Interview with Andrew Goida

Interview with Andrew Goida

Goida, Andrew ; Politylo, Nettie

Goida, Andrew -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Binghamton (N.Y.); Cigar industry; Depressions -- 1929; Endicott Johnson Corporation -- Employees -- Interviews; Ansco Company;
Endicott Johnson Corporation -- Housing Program

Andrew Goida talks about working in a cigar factory in Binghamton, NY. He mentions that his brother and mother both worked there and details his specific job as a leaf-wetter at the cigar factory, which was in the building later owned by Ansco Company. He discusses the Great Depression and how it affected his ability to work and job availability around Binghamton. He found work at the Endicott Johnson Shoe Company. He also discusses his children's employment.

1978-01-02

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Recording 28

2016-03-27

Broome County Oral History Project

46:03 Minutes

Broome County Oral History Project

Interview with: Andrew Goida

Interviewed by: Nettie Politylo

Date of interview: 2 January 1978

Nettie: This is Nettie Politylo, interviewer, talking to Andrew Goida at 713 Dickson St., Endicott, NY, on January 2, 1978. I understand you worked in a cigar factory here in Binghamton some years ago. We are especially interested in this industry because we don't know much about it. Why don't we start with the time you started work there? Just tell me how you got the job, what you did, what other people did to prepare the tobacco and make the cigars and just everything you remember about the operation of the factory. Andy, do you want to start talking?

Andy: Well, I'll give the—when I got started—about in 1927, and what, we went, I got a job—what the stop—the tobacco—then we used to lay it out to dry—a little bit—we didn't wet it too much—just lay it out to dry a little bit—then we—it was our job to give it to the women on the machine so they would roll the cigars—so they would have to stretch it in the drum—the leaf—and they used to use the other—the ones we didn't wet the tobacco to the inside—break that and roll that one leaf on a drum and just roll—wrap the cigar up and then would cut them so long. And there were lots of women—young and old, different kind were working.

Nettie: What was exactly your job?

Andy: My job was supposed to wet the tobacco—in our room where I worked—there were 3 vats of water and we used to dip them in the water a little bit and shake them around so the tobacco would get nice and soft—it wouldn't crack up or anything like that. And they were making White Owl cigars and what other cigars, I don’t know—and that was the name of the factory on Emma Street there.

Nettie: What was the name of the factory?

Andy: White Owl.

Nettie: No, what was the name of the factory?

Andy: Well, it was on Emma Street and that was the name of the factory at that time—what they called it was the White Owl factory, as far as I know.

Nettie: They did? About what year did you go to work?

Andy: About 1927. I worked for two years there.

Nettie: How old were you when you started working?

Andy: Fourteen years. Then the boss, I don't know what his name is, I had—he was an old fellow, he come from the South with the company when they come up, and bought the factory or rented it or something to make the cigars.

Nettie: Now this tobacco came from the South?

Andy: Yup.

Nettie: Do you have any idea where it came from?

Andy: No. It came from there, someplace.

Nettie: Now, when it came here, do you know how it came? Was it transported by truck or rail?

Andy: Railroad. Yes. That boss of mine, he was an old guy when I come there, he must’ve been in his 60s then, but he, I guess must’ve been with the company all his life, pretty near.

Nettie: When this tobacco came in they had to store it someplace—

Andy: Oh yeah, they had the big upstairs, second floor was filled with tobacco, all over the place there.

Nettie: How did they store it, in bins?

Andy: In bins, yeah, yeah. They had a lot of workers up there—unloading the thing and stocking them up there—

Nettie: How was it up there? Windows closed?

Andy: Yeah, you just had to have so much air in there—it couldn't be too dry—had to be a little damp, was dusty as heck, you know—that's how they had to keep it, damp so that the tobacco would not dry up and crumble, them leaves, you know. So, leaves, they had them like in the bins, where they were hanging them up, you probably seen them on television now, when a walks—to a cigar factory where they have tobacco hanging up—and he walks and gets a leaf and spreads it out, he will taste or test it out or he'll put a cigar under it to light the tobacco, and he smells it to see if it is the right smell, so that's what they used to do there.

