Oral History Interview with Barbara Hanks, August 10, 1994. Interview K-0098. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
Barbara Hanks followed her father into the furniture industry, taking a job in the mid-1980s in the rub and pack department of the White Furniture Company in Mebane, North Carolina. In this interview, she describes her career there, which saw her earn a position as an inspector, but ended when the company closed. Hanks describes the furniture finishing process, including sanding and oiling pieces to a shine, and recalls the challenges of her role as sole inspector. But more significantly, she describes the atmosphere on the factory floor and the way the factory brought workers together into an environment where they could build relationships with one another. Those relationships, and an older model of work, ended when the factory closed around 1993. At its core, this interview is about the dissolution of the social elements of working and the erosion of one community united by the sound of the factory whistle.
Excerpts
From rubbing and packing, on to inspection
Anxiety on the first day of work
The rubbing process
A sense of camaraderie at White Furniture Company
White Furniture Factory as a community institution
Remembering work at White Furniture Factory
Employers favor younger employees
Coworkers bond over snacks
Point system for evaluating conduct
Cameraderie and joking on the job
Effects of a factory closing
Little camaraderie at new job
Remembering the factory whistle
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Subjects
Furniture industry and trade--North Carolina
Furniture workers--North Carolina
White Furniture Company
North Carolina--Social conditions
Women--Employment--North Carolina--History--20th century
Hanks, Barbara, 1960-
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