All factories
and most retail outlets closed for the first ever Labor Day parade in Sidney 100 years ago
when the city was "given over to her makers," according to The Sidney Daily News
(Sept. 4, 1899). A parade through downtown, ending up at the west entrance of the courthouse for speeches, was led by
the Reed Band,
the fire department,
city officials, and members of the City Council. But, the parade’s highlights were
the display floats of local industry manned by employees wearing badges inscribed
"Our Day." The floats were colorfully described by The Sidney Daily
News reporter:
- "The Sidney Pole and Shaft Company...float
(was) decorated with flags and bunting and loaded with poles, shafts, buggy tops and other
articles of their manufacture...seventy employees of the factory...carried a neck yoke,
while a red, white or blue badge with the name of the factory ornamented the lapel of each
man’s coat.
- "Anderson’s Wheel Stock Works had three floats in the line. They were
tastefully decorated with the national colors. To one was attached the placard: ‘We
help make the wheels go.’ These floats were loaded with heavy wheels, hubs, spokes,
rims and other articles of their manufacture. There were some seventy representatives in
the line, each carrying a spoke.
- "The Sidney Carriage Body Company was represented...by a beautiful float ornamented
by national colors and loaded with carriage and buggy bodies...their rear was brought up
by a buggy body in decorations carried on the shoulders of some of the employees.
- "The Bimel Carriage Company was
represented by three conveyances. The first was the carriage in which rode the office
force. Their float...was occupied by a number of their employees who were apparently
making buggy tops, buggy cushions, welding iron and going through other movements
necessary in the building of the manufactured product of their plant.
- "The Given tannery and fly net factory was
represented in the parade by the tally-ho in which rode the lady employees, (with) some
thirty men on foot. This float was tastefully decorated and the fly nets and collars
exhibited on it showed to the best advantage.
- "Perry Bayley had a float at this point in the parade. On it the men were busily
engaged cutting, rolling, and soldering tinware and making it into buckets and tin cups.
- "The employees of the Wagner Brewing Company
made a most creditable showing in the parade. There were some twenty of them, most of whom
wore blue working blouses and carried umbrellas...
- "The Sidney Steel Scraper Company’s
representation was headed by a large drag scraper hauled by a fine team of horses while a
steel wheelbarrow brought up the rear. They had some forty men in line, many of whom
carried steel hammers used in their work.
- "The Wagner Manufacturing Company had
some forty of their employees in the line, each of whom carried at his right shoulder a
nickel plated skillet, one of the products of that thriving industry.
- "Donaldson & Bryant, broom
manufacturers, were represented by some fifty employees, each of whom carried a broom at
his right shoulder."
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the celebration was the short length of time it
took to organize it. "The celebration was first spoken of last Thursday and the
success that was made of it by those in charge certainly speaks well for their untiring
work," editorialized The Sidney Daily News.
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