Louis Szakacs

Louis was born and raised in Trenton near the Roebling mills. He began working for Roebling in 1933 and stayed for 36 years, starting as a machine operator & working his way up to foreman.

On getting a job at Roebling: I left school when I was in the tenth grade because my father and mother were sick. I had to get a job. You usually got hired through your friends or relatives. My father worked there and that was one point for me.

On pay and working conditions: When I started my job in Roebling in 1933. I started at 35 cents an hour. You wanted a vacation; you took it on your own time. You wanted a sick day; you took it on your own. You didn't get paid for any of this time. Thirty days after I was there I went on piecework. Piecework meant that whatever footage of rope you put out, they had a rate for it, and I would get paid according to that rate. My standard wage in 1933 was $14.40 a week for 40 hours. When I went on piecework, it jumped to $17. I felt good about it. It gave you sort of a push, initiative to go further, to go faster, to make more money because you had the opportunity to do it.

On becoming a foreman: I was made foreman in 1940. They never brought anybody in, but took us right off the machines because we had the know-how of operating the department because we had worked there long enough. That's how we got the job. Actually we got it through our supervisors. They watched to see what kind of person you were, if you capable, smart enough, things like that.

On working for Roebling: People recognize you in that you're a Roebling worker and you're a good worker. Everybody believed that people who worked in Roebling were good people. I felt that way, that anybody that worked in that place knew what he was doing. They were smart, a smart group of people.

If I had a choice of working again, picking out a job, I would still come back to Roebling. It was a good place to work. What I liked about it was the people. Everybody got along. I never heard of fights or being mad or racism or anything. Never. None of that stuff ever happened in the factory where I worked.

On growing up in the 20's: We'd walk down to the river and swim there. Everybody learned how to swim in the [Delaware & Raritan] canal. The other kids taught you, then they pushed you in. That's the way you're going to survive. We also had the river; we went there to swim. We used to hire rowboats there. Life was pretty good. It wasn't much, no money, but we had a good life, very good.

On the neighborhood [Hancock Street]: Every nationality that could be over there, we had it. I was a Hungarian, left side of me was German, right side was German, right side of him was Hungarian, across the street was Polish. We even had Jewish people living on that street, and they were not common at all, believe me. So we had a league of nations. We used to call our street the League of Nations. Everybody got along, that's the amazing part about it. We really enjoyed life.

The Hungarians had a picnic and a lot of German people would go too. If they had a picnic, we'd go over there.

We'd go to each other's churches. That street was like a big, happy family. It was not only Hancock Street, but all of the other streets in that area - very happy and contented people.