Nettie: So, before the tobacco was distributed to the different people, they first had to be dipped in the water which was in the vats?

Andy: Yeah, everybody had their job to do. You wouldn't put all of it.

Nettie: No, but do you have any idea of the other jobs?

Andy: No, not too much, because you were not allowed to go all over the factory, at that time—they were pretty strict, you know, they tried to keep all in one room where you were working, you know.

Nettie: Is this all you did, was dip this tobacco in the water?

Andy: Yes—well, we had that job and we had to sort it—them out to the women.

Nettie: How did you sort it out?

Andy: Well, so many bunches to each one, you know, so we made sure they had enough to work with for eight hours.

Nettie: When you sorted it out to the women, what kind of a job did they have?

Andy: Their job was just to roll the cigars, you know. They were rollers—they were rollers—just to roll the cigars.

Nettie: How was the procedure to roll the cigar?

Andy: Well, they had a drum, I don’t know, it was about 10 inches long or wide, you know—and they just put that leaf on that roller—and made sure it was spread out so when it goes in there it is flattened out so that it cut the leaf right in half—the knife was in the middle so they, so that one half a leaf rolled the cigar up and the other half of the leaf would roll the other cigar up, then slice it up, push it on the side. Then it was—

Nettie: Was this work done by hand?

Andy: No, it was done by machine—they roll the cigars by machine—and then they had somebody else come and go around where the women were working by their machine and picking up all them cigars and taking them along to the packing room, so they could pack them up. That's the only thing I know of.

Nettie: How were you paid? How were your wages?

Andy: Oh, we were paid in cash at that time, but the wages were, at that time, were 25 or 30¢ an hour—so we were not making too much, nobody was making that much money in them days, anyway.

Nettie: That's true.

Andy: And it was paid in envelopes, in cash.

Nettie: You were paid by so many pieces or so many bundles?

Andy: No, we were paid by the hour, hourly wages—25¢ or 30¢ an hour, something like that—probably 10-11 dollars a week for 8 hours a day.

Nettie: Where you had worked—were there only men? Did they have ladies working there?

Andy: No, in our room there were just men. In our room there were 4 men—3 besides me in that room where we were working. In this room—in this other room—you had to bring in the tobacco for the ladies to work on. Yes, in the other room there was about 100 women, some men on jobs.

Nettie: Were they foreign women?

Andy: Well, lot of them couldn’t talk by they done their work anyway. And there was some young ones too, so—

Nettie: These ladies, were they mostly from Triple Cities?

Andy: Yes, from Triple Cities: Binghamton, Johnson City and Endicott.

Nettie: Probably most of them were foreign people.

Andy: Yes, most of them, they were, they couldn't talk too good English.

Nettie: How did they talk to the boss?

Andy: Well, some of the women—they interpreted.

Nettie: Now, some of the jobs were called rollers, bunchers—

Andy: In that room where they were working, that's what they called those ladies—rollers. Then they ended up as being inspectors. Yes, they had inspectors, too. Not the women on machines—they had a couple of inspectors—I think the girl that was my brother's secretary—she was secretary and inspector there too, you know. So—

Nettie: Your brother was a foreman, there?

Andy: Yes, he was an assistant. Yes.

Nettie: What was his job?

Andy: Well, he had to see that the women had their work—we put out the tobacco in good shape where they can roll the cigar, because if it were too dry you couldn't roll the cigar right—had to have a certain moisture.

Nettie: You did say your mother worked here. What did she do?

Andy: Oh, she was a roller there.

Nettie: This machine started the cigar, then they sliced the stem of tobacco?

