It was my first trip.....

.... for father’s company, Allegheny Button Works. The excitement was palpable as we prepared our cases and trunks. We would travel by car to the train station and then by train, all the way to New York. I’d heard father speak of “the Big City” so often, I had amazing images of what was to come swirling in my young brain for weeks ahead of time. Nothing in my imaginings however could prepare me for the reality.

As a girl I had often gone sneaking down into the work areas of father’s button works. All the machinery was powered by our ever present coal so it was a rather dark and dingy place, as were the workers. Father always tried to provide the best possible working conditions for his laborers, but they were an unusual bunch I found exciting and imagined to be somewhat mysterious.

While we had the usual share of immigrants from various corners of the world working on the lines at the factory, it was nothing like the onslaught of nationalities from far off places that I would encounter in New York.


By the by, my best friend in those early years was Clara. To hear about Clara:

Clara
https://www.etsy.com/listing/94359545/
sweet-yellow-felted-wool-jacket-with

By the by, to go back to the beginning and catch up to all of Astoria's adventures go to:
http://buttonbroadmemoirs.blogspot.com/2012/02/on-this-my-100th-birthday.html