Chapter 20, From Business Culture to Great Depression: The Twenties "The Story of Marshmallow Fluff

 

Fluff for sale at Market Basket in Salem, MA

Did you grow up on "Fluffernutter" sandwiches?  I did.  I also ate my share of rice krispie treats and fudge made from the recipe on the Fluff jar.  The history of Fluff is quite amazing and a perfect example of the business boom and marketing in the 1920s.  To read the whole story follow this link http://www.marshmallowfluff.com/pages/history1.html.

The story is a perfect example of the business culture in the 1920's  because it is a story of two friends who go off to World War I and come back to find that a fluff product they liked went out of business during the war because there was a sugar shortage.  They decide to find the former fluff maker named Archibald Query of Somerville, MA and buy his recipe from him for $500.  They then create the name "Fluff" and a whole marketing and branding campaign for the product.  They go from selling it door to door in 1920 to stocking it on supermarket shelves all over New England in just a few years.  In 1929 they opened up their first two-story factory on Brookline Street in Lynn, MA; and even though businesses were dying all around them as a result of the Great Depression--their business grew so much that they built an even larger factory next door in 1934.   During World War II they had to cut back on production as part of the war effort.  They converted part of the factory to wrapping electronic and optical parts for the war effort and used their marketing and advertising resources for selling war bonds.  Fast forward to 2014 and Fluff is still owned and operated by the same Durkee-Mower families and Fluff is still made on Brookline Street in Lynn.  What is different about the story in the present is that Fluff is still owned and made by the same family and was not sold to a large conglomerate. 

World War I observation balloon

During World War I, my great grandfather Gerard Curtis Besse Sr. was on the Observation balloon

Here is a picture of the William P Connery Jr. Post 6 American Legion. I was driving by and did a quick snap shot. (Didn't get the full building though).

William Connery Jr. was born in Lynn in 1888. As a young man he attended St. Mary's High school in Lynn. He became a representative of Massachusetts. During World War I he enlisted in U.S. Infantry, and served nineteen months in France. William lived from (1888-1937).

The American Legion is a veterans organization that was created to bring many different services to veterans and to their communities. The U.S. Congress instituted the Legion for the Veterans of World War I in 1919 during William's life time . Today it is one of the most influential nonprofit groups in the United States. Many veterans that returned from war would group together all of their fellow veterans and young men to make a difference in the community. Today, there are over 2.4 million members in over 14,000 posts around the world. Here in Lynn we are lucky Post 6!

According to their web site, "the posts are organized into 55 departments: one each for the 50 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and the Philippines.Over the years, the Legion has influenced considerable social change in America, won hundreds of benefits for veterans and produced many important programs for children and youth."

http://www.legion.org/history

I have lived in the city of Lynn for my entire life and I have always asked myself  "What is this building on North Common?" After researching about it, I found that they do many good things for this community. If you're are interested in more history on the American Legion follow these links:

More on The American Legion Website Here

Definition of Legion click Here

William P Connery Jr. Here

Ford

The above picture of the Ford car relates to our textbook section on fordism.  Fordism is defined by mass production of affordable goods which meant mass consumption and high wages for employees.  Fordism is named after Henry Ford who founded Ford Motor Company which made numerous affordable automobiles for many middle class Americans.  

Henry Ford was born in Michigan and had left when he was about sixteen years old to work as an apprentice machinist.  After that he returned home and worked with steam engines.  Later in his life he had became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Company and subsequently he met Edison who give him the confidence to build. Before Ford founded Ford Motor Company, he founded two other companies but was not successful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/post-fordism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

This is my great grandpa Joe Patuliea. He immigrated from a small Portuguese village called Galveias to Ellis Island in 1924. He worked for A.C. Lawrence tanneries in Peabody Massachusetts and that is how he lost is arms. He lost his arms by trying to pull out a piece of rolled up leather from the machine he was working on and the machine crushed his arms and they had to be amputated. The hooks he is wearing in the 2nd picture are hooks that he made by himself. My grand pa and I found some remaining hooks from him upstairs in our attic while we were cleaning up there a couple of years ago. (I would have posted a picture of his hooks but I do not know where my grandparents put them). There is a picture of my great grandpa in the George Peabody House on Washington St. that I plan on seeing later. The reason why I chose to upload this picture is to show what happened to workers in the Industrial Revolution. Many lost limbs and some even died from working on the machines. Luckily they now have safety measures while working on machines so you will not get hurt badly like my great grandfather.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody,_Massachusetts

http://www.charlestonworkerscomp.com/articles/injuries-during-the-industrial-revolution/