Andy: Yeah, on the roller in the middle there is a knife and that stem, that tobacco was just, goes in between that knife and slices it off—cut right off—the stem, the middle.

Nettie: After it was sliced, you started the procedure of the cigar?

Andy: Yeah.

Nettie: Did you have any strikes in your time?

Andy: No—no strikes at that time.

Nettie: How were they to work for at that time?

Andy: The company were all right to work for—they treated everybody good—as far, as long as I worked there. I know I was treated all right—a job at that time was a job, and you had to have a job. You had work—so that—

Nettie: How were the conditions? Did you have coffee breaks?

Andy: Oh no, at that time, no coffee breaks at that time—no, no you got there in the morning and worked until dinnertime, then went back to work.

Nettie: Did you have to dress any specific way?

Andy: No, no.

Nettie: I understand the ladies had to wear certain aprons.

Andy: Aprons, yeah. I'll tell you in that wet room we had to wear rubber aprons and boots—rubber aprons and boots, because we were always in that water.

Nettie: How about overtime? Was there work for overtime?

Andy: Well I know some of them did, but I never did—just 8 hours—no overtime.

Nettie: How many floors did they have?

Andy: Just three floors—just like it is now, Ansco.

Nettie: You worked on the first floor?

Andy: I worked on the first floor—that's where the tobacco came in, and that's—the second floor—that's where they stored all the tobacco—that's where they hung all the tobacco up there where they got from the boxcars—and what they had on the top floor, I don't know. Maybe another part of the factory, I never saw it.

Nettie: Therefore, most people were working on the first floor.

Andy: No, they had a lot of people on the second floor too, like putting on that tobacco—when we needed tobacco—they would send it down to us.

Nettie: How did they hang this tobacco?

Andy: Well the tobacco comes in bunches, 3-4-5 pieces together, and separate it and hang it on the wire—hand it down so it would stay—it would stay that way.

Nettie: After you dipped it?

Andy: Yes—so—

Nettie: How long did this tobacco have to dry before you can use it?

Andy: Oh, not too long—not too long after we dipped it—maybe because we didn't put too much water on it—just barely touched the water and get it up quickly—

Nettie: Just dipped it into water or spray it?

Andy: Dipped it—yes, on the bottom, and tipped it over in a hurry so just a little bit of water was on it, rolled down because if you had too much water on tobacco it would turn tobacco black.

Nettie: Is that right?

Andy: Too much water on it—then we would leave it there, shake it off good so all the moisture would be off—then we would hand it up on the wire until the women were ready for it. Too much water, it—the thing would turn it black right away. That means—they're no good—well—not good—but they would have to wait 6-8 hours before they dried up good before they can be used—you have to be very careful with the tobacco.

Nettie: Imagine—because it is so thin—

Andy: Yes, because it is so thin and fine—that's—

Nettie: Supposing that the ladies worked on the cigar and they found a defect—what would they do about it?

Andy: Oh, if there was a leaf with a rip on it or something, they would throw it out—yeah—put it on the side—

Nettie: What would they do? Make a cheaper cigar?

Andy: They would probably have it dry out and use it for the inside, because the outside has to be nice and smooth—have a perfect leaf—but the inside, you can put any kind of leaf.

Nettie: Who would know?

Andy: That's right—you would crumble it.

Nettie: When you do see a cigar, you do see a hole through the center. How is that—is that the way it was rolled?

Andy: I don't know—that the way it is rolled—hole is not—

Nettie: There is a man who works with me, and I noticed the hole in his cigars—

Andy: I don't know. I never seen them roll it, but I don't know how that hole gets there—I think it is the inside tobacco—how it rolls there—you fold that tobacco leaf and you get that hole there.

Nettie: Did they use a mold? Machine—

Andy: Well, they didn't use a mold at that time. There was no mold—just a thing you just rolled around the thing, you laid your tobacco on it here—like a ridge—yes, like a ridge—little ridge—your tobacco went under that and kept rolling around.

