John Cichocki

John was born in 1920 in Trenton to Polish immigrant parents. At the age of 15, he worked in a machine shop as an apprentice for $6 a week while going to Trenton Arts School at night to become a machinist. John started at Roebling in the machine shop in 1941 and worked until the company closed in 1974.

On working as a machinist and tool and die maker: Wen I got up in the morning, I just couldn't wait to park my car out here and get in the shop. It was so nice. If anything broke down all through the mill, they would say, we need this, and you went ahead and made it. It was always more or less different work, and I just loved it. I just lived Roebling's work.

There were eight tool and die makers in there at that time. I just loved tool and die work, because I knew I was going to stay in that there one room, instead of going out in the field doing all bugger-lugger work. No getting all greased up - I could go to work with a nice white apron, something I always wanted to do. It was really very interesting to make dies. You're always working on a lathe, or you're going to go on a milling machine, or you're going to go on a shaper or drill press. It's going to be something different, and it's very, very interesting.

As soon as summer would come, this place would get hot. Our tool room, with those windows on the ceiling , would get hot. Anywhere from 100 to 115, that's what we worked under. It's not like now; it gets 80, 90 degrees, people want to go home. You worked in those days. Wintertime it wasn't bad. They would fire up in the boiler house, you could hear the pipes snapping and crackling, steam coming through the pipes, that was the only heat.

The satisfaction I got from working in the tool room was that when I would make a die (and believe me, I would shine it like you wouldn't believe), it was so beautiful. When I'd take it into the boss' office and show him the finished product, he would pat you on the back. A lot of times he'd call the superintendent in and say: "How do you like this?" You always felt the satisfaction that they thought a lot of you too and the good work that you were doing. And I felt like they appreciated the work I did. I couldn't do enough for them. You always felt like doing better.

Even after all these years, I'm talking about over fifty years I've been doing this, and I love it - I just love it. I can go over to Sears & Roebuck or someplace right now and just look at tools, and it just does something to me, just to look at a tool. If they had machines in here now, I would want to start moving the handles!

On lunches: We would get 20 minutes for lunch. You couldn't go out, because they're paying you for that 20 minutes. You sat in the shop and ate your lunch. Speaking of lunch, a lot of times I remember our grievance man, his children only lived around the corner. His daughter would bring in some homemade pizza pie and some real good hot sandwiches and we would all share that. Yes, the children would bring stuff over to the door, and we would go and get it. There was always somebody bringing something to the windows or to the door for us to eat.

On after work activities: The machinists would go right out the side door and go right across the street to the Clin-Mott and have a couple of snorts and maybe a dozen clams, and off they'd go. I never was that much of a drinker, but I liked my couple of beers.

On the plant closing: The last day of work here was a sad day. We all loved this place.