Western Electric, Lucent, the IRS, Raytheon. Here in Essex County, Massachusetts those names ring out.
Those were the days in Essex County.
There were places all around the country where there was work. The war was over, the economy was booming and there was factory work which could be done by people who could read and write and do basic computations, i.e. high school graduates. You could make a living with that, have a life, have a family.
I met a 77 year old woman today, very put together in her faux leopard jacket from Marshalls and her newly coiffed hair. She had her daughter, her only child, at age 17.
Her father worked for Western Electric an she followed him to that company.
She had a long career there, as it got bought out by Lucent.
She had four sisters and three brothers.
The government paid for their schooling, although she did not think of her public high school as a government freebie. Her father paid his taxes, after all.
Her life was not easy. She worked hard. But her mother could stay at home and they took vacations.
I meet people like her daily.
These are not people who listen to NPR or watch the PBS News Hour.
Beaver Cleaver was killed in Vietnam. June Cleaver developed a problem with alcohol and father Cleaver smoked and got lung cancer and died years ago.
Peggy Sue got married and Buddy Holly died in an airplane crash.
Who do you think these people liked for President this last time around?
Those were the days in Essex County.
There were places all around the country where there was work. The war was over, the economy was booming and there was factory work which could be done by people who could read and write and do basic computations, i.e. high school graduates. You could make a living with that, have a life, have a family.
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| Waitresses on roller skates |
I met a 77 year old woman today, very put together in her faux leopard jacket from Marshalls and her newly coiffed hair. She had her daughter, her only child, at age 17.
Her father worked for Western Electric an she followed him to that company.
She had a long career there, as it got bought out by Lucent.
She had four sisters and three brothers.
The government paid for their schooling, although she did not think of her public high school as a government freebie. Her father paid his taxes, after all.
Her life was not easy. She worked hard. But her mother could stay at home and they took vacations.
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| Way before Ben and Jerry's |
I meet people like her daily.
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| Remember these good old days? |
All they know is their kids are not going to make more money than they did, and in fact a lot of their kids, in their 20's and 30's are moving back in with them as jobs dry up.
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45 cents for a 3 course meal
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They don't know why times are tough.
The work has gone overseas is all they know.
Haverhill and Methuen and North Andover are still mostly white, but Lawrence is a town which has turned. You can walk down the street in Lawrence and hear Spanish and Arabic and Vietnamese and never hear a word of English for blocks.
Beaver Cleaver was killed in Vietnam. June Cleaver developed a problem with alcohol and father Cleaver smoked and got lung cancer and died years ago.
Peggy Sue got married and Buddy Holly died in an airplane crash.
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| Madonna of the Trail |
Who do you think these people liked for President this last time around?
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