Nettie: Was it a machine that was rolling it?

Andy: Yes, that's the machine what kept it tight, leaf on top.

Nettie: I was told when there was a reject in a cigar—you had to put a piece on the cigar—paste a piece on a cigar—

Andy: I don’t know, I never done that.

Nettie: Must be you never got to end of the line.

Andy: See, we were only in our room most of the time. What they were doing, patching it up—I don't know how they done it.

Nettie: You just know the first part of it?

Andy: We were just starting it off—getting it ready for the—like I said, we were not allowed to run around the factory, just had to stay in our own department.

Nettie: Did you know of any other factories around? I understand they had several cigar factories around Binghamton.

Andy: I don’t know. I didn't pay too much attention—I don’t know if they had any other factories around or not.

Nettie: Did you have to commute to work? Did you live in Endicott?

Andy: Oh yes. Streetcar—streetcars—going all the way up.

Nettie: How much did they charge for a fare?

Andy: I forgot. It wasn’t much—it wasn't much. The streetcar took you to Emma Street, then catch it on Emma Street to Endicott.

Nettie: When did you start working?

Andy: Seven o’clock.

Nettie: And you worked ’til when?

Andy: Four o'clock—yeah.

Nettie: Did you bring your own lunch?

Andy: Yeah, brought your own lunch. They had no cafeteria then at that time.

Nettie: You cannot recall any other kind of cigar beside White Owl and William Penn that were made?

Andy: I don't know what kind of cigars were made. I guess they made a lot of different kinds, put different names on them.

Nettie: Was one better than the other?

Andy: No.

Nettie: Was your boss a nice man to work for?

Andy: Oh yeah, he was a nice man.

Nettie: Did he look over your shoulder when you were working?

Andy: No, no. Any time you wanted to ask him a question, he always told you what to do and everything. He was older—he was about 60 years old at that time—he was with the company—he always, tobacco—always got a tobacco leaf, put it in his mouth and chewed it. Heck of a nice fellow. I guess he came up here when they moved up here.

Nettie: He was a good advertiser, right? I heard from several people that they were very good to their workers.

Andy: They were, they were.

Nettie: The workers did not seem to complain about bosses as they do now.

Andy: They were—especially our boss—never bawled you out for anything, even if you done wrong—like once in a while you put too much water on it, he would come over and tell us to forget about it. Next time, watch what you are doing—take it—put it over here and let it dry out.

Nettie: That was nice—no pressure, really—

Andy: No, really there was no pressure—was nice working for them. Of course, that time anyway, you had to work someplace. There wasn't much work anyway.

Nettie: You had to work—wasn't there other places you could work beside the cigar factory?

Andy: Well, yes—

Nettie: What was the reason people went to work for the cigar factory? Was it better paying?

Andy: No, you couldn't get a job nowhere else. You had to look wherever you could get a job.

Nettie: Jobs were that scarce.

Andy: Jobs were that scarce, yeah. So after I worked there a couple of years I started to go looking around for another job—well the Depression came after that, so that there was no job for nobody.

Nettie: How was it during the Depression?

Andy: Terrible.

Nettie: Let's talk about it.

Andy: I was walking the streets for days, froze my ears looking for jobs, went to IBM—hundred time a week—thrown out of IBM—

Nettie: Really?

Andy: Oh yeah, locked the door, wouldn’t let me come in no more.

Nettie: What reason? No work? Is that it?

Andy: No work. Then I go to EJ’s—I was back and forth to IBM—that was that time it was the International, small factory up there that was just making cards on McKinley Ave. What the heck did they call it then—

Nettie: Was it Time recorder?

Andy: They made time clocks and cards, punch cards, there.

Nettie: They were manufacturing clocks?

Andy: At that time, I was back and forth—EJ and IBM—trying to find jobs, then I went to Collingwood’s and found a job there.

Nettie: Endicott Johnson?