Chapter 18:  The Progressive Era and the Rise of the Conservation Movement

Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir at Glacier Point, Yosemite, 1903

Me at Glacier Point, Yosemite, 2009

I had my picture taken here at Yosemite when I was out in California in 2009, not knowing that Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir also had their photo taken from this same spot.  When I first saw the photo of Roosevelt and Muir I was so excited because I knew I had an identical one.  This isn't the only spot, Yosemite is breathtaking from almost every vantage point and is a trip that everyone should make sometime in their life.

Below is an excerpt from Roosevelt's autobiography that is on the Sierra Club website. Imagine going on a camping trip with the President of the United States--and it was President Roosevelt who asked John Muir to go camping.  On this camping trip John Muir was able to convince both President Roosevelt and the Governor of California to expand Yosemite National Park to include the Valley below this point, as well as the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias--two of the most incredible sections of Yosemite.  Follow this link to the NPS website to learn more about John Muir and Yosemite http://www.nps.gov/yose/historyculture/muir-influences.htm   

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(Excerpt) When I first visited California, it was my good fortune to see the "big trees," the Sequoias, and then to travel down into the Yosemite, with John Muir. Of course of all people in the world he was the one with whom it was best worth while thus to see the Yosemite. He told me that when Emerson came to California he tried to get him to come out and camp with him, for that was the only way in which to see at their best the majesty and charm of the Sierras. But at the time Emerson was getting old and could not go.
John Muir met me with a couple of packers and two mules to carry our tent, bedding, and food for a three days' trip. The first night was clear, and we lay down in the darkening aisles of the great Sequoia grove. The majestic trunks, beautiful in color and in symmetry, rose round us like the pillars of a mightier cathedral than ever was conceived even by the fervor of the Middle Ages. Hermit thrushes sang beautifully in the evening, and again, with a burst of wonderful music, at dawn.
I was interested and a little surprised to find that, unlike John Burroughs, John Muir cared little for birds or bird songs, and knew little about them. The hermit-thrushes meant nothing to him, the trees and the flowers and the cliffs everything. The only birds he noticed or cared for were some that were very conspicuous, such as the water-ouzels always particular favorites of mine too. The second night we camped in a snow-storm, on the edge of the cañon walls, under the spreading limbs of a grove of mighty silver fir; and next day we went down into the wonderland of the valley itself. I shall always be glad that I was in the Yosemite with John Muir and in the Yellowstone with John Burroughs.

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Source: Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography (1913). Excerpted from Chapter IX. Outdoors and Indoors

World War II "My Grandfather's Beretta

          During World War II, My grandfather; was in a Tank Destoyer Unit. His unit was in Italy and had the Nazis on the run. His tank, which was an M-10 Tank Destroyer, was seperated from the rest of his unit. This was due to one of the crewmembers being wounded and they head to break colum with the rest of the tanks in formation to bring him to a medical aid site. After this, they lost radio communication and could not locate anyone in his unit. So they became whats called a loan wolf tank. Roaming the Italian countryside and cities, searching out and destoying German tanks and troops. One evening my grandfather really had to take a leak, so they pulled over next to a bombed out building and as he entered he heard whistling. As he came around the corner he stumbled upon two German soldiers one taking a crap and the other pissing. He quickly swung his rifle, which he had slung on his shoulder; around and shot both men; killing them. Luckily one was an officer, who carried a side-arm pistol. In this case it was a 9mm Beretta. This and the German Lugar, were prized war tropheys for American GI's to aquire and take home with them after the war was over. He his very proud of his prized Beretta, and beamed from ear to ear when I asked him to let me take a pic of it and post it to here blog. So we've made an old World War II vet happy. Need I say more!

