As I have written in previous articles, informed by research into the work of Robert Holder ("The Beginnings of Buffalo Industry"), Jennifer Walkowski ("John D. Larkin and the Larkin Company," and Howard Stanger ("Ourselves: Welfare Capitalism in the Larkin Company, 1900-1939"), it was the presence of immigrants - Irish, German and Polish primarily in the early years - that became a resource of both skilled and unskilled workers, many of them women, which enabled the businesses along Seneca Street and in the First Ward to grow and become successful. Most had left a country where they were repressed by economic conditions or discriminated against, and were eager to become self-supporting in their new home. They were motvated and eager to work.
Founded in 1875 by JDL, the LSC quickly moved from making just soap to manufacturing hundreds of diverse products. In addition, they made many of the premiums that were given in exchange for certificates earned for purchasing products. Many skills were necessary. Chemists worked in laboratories in our building where they devised formulas for the many types of soap, perfumes, creams, cleaning agents, waxes, polishe, salves and even food products like pudding mixes, pastas, cereals and more. Recipes were tested by cooks. Engineers designed the laboratories and kitchens as well as the heavier industrial areas like the three story soap vat site, along with the equipment needed and the systems required to move products during assembly, packaging and shipping. Artists designed the packages as well as the advertisements, the catalogs, the periodical sent to the ladies who hosted the Clubs of Ten to keep them informed about new products and other information about the company, and the "Ourselves" newsletter for employees. Writers were obviously also required for advertisements and publications. There was even a sewing department to make clothes sold through the catalogs. And then, of course, buyers were necessary to acquire substances needed to make products, paper for office and publication use, premiums not manufactured by LSC, etc., etc. The mail order duties involved hundreds of mostly women who received and processed the orders and arranged for shipping. Secretaries were needed, as were the maintenance staff to keep the buildings clean and in good repair.
By 1891, according to Stanger, the workforce was about 1000. By 1919 about 4500 people worked at LSC, about half in the factory and half in mail order and administration activities.
Previously I have written about the generosity of JDL towards his employees. A safe and clean environment for them was paramount. At a time when employee benefits simply did not exist in the manufacturing industry, JDL showed tremendous sensitivity to what he referred to as "the Larkin Family." While Stanger says, without explanation, that JDL was probably motivated by his religious upbringing, I have not found any hint of that in descriptions of him. It is known that he was religious and attended church, but to my knowledge, he did not speak of his largess towards his employees as being a religious obligation. Probably it was a factor, but I believe - and like Stanger, I have no direct evidence to prove it - that he was motivated by seeing the conditions of the communities that surrounded the LSC from which his company drew its workers.
Stanger notes that 64% of the workforce were young and single women. They worked not only in clerical positions, but also in the factory. Not discussed in the literature but a major factor in this disparity was the fact that the Civil War had ended just a few years before JDL founded the LSC. The north drew men heavily from poor communities to fight against the rebels, with wealthier men often paying less fortunate men to fight in the war in their place. Death and disability resulting from that war were tremendous. Even though the federal government had promised to pay a stipend to support the families back home, it failed to do so until there was nearly an uprising of surviving soldiers after the war who marched on Washington to demand their pay.
But in the meantime, women did what they could to support their children and maintain a home. Accordingly, a society had grown which recognized women in the work place and enabled them to develop skills to hold down jobs in many fields.
JDL could not help but be aware of these struggles and feel compassion towards
these hard working, loyal people. Daniel Larkin, in his biography of his grandfather, JDL, and also one of the company's employees for a time, said that "a matter of primary concern to John was the health and welfare of his employees." Dan noted that, along with his trusted officers and partners, Darwin Martin and William Heath, they were men of Principle, "concerned with the integrity of the business, the welfare and comfort of the employees and the general betterment of the human race. They believed in progress, and in the precept that success was the result of hard work, a respect for others and a determination to treat all men fairly...This concern for the welfare of the growing work force found expression in a number of innovations and improvements during the first years of the century." At a stockholders' meeting on January 22, 1901, the Secretary's report details a number of "measures to more firmly unite the interests of employer and employee by making work pleasanter, easier and better paid." Note, Daniel says nothing about religion as a factor in arriving at this policy.
Not only was the work place made safer and healthier, but LSC offered recreation, education opportunities, a library, a savings program, a dental clinic and a fully staffed doctor's office. The employees' newspaper, "Ourselves," was also initiated at that time.
Daniel observed that the employees never went on strike and even an inspector for the NYS Labor Bureau found the plant 'magnificent' and the employees 'happy and satisfied.'
So, what was happening down the street at Buffalo Pottery? JDL, DDM and JDL's two sons, JDL, Jr. and Charles incorporated BP in 1901. The company was to make china premiums which, it was anticipated, would result in high quality, more certain availability for filling orders of customers and less expensive for LSC than purchasing from other sources.
