The
Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company ("
E-J") was a prosperous manufacturer of
shoeA shoe is an item of footwear evolved at first to protect the human foot and later, additionally, as an item of decoration in itself. The foot contains more bones than any other single part of the body, and has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in relation to vastly varied terrain and...
s based in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's
Southern TierThe Southern Tier is a geographical term that refers to the counties of New York State west of the Catskill Mountains along the northern border of Pennsylvania...
, with factories mostly located in the area's
Triple CitiesThe Triple Cities is a colloquial phrase used by people in the Southern Tier region of New York State to refer to the agglomeration created by the cities of Binghamton, Endicott, and Johnson City ....
of
BinghamtonBinghamton is a city located in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. "The Parlor City" and the "Home of the Square Deal," it is the county seat of Broome County and the principal city and cultural center of the Greater Binghamton region...
,
Johnson CityJohnson City is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 15,535 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, and
EndicottEndicott is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,038 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Henry B...
. An estimated 20,000 people worked in the company's factories by the 1920s, and an even greater number worked there during the boom years of the mid-1940s when, helped by footwear it produced for the military during the war years, it was producing 52 million pairs of shoes a year. During the early 1950s, the work force was still approximately 17,000 to 18,000. Today,
EJ Footwear, LLC operates as a unit of
Nelsonville, OhioNelsonville is a city in northwestern Athens County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,230 at the 2000 census. Hocking College is located in Nelsonville.-Geography:...
-based Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc.
Founding
The Endicott Johnson Corporation grew out of the
Lester Brothers Boot and Shoe Company which began in Binghamton in 1854. In 1890, the Lester Brothers moved their business west to a nearby
ruralRural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density.About 91 percent of the rural population now earn salaried incomes, often in urban areas...
area, which in 1892 was incorporated as the Village of Lestershire and in 1916 became Johnson City. Financial problems in 1890 forced the sale of the company to a creditor and fellow shoemaker, Henry Bradford Endicott of
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
, who founded the Endicott Shoe Company and in 1899 made factory foreman
George F. JohnsonGeorge Francis Johnson was an American businessman.-Early life:He was born in Milford, Massachusetts. In 1881, after 10 years of experience in the shoe and boot-making factories in his home state, he was hired as the supervisor of a work crew in a section of a shoe factory in Binghamton, New York...
his partner.
George F. and the Square Deal
The E-J story is dominated by
George F. JohnsonGeorge Francis Johnson was an American businessman.-Early life:He was born in Milford, Massachusetts. In 1881, after 10 years of experience in the shoe and boot-making factories in his home state, he was hired as the supervisor of a work crew in a section of a shoe factory in Binghamton, New York...
(1857–1948), or
George F as he was popularly called, who rose through the shoe factory ranks to become the half-owner of E-J, and its highest executive until his death in 1948.
George F's reign was dominated by his
Square Deal version of
welfare capitalismWelfare capitalism refers either to the combination of a capitalist economic system with a welfare state or, in a strictly American context, to the practice of businesses providing welfare-like services to employees. Welfare capitalism in this second sense was centered in industries that employed...
that, like
progressive movementsProgressivism is a political and social term for ideologies and movements favoring or advocating changes or reform, usually in a statist or egalitarian direction for economic policies and liberal direction for social policies...
of the early twentieth century, advocated providing parades and churches and libraries to "uplift" workers. George F's Square Deal consisted of worker benefits even in harsh economic times that were generous and innovative for their time, but also meant to engender worker loyalty and discourage unionizing.
For workers, the Square Deal consisted of a chance to buy E-J built and E-J financed homes, a profit sharing program, health care from factory-funded medical facilities and later (built in 1949) two worker recreational facilities. But the Square Deal was more than an employee benefit program. E-J and the Johnson family also provided or helped to finance two libraries, theaters, a golf course, swimming pools, carousels, parks and food markets, many of which were available to the community without charge. Reminders of the source of that generosity were inescapable. :
- Endicott was a community planned by E-J and incorporated in 1906. It was named after Henry B. Endicott (one of the grade schools was named Henry B,) who owned the business that became E-J. Lestershire was renamed Johnson City, New York in honor of George F. All of the tanneries and the vast majority of the shoe factories were located in Endicott with a few satellite locations in Johnson City and Binghamton. The Johnson's lived in Endicott and George F's mansion was donated to the Village after his death and became the public library. Most of the jobs were classified as "piece work". Racks of shoes moved though the factories with "coupons" attached to each rack. When the worker completed his/her operation on the rack of shoes, he or she removed the appropriate coupon which was worth a few pennies. At the end of the week the worker turned in his coupons from which the payroll department calculated pay. The work was hard and the pay was low but the extensive benefits were offsets. The windows in the factories were painted so workers wouldn't be distracted by the outside. The company needed a large labor pool and initiated a recruitment program aimed at southern Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
and the SlavicThe Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern and central Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
countries and so Endicott became a small town with a rich ethnic mix. Many of the sons and daughters of these immigrants graduated from Union-Endicott High School and went on to become teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers,and successful business people. Very few went to work in the factories.
