“President Kennedy, no hats. Mr. Nixon, no hats… Regan, no hats. The last one to wear a hat was… Lyndon Johnson… That’s where the hat business went.” - Antony Catalano, 1982
By the time of the Great Depression, economic conditions challenged the company's prosperity. As a result, employee welfare declined. “By the 1930s, the Christmas parties and lavish bonuses were no more, most of the ‘company town’ programs had eneded, workers could be furloughed without pay during slack times, and employees had begun to join labor unions that engaged in collective bargaining” (Ryan, 2016).
“Things got so bad, lots of time I walked to work… So I could save about 8 cents... You made a nice dollar years ago… And then it became seasonal work. That’s why I left Stetson to work for the Government. Because you work 2 months; get laid off. Work three more months; get laid off. The season got worse and worse. Instead of working 9 months a year or 10 months a year… As time went by, it got lesser and lesser. It went from 12 months, it went down to 10. Then from 10 it went down to 7. From 7 it went to 6. That’s why I had to get out of it." - Antony Catalano, June 1982. |
The combined pressures of the new procedures and the strain of the Depression galvanized the Stetson labor force to unionize and, in 1936, to strike. The employees won recognition of the union, a 40-hour work week, and an end to the onerous efficiency studies (Philaplace.org).
"Things got so slack, we had to go there and wait for the mail to come in. The first mail used to be in at 9 O’clock. If the orders came in, we got work. We stood there until 11 O’clock; if no work came in, we’d go home. That’s how bad it got to be."
- Antony Catalano, 1982
- Antony Catalano, 1982