Violet and Seymour Altman, in their terrifically researched book, "The Book of Buffalo Pottery," describe the company's early years. Eight and a half acres of property were purchased in 1902 on Seneca Street near Bailey; construction of its eight buildings (a total of 80,000 square feet) was completed in 1903 with the first kiln fired in October that year. In later years it was expanded with the addition of three more buildings, resulting in another 60,000 square feet of working area.
Like the building of LSC, not only were the buildings fireproof, but they had over 400 windows and skylights to let in "an abundance of light and fresh air." (Despite the ventilation, and likely because the dangers of breathing the clay dust were not yet understood at that time, there was a high incidence of deaths caused by silicosis, according to the Altmans)
Specialized experience in pottery/china making was needed to create BP, so the company imported from a New Jersey company two very capable men to manage the new enterprise. Louis Bown became the general manager and William Rea was hired as superintendant of production. It was Rea who directed the building of the pottery pursuant to his specifications..
Both men became directors and shareholders. The original contracts for their initial hire and when they became directors are located in the archives of the Buffalo History Museum. (BHM). They were signed by JDL, Sr. and witnessed by DDM as Secretary.
Also in the archives of BHM is a fascinating typewritten manual written by Bohn providing background on the production of china to serve as instruction to salesmen so they could answer customers' questions. It is clear that the intention from the start was not to limit production to providing premiums for LSC, but also to create a market with other customers.
Bown provides detailed information about the scientific testing that was put into creating solid body color (not just a colored glaze over the body). He passionately opines that proper color will "stimulate digestive secretions and result in better digestion of food and naturally result in repeat and increased business and would also produce a psychological effect that would be very advantageous to the food purveyor." He further claimed that certain colors evoked different responses. For example, 'rouge,' a combination of red(exciting) and yellow (cheerful) created a color in the orange family which created gastric stimulation.
That there was discourse between the two companies is reflected in one example that I came upon. The March 15, 1904 issue of LSC's "Ourselves" included an article by an LSC employee who explained Bown's theory, adding that "To a man, dishes, even though attractive, do not appeal very strongly unless food is present in liberal quantities. To the painstaking housewife with an eye single to arranging a table daintily or having a well filled china closet, the dish question has an importance second to none."
Bown boasted of BP having a complete laboratory in the charge of a ceramic engineer, where they test samples of all materials used in the manufacturing of china.
Like LSC, both unskilled and skilled workers were required. Besides the lab workers, very well-trained, talented artists designed and hand painted many of the styles of china, the most famous being Deldare. The underglaze technic was perfected at BP and lauded as being superior to that of most imported fine china.According to the Altmans, "BP made all its own underglaze colors, and its Design Department was so well-equipped that it could produce colors and designs never attempted before in an American pottery."
Kiln operators were highly trained, working along side unskilled laborers who mixed clay and transported it from one area to the next. Clerical staff, of course was needed to process orders, do the bookkeeping, handle correspondence and the like.
An article in the Buffalo Evening Times of September 10, 1919 refered to 300 employees working at BP at that time. Undoubtedly that number greatly increased in future years with the new buildings being added. The company developed a huge business of making china for hotels, railroads and many other commercial enterprizss.In World War I, BP received huge orders from the Army, Navy and military hospitals, necessitating the company sending notices to customers that their orders may have to be declined, but "you may have the satisfaction of knowing that the BP which, for 15 years has been satisfactorily serving Larkin customers (for which purpose it was built) is now devoted to helping win the war, by furnishing for our soldiers china dishes of a recognized unexcelled quality," as quoted by the Altmans. (I wonder what color they used to induce the urge to fight like hell!)
Many of BP's workers undoubtedly came from the same population base that served LSC. It was evident from the previously mentioned Buffalo Evening Times article that JDL held the same concerns for for his BP employees that had led him to provide such a generous array of benefits to his LSC employees. The article stated that the BP workers "have no cause for worry about the passage of the proposed Health Insurance bill in NYS, for they have had the advantage of a similar benefit at the plant for some time," referring to BP's Sick and Death Benefit Assn. First aid was readily available on premises.
The article went on to describe work conditions at BP, noting that workers and department heads cooperate well leading to "efficient workmanship throughout the plant." Like LSC, the employees were described as satisfied by their wages and condition of the plant where they enjoyed plenty of fresh air and light and work in wholesome conditions." (Again, the silicosis problem had not yet been recognized.)
Unfortunately, detailed employee records for both LSC and BP are long lost. Most of what we "know" are history references to the immigrant community along Seneca and in the First Ward being a source of employees for the several companies that grew up in that area. Many families have oral history and anecdotes about long lost kin who worked for these companies.
BHM does have notes that DDM kept for some reason recording the education and pay levels of a number of employees at LSO, but no names and it does not appeat to be a survey of all the employees.
But nevertheless, I feel secure in positing that the bulk of employees of both companies were drawn from the neighborhoods between and around the companies.
And that the employees from these neighborhoods were the treasured books providing substance to the companies and held together and protected by these corporate bookends.
