“L” Extra Documentation

“L” Extra Documentation

Newspaper article and advertisement about Levine and Levine (below).

A Worker’s Account of Working at Levine & Levine in the Early 1970’s

A Colchester resident has memories of working at Levine and Levine for a while one summer. “In the front sales room you would see all kinds of woman's clothing. None of which were made there as their sign said they were.

We made Harris tweed coats and camel hair coats. The factory was almost all women, and tons of machines. The front room was for cutting the patterns. From there they went to the back of the factory where they pinned and started. Another section made the arms (sleeves) and so on as it got to the front. 

I would put on the small button top button and measure the pockets. Do both sides of the inside front inseam and clip the front of the coat to the lining. The woman next to me would sew the front seam on both sides and from there they went to the button lady. Then it went to the pressers, who would check to make sure the coat bottoms and pockets were even.  If not, they would steam them until they were. 

If it hit 98 degrees they would shut the factory down. It would be 97 and we would have to stay. All the pressers went out on strike one day but management said, “No raise, we can't afford it.” Then the owner showed up with a brand new Cadillac 2 days later. Boy, were those ladies mad. I got a raise while I was there. It was $0.03 more an hour. If you got a nickel, that was a big deal.”