- The entrance to Johnson City on Main Street from Binghamton is marked with a stone arch embossed with Home of the Square Deal. There was a corresponding arch on the other end of Main Street that served as the entrance to Endicott. E-J workers paid for and erected these arches. Both arches were dedicated on September 6, 1920.
- One of the E-J swimming pools was shaped in the outline of a gigantic shoe sole.
- The Triple Cities contain a number of statues of the Johnson family, including Johnson City's statue of Harry L. Johnson (the youngest brother to George F.), and Binghamton's statue of George F. Johnson in the George F. Johnson Recreation Park, and, also in Recreation Park, the Harry L. Johnson memorial.
- Endicott had En-Joie Park (with E and the J capitalized to evoke E-J). The Triple Cities Parks contained a carousel called "merry go rounds" and they also contained playground equipment,a baseball diamond and picnic areas, a large swimming pool and a band stand. In the summer,the Endicott-Johnson workers band performed concerts every Sunday Evening in the Endicott En-Joy Park. There were also Recreation Center buildings in Endicott and Johnson City. They contained subsidized bowling alleys in the basement and a large banquet room on the main floor. Retirement dinners were given on a regular basis in the Recreation Centers. Any employee could attend the dinners for $.25.
- Various roads and bridges refer to the Johnsons, including CFJ Boulevard in Johnson City, and the C. Fred Johnson Bridge over the Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At approximately 444 mi long, it is the longest river on the American east coast, the 16th longest in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United States without commercial boat traffic...
(part of Expressway Route 201New York State Route 201 is a north-south state highway located west of the city of Binghamton in Broome County, New York. The southern terminus of the route is at NY 434 in Vestal while the northern terminus is just past NY 17 at Harry L...
) which was named in honor of Charles F. Johnson (an older brother of George F.)
- The word Ideal appeared in many places, including E-J's first (1901) factory in Endicott, Endicott's Ideal Home Library (contributed to Endicott by George F) and Ideal Hospital. The library was later demolished to make room for municipal facilities and relocated to George F's former mansion.
The use of repetitions and iterations of "ideal," "En-Joie," and other words (such as "Endwell" used for both a line of E-J shoes, and later in the renaming of the hamlet of Hooper to
Endwell, New YorkEndwell is a hamlet located in the Town of Union in Broome County, New York, United States. Its population was 11,706 at the 2000 census.Endwell is adjacent to the Village of Endicott and the Village of Johnson City...
) were part of E-J's ongoing public relations campaign to discourage unionizing by convincing workers that E-J's Square Deal was the "ideal" relationship between capital and labor. At the same time, labor organizer Samuel Gompers visited E-J on several occasions, and spent time with both rank and file employees and with the Johnsons. When asked why no attempt had been made to organize E-J workers, Gompers said that E-J already gave workers more than unions had achieved elsewhere, and that the Federation of Labor was working to bring other workforces to the pay and benefits levels E-J provided on its own initiative.
But the Square Deal campaign also created a
cult of personalityA cult of personality arises when a country's leader uses mass media to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships and Stalinist governments....
about Johnson family which is reflected, as examples:
- in the inscription in the Harry L. Johnson memorial states "This Fountain Was Given By The School Children In Memory Of Their Friend Harry L. Johnson MCMXXII;" and
- in the inscription accompanying a statue of George F. Johnson which states "Have Faith In The People. George F. Johnson. Erected By An Appreciative Community To The Nobility Of His Character And His Great Benefactions To The People. 1923. Labor Is Honorable."
Decline and sale
Various members of the Johnson family helmed E-J until outside management was brought in starting in 1957. By then, the company had begun a slow decline. The
tanneriesTannery may refer to:* A facility where the tanning process is applied to hide to produce leather.* Paul Tannery was a mathematician.* The Tannery, crime novel by English actress Sherrie Hewson....
closed in 1968. E-J's medical department was not closed until 1969, and the plan to close of the last of its shoe manufacturing plants in the Triple Cities area was not announced until April 1998.
The demise of the E-J was rooted in many economic changes. Its founding principles of valuing labor were threatened by the availability of cheap foreign labor and the rise of global shoemakers such as
NikeNike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
. According to some sources, C.F. Johnson was a vehement critic of
free tradeFree trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without interference from government. According to the law of comparative advantage the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade of goods and services....
, and believed that it was contrary to his glorification of the American worker. The demise of the company may also be attributable, in part, to bad business decisions, including the continuation of its focus during the 1950s on work shoes when the market for lighter, more stylish shoes was expanding and potentially more profitable.