Andy: That was different—that was a part of George F. [Johnson]'s brother-in-law, running Collingwood's.

Nettie: What were they doing there?

Andy: Shoes, they were making shoes for Endicott Johnson.

Nettie: I thought they were doing something else down there?

Andy: No, they made shoes all the time—then George F. wanted his brother-in-law to sell it to him. The brother-in-law said, “No, I can make a go of it.” You know, George F. used to come down there 2 or 3 times a week.

Nettie: Was he friendly with the workers?

Andy: Oh yes, I put in 19 years there and 28 years more in EJ.

Nettie: Where did you work in EJ?

Andy: All over—West Endicott, Johnson City, and Binghamton.

Nettie: What was your first job at EJ? Collingwood?

Andy: Wetting outsoles, to soften them.

Nettie: How did you do that?

Andy: Put them in the water, let them soak for 15 or 20 minutes, and then take them out and put them on the rack.

Nettie: And then they were distributed to the workers?

Andy: Right.

Nettie: What were your other jobs? Explain the procedures.

Andy: From wetting soles I went in the mauler—hang up uppers—that's the leather—for a while—from there to tacking insoles.

Nettie: How did you tack insoles?

Andy: They put them on a wooden shoe—insole on top of a wooden shoe, and tack it with tacks on—a machine put leather over that, and that is how they made a shoe. After that I went to toe lasting—then I was toe lasting ever since until I retired.

Nettie: Was this at Collingwood?

Andy: No—part in Collingwood, part in EJ—for 28 years lasted toes for plastic shoes for EJ.

Nettie: Was that at Fine Welt?

Andy: No, I was up to Binghamton, up—hecks, Christ, they took that bridge and they put that road in there now, up on Susquehanna Street—had a shoe store—

Nettie: BB Factory?

Andy: Yes. From there I come to Pioneer Factory in Johnson City and then they started to close them up, and I went to Endicott there to Johnson Welt, then from there I come down to Fairplay Factory, now Alpine, now, where I retired.

Nettie: What did you do, the same thing, bed lasting?

Andy: Yes, bed lasting.

Nettie: Explain the procedure of bed lasting.

Andy: Well, they put the shoe—well now, you put the shoe in the machine and the machine does all the work.

Nettie: Is that right? How was it done before?

Andy: Before, you had to put the shoe in upside down, pull your wipers in and get that leather nice and smooth around and put the wire around it—to hold the leather over the shoe until the toe trimmer gets it—trims it off—guy sews the welt on—welt is sewed right around the shoe.

Nettie: Uppers next?

Andy: No, uppers are already on. The welt is sewed on, then it goes up to other guys to put sole on the sole—another job, sew leather onto sole to welt, and that's how your shoe is made.

Nettie: You really had quite a few jobs.

Andy: Oh yeah, I had quite a few shoe jobs.

Nettie: I'm sure you would be a good representative for Endicott Johnson.

Andy: Oh yeah, I went all over—done everything in a shoe factory. I could start a shoe and finish it right off—right on through.

Nettie: Certainly, because you have had the experience of working in EJ and Collingwood for 47 years. Do you have any recollections of the shoe and cigar industries?

Andy: Well, that's about it—what I went through my lifetime working in the cigar factory and shoe industry.

Nettie: Going back to the cigar factory—did they not make cigarettes, pipe tobacco? Maybe in another factory?

Andy: Yeah, I think they had another factory down south.

Nettie: Was it a subsidiary of this factory?

Andy: Yeah, they probably made something else down there.

Nettie: Do you have any idea when the factory on Emma Street was closed?

Andy: Well, it closed about one year or two after I left.

Nettie: You started to work around 1927, and about Depression time it was closed—

Andy: Yeah, I think so, around the Depression time—sometimes—because there were no jobs to be had by nobody at that time. I would still have been working there if they had not closed.

Nettie: What do you remember during the Depression times?

