your job right he could fix you, get you out. He was the
mayor, and the cop, and everything. He straightened things out he was in charge of the
plant, superintendent of the plant.
Was he fair?
Yeah, he was fair, he was a fair man.
Did he know every
one?
Ah, oh yeah, he knew just about everyone that worked in the plant about three hundred and
fifty people worked in there and just about everyone.
How were the
relationships between the employees at work and at social situations?
Good.
Was there anyone
at the company that didn’t live in the town?
Oh yes some lived in Nelsonville, some lived in Logan, but most people lived here in the
company houses they worked down there.
What was everyday
life like outside of the company say on the weekends or what did you do for entertainment
purposes?
Sat there on the front porch and watched the traffic go by and played with our kids
yah we had no cars you know we worked, come home and watched the kids.
Tell me about
the company store did you shop there a lot ?
We shopped some, we shopped there some they sold a lot of food down there.
Were the prices
fair?
I think it was fair you know we had credit, after you worked there you had credit
Why did the plant
close?
They started making cement conduits and plastic and that’s put us out of business
you see they make the cement cheaper in the conduit and the plastic conduit it was a lot
cheaper then making it out of clay
Were there any attempts
to keep it going ?
Ah they tried but its old, obsolete, it was there for years, a hundred years, you know. It
was getting obsolete and you know everything is old .
How did the
closing affect you and your family?
I went down to Diamond brickyard and went to work.
Did a lot of
people do that? Move out to the other companies around the area?
Yeah ah some went to Carbon and they went everywhere ah working, GE.
Do you feel that
the deterioration of Haydenville has caused because the plant closed down?
After the plant closed down that’s when it started going downhill. They sold these
houses A guy came down and bought them, Machetti.
So how have things in
Haydenville changed over the years I guess? Is the town less unified or are there
different kinds of relationships with people?
For me it would be because a lot of the folks that were here when we started out are no
longer around you know. We old timers left and the company kept these houses up in good
shape. They kept their windows fixed, they kept their roofs fixed, they would haul their
garbage and you know a lot of people don’t take care of their property now and a lot
of people does.
What do you think
keeps the town going today?
The church I would imagine.
Do you belong to
that church?
I don’t. She [his wife, Jean] does. I go to church but she belongs to the church.
Have you ever
wanted to move away?
I have thought about it, I would like to go to Logan.
What makes you
stay then?
I don’t know just the little things since I have been here so long, what 71 years.
What kind of
future do you want and or see for the town ?
I don’t know. What do you think Jean? I would like to see it fixed up and people
taking care of their property better. It would be nice to see a plant move in or
something.
What would you
like to see restored?
I don’t know. The depot should be fixed up. You know the depot down in there? I
don’t think you can fix the school up.
Do you think there
is a problem in the generation gap?
I don’t think there is a problem in the generation gap, I think it is the people that
move in. It doesn’t make a difference where they live, its gonna be the same thing,
you know, so I don’t think its generational I think it is just neglect and no concern
really. When that plant run you knowed everyone you never had to lock your door you just
went about your way and left your house unlocked no one ever bothered nothing you worked
together it was like a big family that was what it was.
The whole town
was like a big family?
And we just worked and everyone knew each other and nobody would do anything to harm you
or steal off them or nothing. Its not like that anymore. I don’t know half of these
people in Haydenville and I have lived here all my life you know. People over here I know
and some of them I know but most of the people I know moved in, moved out.
Did you just work
for NATCO?
NATCO was here NATCO owned the plant and owned the town
What about your
parents?
My dad he worked down here. He moved down here in I think 1928. He worked down here then
when the six of us boys got old enough to work we all worked down there so you know this
is a family.
When NATCO was
here was everything nice?
When NATCO had it, it was nice, wasn’t Jean? But soon they sold the homes. The plant
went down, they tore the plant down and then they sold these houses that’s when it
started going downhill.
What were the
company houses like?
