Superior Woman--Summer 2020--Final Edition
Superior Woman Summer 2020 is a publication about women living, working and playing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Superior Woman Summer 2020 is a publication about women living, working and playing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
ADVERTISEMENT FOR GOSSARD UNDERGARMENTS City of Ishpeming, the Gossard Company sent their own agents to review the potential site and staffing possibilities. What they found was a three-story, 12,000 square foot building that would fit well with their manufacturing process. A bonus was finding that there was an eager and available employee base. “The two reasons that they came, was that they had the building, and they knew they would have the workforce because of the mines up here,” Arsenault said. “The men (miners) were married, and had daughters, and that’s kind of what sweetened the pot to come to Ishpeming.” It was those wives and daughters that became the bulk of the workforce for the company. More than 1,000 of them worked at the Gossard over the years. Some were long-term employees, some were short-term employees who may have worked for a while before getting married, having children, or moving away. At its peak in 1950, the facility employed 680 people. Eighty-five percent of them were women, many of whom walked out of high school and directly into factory employment. Their job was to sew different pieces of corsets and brassieres to manufacture the final foundation products the company sold. The more you sewed, the more money you made. “ They came because they knew they would have the workforce because of the mines up here. The miners were married, and had daughters, and that’s what sweetened the pot to come to Ishpeming. ” 18 SUMMER 2020 SUPERIORWOMAN.NET
WOMEN HARD AT WORK AT THE GOSSARD FACTORY IN ISHPEMING “It all was piece work, and if you were liked by your supervisor, they would give you the pieces that you could sew faster making more money,” Arsenault said. That money usually averaged out to minimum wage, beginning in the 1920s at about 35 cents an hour, ranging to about a dollar an hour following union affiliation and a four-month strike in 1949. By the time the factory closed in 1976, minimum wage was about $2.30/hour. Long before the more common two-income families of today, the Gossard provided that opportunity to their employees. “They really had a big impact on economics in the city,” Arsenault said. “The paychecks the women took home stayed local.” And over the years, that was a lot of paychecks and a lot of women. Arsenault has more than a thousand names in what she calls her “bible” and she continues to add names as family members provide information about their relatives who were employed by the Gossard. “Every time I put something out on Facebook looking for information, I get more and more people saying ‘grandma worked there’ or ‘my great aunt,’ and the way we’ve gotten these names is by people coming in to see if their relative is on the wall,” Arsenault said. That’s because once she has an employee’s name, she adds a nameplate on the tribute wall. The plates appear on salvaged metal patterns that were used to make the garments the factory produced. (Full disclosure, the tribute wall contains the names of several of this writer’s family members, including my grandmother’s name, as she was employed by the Gossard Company for many years.) It might be hard to imagine now, but during its heyday, the Gossard was a hub of activity. Women, many of whom walked to town, would begin the workday at 7 a.m. For years, the Gossard maintained its own chef and cafeteria to provide a “full noon meal,” and by quitting time at 4 p.m., hundreds of “Gossard Girls” spilled out of the building and onto the surrounding streets. Much of this is captured in photos and memorabilia on Arsenault’s tribute wall. “And I want to do it with the whole building; I want it to be a time capsule,” she said. “Kids don’t know what piece work is, they don’t understand an assembly line. This building has such a rich history, and it was home to many women, and it’s about the women; this is a labor of love for me. It’s like I know these women, and I just want to share their lives.” To add to her story, Arsenault said she is looking for artifacts, stories and yes, the names of more women who may have a Gossard connection. To learn more about the Gossard factory in Ishpeming, visit www.oldgossard.com. SUMMER 2020 SUPERIORWOMAN.NET 19
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ADVERTISEMENT FOR GOSSARD UNDERGARMENTS<br />
City of Ishpeming, the Gossard Company sent their own agents to<br />
review the potential site and staffing possibilities. What they found was<br />
a three-story, 12,000 square foot building that would fit well with their<br />
manufacturing process. A bonus was finding that there was an eager<br />
and available employee base.<br />
“The two reasons that they came, was that they had the building,<br />
and they knew they would have the workforce because of the mines<br />
up here,” Arsenault said. “The men (miners) were married, and had<br />
daughters, and that’s kind of what sweetened the pot to come to<br />
Ishpeming.”<br />
It was those wives and daughters that became the bulk of the<br />
workforce for the company. More than 1,000 of them worked at<br />
the Gossard over the years. Some were long-term employees, some<br />
were short-term employees who may have worked for a while before<br />
getting married, having children, or moving away. At its peak in 1950,<br />
the facility employed 680 people. Eighty-five percent of them were<br />
women, many of whom walked out of high school and directly into<br />
factory employment.<br />
Their job was to sew different pieces of corsets and brassieres to<br />
manufacture the final foundation products the company sold. The<br />
more you sewed, the more money you made.<br />
“<br />
They came because they knew they would have<br />
the workforce because of the mines up here.<br />
The miners were married, and had daughters,<br />
and that’s what sweetened the pot to come<br />
to Ishpeming.<br />
”<br />
18 SUMMER <strong>2020</strong> SUPERIORWOMAN.NET
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