Waterbury History
During the 1960s and ‘70s, newspapers frequently leaned towards blaming striking workers for the closings of factories, although this has since been shown to be a false bias. Pictured above is Sid Monti getting arrested during a 1952 strike at Scovill. Photograph from Brass Valley, The Brass Workers History Project.
Story By Raechel Guest
On August 24, 1980, The New York Times summed up the post-World War II story of the brass industry as follows: “At its peak after World War II, the Connecticut brass manufacturing industry employed 25,000 workers to cast molten metal, press it into rods, wires and strips, and fabricate finished parts.. By 1960, the industry employed 10,000 fewer people.. and payrolls in June, before the recent closings and relocation decisions, included only 5,600 workers.”
A dial painter suffered from radium-induced sarcoma of the chin. The workers, mostly young women, used their mouthes to form sharp points on the brush that they would dip in and out of radium paint. Image from the book "Deadly Glow - The Radium Dial Worker Tragedy."
Story by Ann Quigley
(This article was first published The Waterbury Observer in September 2002)
It was 1921 when 17-year –old Frances Splettstocher landed a job at the Waterbury Clock Company on Cherry Street. It was a glamorous job, for she and her young colleagues worked with radium – the wonder substance of the new century. The girls used their keen eyes and nimble fingers to paint tiny numbers on glow-in-the-dark watches that were all the rage at the moment. World War I soldiers had worn the futuristic devices in the trenches, and now in peacetime everyone wanted one, so Splettstocher and dozens like her were hired to help produce millions of the watches during the early 1920s.
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Life on "The Hill"
By Megan Sullivan, December 2007
James Dennis Galvin
My grandfather taught me how to pour beer. We sat at the round, glass topped table on his screened-in back porch, and with the convex pint glass tipped toward the wall, I held one hand steady on the jar as the other gripped the brown glass bottle before me.
“Good girl, Meg,” my grandfather said. “Right, lean the jar towards you,” he instructed gently. “That’s the girl,” he said, “hold the bottle close to the rim.”
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The Big Three
Story By Raechel Guest
Photographs From Scovill Bulletin, Pictorial History Of Waterbury
The neglected north gate of American Brass as it looks now.
In the twentieth century, Waterbury’s brass industry was dominated by the “Big Three” — Scovill, Chase and Anaconda-American Brass. During the nineteenth century, the industry was largely comprised of small independent factories. Scovill was the first of the Big Three to become big, acquiring small specialized companies in order to diversify its product line and enhance its financial stability. Next came American Brass (later Anaconda-American Brass), which was created by the merger of several brass companies. Chase rounded out the trinity in 1913 with the consolidation of several companies owned by the Chase family.
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Brass Beginnings
Story By Raechel Guest
Waterbury has been referred to as "The Brass City" and "The Brass Capitol of The World". This article is the first in a four part series written by Raechel Guest exploring the history and legacy of the brass industry in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc (differing from bronze, which is alloy of copper and tin), and it is both durable and reasonably resistant to tarnishing. Adjusting the ratio of zinc to copper changes the color of the brass, adding to its decorative qualities. In ancient Rome, it was known as Aurichalem and was often used for making jewelry. Its popularity increased during the Renaissance, and by the 19th century, brass was used to make just about everything.
| Login or register to post comments | Tags: Aaron Benedict, Abel Porter, Abel Porter & Co, American Pin Company, Benedict & Burnham, Eli Terry, Frederick J. Kingsbury, Gideon Roberts, Henry Bronson, J.M.L. & W.H. Scovil, James Harrison, James Mitchell Lamson Scovill, Mad River, Mark Leavenworth, Naugatuck River, Raechel Guest, Scovill Manufacturing Company, Scovills & Buckingham, Timex, Waterbury Button Company, Waterbury Clock Company, Waterbury History, Waterbury Watch Company
The Gov
Story and Photographs by John Murray
The wise man edged close to the youth and whispered a secret in his ear. "Listen carefully,'' the man said, "and you will live a long and happy life. Work is doing something you don't enjoy doing. Find something you love and you'll never work a day in your life.''
John Rowland logs staggering hours as governor of Connecticut, but you won't find him complaining about his whirlwind schedule -- he's too busy having fun. As the youngest governor in the United States, Rowland has found his passion. He tours Connecticut like a heated neuron, heads up a massive 52,000 employee workforce and routinely works 12 to 14 hours a day.
His schedule and duties sound like the recipe for a daily migraine, but wherever Rowland goes he seems to have more fun than anyone else.
| Login or register to post comments | Tags: Carole Bass, Christina Corey, Dean Pagani, Governor John G. Rowland, John Rowland, Kathy Mengacci, Notable Stories, Patty Rowland, Paul Bass, Politics, Waterbury History
