Laurent Rivard was born in Lewiston in 1920, and grew up in what was called “Little Canada”. He began working at the Androscoggin Mill at 18 after finishing school, and with the exception of two years spent in the army, Rivard would continue to work in various mills...
Upon graduating from university, David Quinn was drawn to Maine’s natural beauty, and left his home state of Connecticut to teach tennis and work in a local mill in Augusta. Inspired by his childhood nostalgia for slipper socks, and with the help of Ted Johanson at...
Ray Berube was born in Danville and grew up in New Auburn, sharing his experiences growing up in the French community of Auburn. Around the time he was 12 or 13 he started working in the brickyard, where he would cover the bricks in sand so they wouldn’t dry out too...
Henry Gilbert was born in Lewiston and worked in the brickyards for the summers, lumber for the winters. He shares a lot of details about the brickmaking process, as it was all piecework and they would get paid for the quantity of bricks made. He was a striker and...
John Allard started in the shoe industry at the age of 15, swapping locations here and there. He then worked at Falcon Shoe for about four times, coming back several times after either being fired or quitting. He was a shoe cutter and also a leather assessor. He...