Andy: Well, it was tough—nothing to be had.

Nettie: Maybe you can tell us something of your home life during Depression times.

Andy: Well, there wasn't much of a home life during Depression times. Everyone was looking for jobs and had to get along with what we had.

Nettie: Where did you live? Here or on a farm?

Andy: I lived on McKinley Ave. Endicott. In the factory, them guys that had jobs in EJ—why, half times they had work and half they didn't. They played pinochle or rummy or something just waiting for work to come around. Yeah, some of the guys make 5-6 dollars a week—$10 a week, depends on what kind of job you had. Nothing is going.

Nettie: Gosh, how did they survive if they had big families?

Andy: They got around, they made it somehow. I don’t know how they made it, somehow.

Nettie: How did you manage with a big family?

Andy: We had a big family, but there was some in the family who were working too. We didn't cook steaks, anything like that, but we had at home, like potatoes and buttermilk, like that haluski, she made her own bread, and everything like that. Of course you could’ve gone down to EJ—they had a restaurant—and buy a loaf of bread for 3¢. EJ gave shoes to the family that worked for EJ, for their kids. At one time, they gave fruit away. EJ gave lots of stuff away—anything they thought was good, why, they gave away.

Nettie: Your home here—is this an EJ home?

Andy: Yes.

Nettie: Did you buy this home through EJ?

Andy: Yeah, through EJ.

Nettie: Did you get a cheaper mortgage?

Andy: Yes. For this one here I paid $9,200.

Nettie: How did you finance it?

Andy: They took it out of my pay—$10 a week they were taking out of my pay for the house. We had to put a little down payment that I saved after I came home from service—then you put $1000 down—rest was $1 a week—then they raised it up to $15 a week after a few years, up until it was paid for.

Nettie: You didn't have to pay carrying charges.

Andy: No, that’s it. You didn't have to pay that interest.

Nettie: What else did EJ do? Did they have a credit union? Sort of deduction of wages for saving?

Andy: Not that I know of. All I know is mortgage on the house. EJ used to do a lot for this town. They had those Labor Day things at the park, carnival and things, and everything for people in Endicott, had banquets about every week. He was certainly very good to their workers, were good to the workers—yeah—that is why they couldn't get a union here—because EJ was too good to them. They tried about 100 times but couldn’t get in.

Nettie: I guess they had faith in Mr. George F.

Andy: Yes, up until Frank took over. He's the one who ruined the company—

Nettie: Frank was his son—

Andy: No, he was Charlie's son. So after that, the company was going downhill after Frank took over—that went all to pieces, then I guess he didn't have that compassion. He didn't care for the company in the first place. He was one of these guys—well, he had it made, so he didn't care. He wasn’t paying attention to the workers. Everybody was doing whatever they wanted to—right.

Nettie: The boss wasn't there to take care of the store.

Andy: He didn't know how to run it, anyway. He didn’t know nothing about the business—he didn't even try to learn about the business.

Nettie: I heard he started from the bottom to learn the business.

Andy: He started. He was in the factory, trying—he didn't care for it. He didn’t pay any attention to it—so.

Nettie: It was a shame because it is a nice business.

Andy: That's it. He got in the hole so much, they had to start selling factories to pay all the creditors.

Nettie: Andy, do you have any more recollections?

Andy: I'm trying to think. All I can say, I enjoyed all these years anyway—work was bad or work was not bad—I had good times.

Nettie: Where did your father work? Endicott Johnson?

Andy: No, he died in Pennsylvania during World War I. I was a kid—probably about a couple years old.

Nettie: Did he work in the mines?

Andy: Oh yeah, he had the flu—he died from the flu.

Nettie: Well, tell me about your family. Let's see, you had four children—

Andy: Yeah, two boys and two girls. Five grandchildren—they are all in good health as far as I know.

Nettie: Your son is working in IBM?