In 1995, E-J was purchased by US Industries. Inc. and its name was changed to
EJ Footwear Corp., and its base of operations changed to
Franklin, TennesseeFranklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,842 as of the 2000 census.-History:...
. In 2000, EJ Footwear was bought out by Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd., a subsidiary of
CitigroupCitigroup Inc. , is a major American financial services company based in New York, NY. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group on April 7, 1998.Citigroup Inc...
.
Finally, EJ Footwear on December 6, 2004 agreed to become acquired by
Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc.Rocky Brands, Inc. , formerly known as Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc., is a footwear and apparel manufacturer. The company was founded in 1932 in Nelsonville, Ohio and still maintains its corporate headquarters there. Rocky Brands includes, Rocky, Georgia Boot and Durango...
EJ had previously been the sole licensee for Rocky's "Dickies" line of work footwear. According to its 2005
annual reportA Form 10-K is an annual report required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , that gives a comprehensive summary of a public company's performance...
, Rocky's sales more than doubled over 2004, largely reflecting this acquisition.
Present day
At present, the former central headquarters, located on the eastern edge of Johnson City, has been converted into a church. Most of the company's factories have been torn down, and the remaining ones are vacant except for some occupied, in part, by area businesses. EJ Footwear, LLC persists as a subsidiary of Rocky, but all its manufacturing is outsourced to third parties.
Contribution to economy
The company was responsible for nearly all of the shoe and footwear for the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
and
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
At its peak, E-J was one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with retail outlets in over 30 states. E-J was also substantially vertically integrated, with
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
-fired steam generating plants to power factory machinery, and factories for tanning animal hides to make
leatherLeather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable and versatile material....
and for reclaiming
rubberNatural rubber is an elastomer that was originally derived from a milky colloidal suspension, or latex, found in the sap of some plants. The purified form of natural rubber is the chemical polyisoprene, which can also be produced synthetically...
from used automobile tires for use as shoe soles.
But E-J's most long lasting and important economic contribution may be its influence on its neighbor in Endicott, New York: International Business Machines Corporation (now "
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating...
") and IBM's predecessors in Endicott the Computing-Tabulating-Machine Company and (before that) The Bundy Manufacturing Co. IBM, due at least in part to the influence of E-J's example, became one of the earliest and most important providers of employee benefits. Although they didn't provide free medical and hospital care or build houses for employees they recognized that good pay and benefits were key to remaining non-union. In recent years IBM has significantly reduced their benefit programs for employees and retirees.
Carousel Capital of the World
George F. Johnson donated six
carouselA carousel , or merry-go-round, is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders...
s to the Triple Cities between 1919 and 1934, which are now among the fewer than 170 antique carousels remaining in the United States and Canada. All were built by the well-known carousel maker Allan Herschell (of
The Herschell Carrousel FactoryThe Allan Herschell Company was a company that specialized in the creation of amusement rides, particularly carousels and roller coasters. The company manufactured portable machines which could be used by traveling carnival operators.It was started in 1915 in North Tonawanda, a town located just...
in
North Tonawanda, New YorkNorth Tonawanda is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 33,262 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after the creek that once flowed past it. Tonawanda in the Seneca tongue means "Swift...
), all contain wood-carved figures, and all are still working during the summer months subject to weather and restoration projects. Binghamton is accordingly associated with the nickname "Carousel Capital of the World" although only two of the Triple Cities' six carousels are in Binghamton. The admission price to the carousels has never changed: free (except, traditionally, to find and dispose of one piece of litter).
External links
For further reading
- "Endicott Johnson closing last plant," The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo, New York, metropolitan area and its surrounding suburbs. It is wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway.The News was founded in 1873 by Edward H. Butler as a Sunday paper...
(April 22, 1998, Business Section page 1E).
- Gerald Zahavi, Workers, Managers, and Welfare Capitalism, sub-titled: The Shoeworkers and Tanners of Endicott Johnson, 1890–1950 (Copyright 1988, ISBN 0-252-01444-8, University of Illinois Press) - a history of E-J, focusing on its methods used to discourage unionizing.
- Gerald Zahavi, Life and Labor in a Corporate Community ~ An On-Line History of the Endicott Johnson Corporation (Chapter 1: The Endicott Johnson Corporation, 19th Century Origins): http://www.albany.edu/history/ej/
- William Inglis, George Johnson and His Industrial Democracy (Copyright 1955 by Huntington Press, Inc.; first edition copyright 1935)] - a glorified version of the company's history sponsored by the company.
- Partner's All, subtitled A pictorial narrative of an Industrial Democracy (Copyright 1938 by Huntington Corporation)] - a glorified version of the company's history sponsored by the company and characterized on the frontpiece as A souvenir gift to the E.J. Workers from George F. Johnson.
- Modern Manors: Welfare Capitalism Since the New Deal By Sanford M. Jacoby, 1977 Princeton University Press (ISBN 0691015708)