                           

Chpt. 15 What is Freedom - Wendell Phillips

Engraved on this monument it reads:

                                                    “Whether in chains or in laurels 

                                                     liberty knows nothing of victories"

                                                              Wendell Phillips

                                                                  1811-1884

                                                            Prophet of Liberty

                                                        Champion of the Slave 

In the monument above is of Wendell Phillips which is located near the Boston Commons.  Phillips was a Bostonian; he was born in Boston, attended Harvard, and had a law office in Boston.  William Llody Garrison inspired Phillips to become a slave abolitionist.  Garrison had spoke at the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society in which Phillips had witnessed an attempted lynching of Garrison.  Shortly after that Phillips had joined the American Anti-Slavery Society. He was an avid supporter of anti-slavery.  

In addition to be being a slave abolitionist, he was also an advocator for Native Americans for them to have equal rights and citizenship.  Phillips was also a supporter for women’s rights.   He was actually was a “close adviser” of Lucy Stone, a women’s suffragist, and he had guided her on her petitions.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Phillips

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASphillips.htm

This is the Spanish American War Section of Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, MA.  The famous Hiker statue by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson is in the background.   Like Emily's earlier post, the inscription plate on the stone is similar to that in Wakefield.  It reads: " FREEDOM * PATRIOTISM * HUMANITY  Erected by the City of Lynn, Commemorating the Valor and Patriotism of the Men of this city who served in the war with Spain, Philippine Insurrection and the China Relief Expedition 1898-1902.  Dedicated, May 30, 1923, Under the auspices of General Joseph P. Sanger Camp No. 15, United Spanish War Veterans, Dept of Mass".   Follow this link to learn more about General Joseph P. Sanger for whom the Lynn Camp was named.  http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jpsanger.htm .  General Sanger served in the Civil War, the Spanish American War in Cuba, and in the Philippines War.  I could not find a tie to Lynn, MA.

A photo of the plaque is on the right side of the larger photo.  On the left side of the larger photo is another photo of a bronze cross that was broken off one of the metal grave markers.  This one identifies the veteran as having served in Cuba.  There are 150 graves in this section of the cemetery and there is not one marker left in the section, except for this piece hiding on the ground.  Thieves have been stealing markers from all U.S. Cemeteries because many are made with copper and other heavy metals which have been commanding a high price since 2008. Follow this link to read an article about a thief caught in Worcester.  http://www.worcesterma.gov/wpd-press-releases/man-arrested-for-stealing-veteran-service-grave-markers



 

The Hiker Statue in Wakefield - Emily O'Riordan

 



These pictures are of the Spanish-American War monument located in my home town Wakefield, Ma.  The statue was created in 1926 by a woman named Theo Kitson. It is located in front of a fountain near Lake Quannapowitt  by the Rockery . The statue honors the citizens of Wakefield who took part in the Spanish-American War. There is about fifty copies of this statue located widely across the United States.
 The Hiker stands on a rock that has a plaque with the twenty-nine names of the citizens who risked their lives during the war. A bronze plaque also bears the following text: "This monument erected by the town of Wakefield to commemorate the valor and patriotism of the men of this town who served in the war with Spain, Philippine insurrection, and China relief expedition 1898-1902 ; Dedicated October 12, 1926 under the auspices of Corporal Charles F. Parker, Camp No. 39, United Spanish War Veterans, Department of Massachusetts." 

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMCQ40_The_Hiker_Statue_Wakefield_MA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hiker_%28Kitson%29
http://www.wakefieldlibrary.org/wakipedia/index.php/Hiker_Monument

World War II – USS Cassin Young

The Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown, MA is home to the USS Cassin Young which is one of the one hundred and seventy-five powerful Fletcher class destroyers that was specially made by the United States in the early 1940s. The USS Cassin Young name is intended for Captain Cassin Young whose heroism was recognized at the attack on Pearl Harbor.  USS Cassin Young was first launch in 1943 and remained in service until 1960. This destroyer has been through World War II including the Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 23-26, 1944) and the Battle of Okinawa (1945). The Battle of Leyte Gulf  is “known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II … combined US (US aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia) and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf)  The Battle of Okinawa was an 82 day long battle and is considered “the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa) Throughout the USS Cassin Young journeys, she has aided as a radar picket, screening duty, striking at enemy bases as well as surviving kamikaze attacks.

From the Nps.gov website, visitors are able to observe The USS Cassin Young at a stand point year round and able to go onto the main deck in the spring time which is something I will definitely be revisiting when it opens to the public. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cassin_Young_(DD-793)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_class_destroyer

http://www.nps.gov/bost/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm