{"id":62006,"date":"2012-07-06T08:19:26","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T12:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=62006"},"modified":"2012-07-16T08:39:19","modified_gmt":"2012-07-16T12:39:19","slug":"photo-exhibit-documents-history-of-%e2%80%98workers-at-play%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/07\/photo-exhibit-documents-history-of-%e2%80%98workers-at-play%e2%80%99\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo Exhibit Documents History of \u2018Workers at Play\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Southern<\/a>
Southern New England Telephone Co. operators at a beach outing, July 1913. (Archives & Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Baseball<\/a>
Baseball team of the Southern New England Telephone Co., Waterbury office, 1909. (Archives & Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Connecticut was known as an industrial state that was home to dozens of manufacturing businesses that produced textiles, brass, tools, and machinery. These businesses were located in various parts of the state, usually in large cities such as Hartford and Waterbury, but also in less populated areas such as Glastonbury, Bethel, and Norwich.<\/p>\n

Companies like Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing of Manchester, American Brass of Waterbury, Thermos of Norwich, and New Britain Machine Co. of New Britain produced products for their customers made by workers who also enjoyed company-sponsored activities such as sports teams, picnics, social outings, and amateur nights.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>
New Britain Machine Co. Basketball team, 1920-1921. (Archives & Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new photo exhibition at UConn\u2019s Thomas J. Dodd Research Center titled \u201cWorkers at Play: Baseball Leagues, Basketball Competitions, and Company Picnics,\u201d drawn from the Connecticut Business Collections in the Center\u2019s Archives & Special Collections section, provides a look back at a part of the lives of workers during that time. The exhibit opens July 9 and continues through Oct. 19 in the Dodd Center Gallery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe collection allowed us to get a better sense of the community workers were able to enjoy 75 or 100 years ago, something I don\u2019t think we have now that we have so many other ways to spend our leisure time,\u201d says Laura Katz Smith, curator of the Connecticut Business Collections, which includes records and internal documents such as employee newspapers from 70 now-defunct state businesses. \u201cWhen I put the exhibit together, I wanted there to be nostalgia for these kinds of activities. It must have been nice to have a sense of community with co-workers who were also teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Southern<\/a>
Southern New England Telephone Co. women's track team, 1927. (Archives & Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smith says many of the photos in the exhibition originally were published in newspapers, newsletters, or magazines that devoted much of their space to coverage of a company\u2019s sports teams, including those for baseball, basketball, rifle clubs, and track teams. They also depicted employees performing in variety shows, enjoying picnics, and caroling at Christmas. The photos cover a time period from the 1890s to the 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s thought by historians that companies wanted to engender employee loyalty and cut down on union activity,\u201d Smith says about the proliferation of activities sponsored by companies long ago. \u201cThey also thought it improved productivity and that employees might find athletic skills they didn\u2019t know they had. Today most company-sponsored programs are wellness programs to cut down on health care costs, not devoted to recreation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dance<\/a>
Dance act at a Thermos Co. variety show, 1940s. (Archives & Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Documents in the archive indicate that many businesses gave workers time off to travel as members of the company\u2019s sports team. In the 1920s, for example, most regional offices of the Southern New England Telephone Company had their own basketball team and would travel around the state playing other SNET teams and against teams from other businesses participating in organized industrial basketball leagues, Smith says.<\/p>\n

The exhibition also includes photos of employees, both men and women, at picnics competing in three-legged sack races, tugs of war, baseball games and, in at least one event, women throwing a rolling pin. Among some of the photos in the exhibit:<\/p>\n