C
csmiller
Guest
Which Way EJ
Dixon Cannon said:fftopic:
But that's ok!....Craig, did you get the "Which Way E.J." in my name???
You may already know this; years ago when immigrants got off the ships in NYC they had been told to say the only English they knew that would get them a job, "Which Way E.J.". Relatives already in Binghamton, Endicott and Johnson City gave them the term so as to get directions to the E.J. rep for trips to the Southern Tier. E.J. of course meant Endicott-Johnson Shoes, and for many immigrants new to America, E.J. was a ticket to the good life - employment, income, security, education and of course, more English language! Lestershir Village is now Johnson City.
Hi Dixon,
Yes, I did. Know the saying well. George F. Johnson and the "Square Deal" (the arches still exist BTW). Johnson provided most everything for his workers. So in the 30's and 40's if you worked there, and did your job well, you had no fear of your future. My wife's parents (father Italian) worked for years at EJ. On her father's WW2 discharge paperwork he was listed as working on a "sole layer machine 6-61.3311". Sadly, EJ is no more. Couldn't compete with foreign companies. There are still tons of EJ houses around here. Unfortunately, with the breakup of IBM many areas of Endicott are going downhill and those nice old EJ houses are slowly decaying. But the 6 carousels that the Johnson family donated are still around - some being refurbished.
Craig
