Exhibition Script - Museum on Main Street

The Way We Worked scriptCOMPANY TOWNS“Company towns” were founded throughout the United States in the late 1800s. Ownersknew productivity would rise if workers and their families could remain close to theaction. Workers, like the miners pictured below in West Virginia, forged communities incompany-built housing, general stores, health clinics, and even schools. Somecompanies, like Inland Coal Company in Wheelwright, Kentucky, provided amusementslike movie theaters for families.Miners in West Virginia,--by Russell Lee, August 1946.National Archives,Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for WarFood, clothes, medicine, and post office at the Gilliam Coal and CokeCompany store, Gilliam, West Virginia,--by Russell Lee, August 1946.National Archives, Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for WarWorkers rented their homes from employers. Pickett Yarn Mill, HighPoint, North Carolina,--by Lewis W. Hine, ca. 1937.National Archives, Records of the Work Projects AdministrationMiners and their families gather at a soda fountain before a weekendmovie, Wheelwright, Kentucky,--by Russell Lee, August 1946.National Archives, Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for WarWHAT WE WEARClothes are part of every worker’s toolbox. From hazmat suit to suit-and-tie, work dressis diverse and not always our choice. Whether professional, practical, or protective, workclothes transform us. We dress for success on the job.Clothes are powerful symbols that tell others where we work and even what we do. Thebadge of a police officer symbolizes authority, the white coat of a doctor representsyears of medical training, and the fast-food restaurant uniform is the company’s publicpersona.Imagine yourself in someone else’s shoes, hat, overalls, suit . . .STANDARDIZATIONWhile some uniforms project authority, others symbolize a corporate brand.Standardized uniforms and dress codes are used everywhere from retail stores to carrepair shops. An estimated 2.6 million Americans wear uniforms representing fast foodrestaurants every day.Flight attendants, ca. 1962.--Photograph courtesy of Sheila Warmack35