Andy: Yes, IBM—manager in IBM. And the other son, he is a boss in Berwick, PA—where they’re building that nuclear plant down there. That's a mammoth building.

Nettie: What is he, an engineer?

Andy: No, he was a plumber. He took up plumbing and air conditioning while in the service, in the Air Force. So he was a plumber for 2 or 3 years—finally he heard of this job down there, so he went down there four years ago and was hired because they needed plumbers down there, and he was doing a heck of a good job. His work was good, every time they inspected it he was A-1 all the time—this past year they made him a boss down there, ’cause he knew what was going on and knew his job good.

Nettie: This nuclear plant—a lot of people are against this nuclear plant being around here, aren't they?

Andy: They are—but will be for the future—that's what he says—that's one of the coming things. They are going to have them and they are going to build them.

Nettie: Is this something we should have, as many are against them in our area?

Andy: Yeah, they are talking about it—but he says that's the thing that is gonna be built. That one there, that he was working on for 3 years or 4 years, and he says they have 6-7 more years’ work on it. That's what he said.

Nettie: How big is a plant like that?

Andy: Oh—Christ—that's a mammoth thing. He brings pictures home once in a while to show it to me. The last one he brought home, the plant was only 1/3 built and he said there were some people down there on the grid and they were only that high (explanation was comparable as to 1 inch of a picture of a person) compared to that plant—just a big mammoth thing.

Nettie: Does it take up a large area?

Andy: Oh yeah, big area.

Nettie: What is this going to be for? Energy?

Andy: Yeah, that's what they are building it for, energy.

Nettie: In other words this is something we will be having—

Andy: Yeah, he says there is no danger of that thing blowing up or anything like that.

Nettie: How come they say there is?

Andy: Well, if they do something wrong or something, or don't hook it up right, something—then that way—but he says if you hook up everything right there's no danger to it. I think he ought to know, he works there. He knows what to do.

Nettie: It sounds interesting.

Andy: Oh, that kind of work is interesting.

Nettie: I think a lot of these boys who had gone into the service, picking up or learned a trade—when they got out of the service they got good jobs.

Andy: That's what my son did. He didn't want to go to college—well my other son, Andy, he didn’t want to go to college—he joined the service, Air Force too. He spent 3-4 years and then he came out. He didn’t take up anything, though he was in there, but he went to school. He came home, then he said, “Geez, I better go to college and learn something.” So he got a job and started going to night school. After that he went to IBM—he's good now—he’s a good manager of IBM. My other son, there, took plumbing and heating, like I said, in the service for 4 years, like that's what he done while he was there.

Nettie: Tey teach them a trade?

Andy: Oh yes, that’s what he did. They taught him a trade in there.

Nettie: What do your daughters do? Are they in school?

Andy: No, they're working for EJ, office work.

Nettie: And your wife works for GE?

Andy: GE.

Nettie: Are you retired?

Andy: I'm retired. Taking life easy—play golf every day in summertime, bowl in wintertime. I'm enjoying life now.

Nettie: Getting your exercises?

Andy: Right—enjoying life now—so that is the way it should be.

Nettie: Andy, it sounds like you had a full life—

Andy: I did, I did. I enjoyed every bit of it. I had some bad times, I had some good times. Mostly good times.

Nettie: Have to forget about the bad ones, right?

Andy: Forget about the bad ones. That's life—just think about the good times.

Nettie: Andy, anything else you want to tell me?

Andy: That's about it.

Nettie: Well, Andy, thanks a lot. I appreciate very much your giving me your time.

1978-01-02

Politylo, Nettie

Goida, Andrew

46:03 Minutes

2016-03-27

Broome County Oral History Project

Goida, Andrew -- Interviews; Broome County (N.Y.) -- History; Binghamton (N.Y.); Cigar industry; Depressions -- 1929; Endicott Johnson Corporation -- Employees -- Interviews; Ansco Company;
Endicott Johnson Corporation -- Housing Program

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