They weren’t bad homes they was nice places.
Did you have
electricity when you first started working here?
When I first started working here we did, but as of 39. We first got electric when I was a
kid 39.
You’ve seen
this town go through a lot of changes. If you could describe Haydenville in one word
what would it be?
I don’t know. It's home for us when you’ve lived here all your life its
still home if we are old or older its home …you went to school down for 8 grades but
I went 9 cause I had to teach the other kids one year everyone worked in Haydenville its
just a nice place to live. We had an ice cream parlor. We had a couple of gas stations.
Well you know it’s a nice place.
Everything you needed
was right here right?
You could go to the company store and buy anything you wanted you could buy a washing
machine you could buy clothes you worked there, you had credit you know they would put you
on the bill and take out so much a week You know, you could get anything you wanted
basically get yourself some ice cream, some gas for your car had a beer joint right up
here, had everything for a little town.
Was there a bar?
Yes there used to be a bar.
Can you describe
it?
It was a rough place on Saturday nights, fights broke out that’s when 33 went through
here. A lot of cars would be lined up along the road there and they're drinking and
about midnight start fighting you know. This was a wicked place, had a big juke box a
goin' full blast and we used to get off the bus. We would go to a show when we were 16 because
we was gonna get a can of pop or a bottle of pop and we would go to the front door and
they had been there throwing beer bottles so we went out the back door and home. They
would throw beer bottles, buddy, they had been in there fighting and throwing beer
bottles, we would get out of there.
Was there chicken
wire?
No had a great big coal stove in the middle that they heated the place with... God
I’m telling you.
Was that owned by
the company?
No, the company never owned that, but that had a juke box full blast you could hear it a
long ways, people screaming, women hollering on Friday and Saturday nights it was
kind of a wicked place. I know we got off of that 12 o’clock bus we had been up town
and we go out get us a bottle of pop before we go home We wouldn’t get none we would
go in and them beer bottles started flying we went out the back door and go home we
was just kids you know you would get killed in there.
Talk about things
from the past that are not here today.
We was just young boys 15/16 we used to catch this train to go to Logan, passenger train
about six o’clock and you could ride that up for 17 cents and you could ride that
public bus over there for 20 cents. If you rode the train you could save three pennies,
that was a lot of money, three pennies, when you was only making 60 cents an hour. That
was a lot of money. We would ride to Logan and then we would have to walk about 2 miles
down to the show. If we would of took the bus we would have been left off right in front
of the show but we would walk to the show and save you about three pennies and three
pennies was a lot of money back then ……You know you could buy a bottle of pop
for a nickel back then you know you save three pennies you save three pennies but now
people throw three pennies down, they don’t pay no attention to three pennies but I
started down there at 60 cents an hour.
How old when you
started ?
16 years old. I weighed about a120 pounds and them conduits weighed 200 pounds. We would
put six on a truck and we had to push them well, you know, on four wheels. We had to push
them back to the dryer from here over to that highway they would have two guys unload them
and two guys ream them. You would go back and get you another load with six or seven of us
pushing those trucks all day long, all day run with them had two to make any money a lot
of places make 8 dollars you know in 8 hours so if it was 4 something you made a little
piece work.
And you pushed
from 16 until you retired?
No, no. They went down and uh in 59 and then I went to down at Diamond and worked. And I
got fired down there and I got in trouble. Then I went down to the oil fields and then
back down to Diamond and worked and went down to the shoe factory and worked 9 months then
I retired.
You worked at
Rocky?
Yah I worked there for 9 months, NATCO owned it at one time and they sold it to General
Clay.
Did you say that
NATCO owned that plant in Diamond?
Oh they did in 54, they build that down in Diamond
Did people from
Haydenville work there too?
Yes about 8 or 9 of us went down there its only about 2 miles down there to Diamond. I
would come home for dinner I have 45 minutes I think it is 2 and a half miles I would have
dinner and drive back.
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