Table donated by Baker Furniture in Andrews, NC before closing in 2000. The plant opened in 1965. The signatures and dates on table are from employees and their years of dedication the the facility. The names along the edge of the table are in memory of deceased workers and was presented by Human Resources.
—Cherokee County Historic Museum
I sat at the table above for the book signing last Saturday. It was a large table and was completely covered by names. I found myself trying to read them all and figure out if I knew the people or at least some of their family members.
The table is a wonderful piece of history that represents the hard working folks of the area.
Last night’s video: Mountain Talk & Katydids the Sound of Summer in Appalachia.
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I noticed the signatures on the table when we got to speak to you and thought it was a beautiful table. I thought the picture looked familiar when I saw it at first. It is neat to know the history of that table and think about all of those people and their experiences.
I’m so glad Baker Furniture saw the table as a piece of history instead of just an old table people wrote on and donated it to the museum. Each person was part of their history since they were workers there and how many years they worked there. I know you were excited to read each name and you probably saw several you knew. On your video of the book signing it was a beautiful table you were signing books on.
The loss of textile and furniture manufacturing hit NC hard and SC, too. Those jobs went mostly to China. They could not have done so without the aid of congress, but I don’t want to turn Tipper’s blog into a political diatribe; so I’ll hush.
Prayers continue for Miss Louzine and all her clan.
God’s Blessings to all . . .
Maybe if you whisper Tipper won’t hear! Or use a secret code: Iway agreeway ithway ouyay.
I forgot to add to my story about Aunt Anna’s table; it came from Baker Furniture in Peabody, Kansas
Tipper,
I have a table that’s similar to the one in the picture. It’s been in my family nearly a hundred years. It belonged to my mother’s Aunt Anna, who raised her. I inherited it and my husband fixed and refinished it. When he stripped the nearly black finish off of it, the imprint of a flat iron was clearly visible. He asked me if I wanted him to sand or bleach it out; I said no; it’s like an autograph! It has faded over the years that I have had it, but I still see it in my mind.
Hey Randy, are you gettin any of this rain today?
I am hogging today’s post but I want to add a “praise report as we call it at my church”. After going two months without any rain, it began to rain about daylight and has been raining a good gentle “soaking in rain” all morning and is forecast to go off and on through tomorrow. Today is my late wife’s birthday since she passed away I go at least once a week (WE went as often to our daughter’s grave) to her and my daughters graves (16 miles away). This would be my wife’s 3rd birthday since she passed. Every year I will take a folding chair and sit at her grave for a few hours. Because of the today’s rain I was unable to do this, but I drove to the cemetery anyway, I can drive close and see her grave, God stopped the rain longer enough for me to walk to her grave and spending a few minutes there before it stared raining again.
I have a stone bench at my wife’s grave. I couldn’t go to her funeral and have never seen her grave. She is next to my sister Freda but there is a space for me in between. She is up on a mountain far away from the hustle and hassle of modern life. There are the sounds of cars now and then on Highway 28 on the opposite mountain. There is a vehicle once in a great while on Needmore Road down below. There are no houses visible in any direction. The Little Tennessee River flows gently by to the east. If you just sit down and be quiet all you can hear is:
The rustle of the river,
the wind’s whisper in the trees,
the chorus of the songbirds
and the buzzing of the bees.
Don’t be sad for me. I’ve learned to deal with it all. The cross for our headstone and the stone bench at our feet with the invitation to “Sit down and rest a little while” engraved in it, I have seen. A place near enough for me to go made the gravestones and I got to pick them out. My son and son-in-law drove up there and installed them.
I’ve seen plenty of pictures! My daughter goes there every year on Decoration Day and makes her Mama’s place so pretty! I get to see her pictures.
I don’t know why God took her instead of me but I don’t question his judgement. I’ll go lay beside her when He tells me and we’ll lay there at peace until Christ comes to get us. Maybe he’ll even sit on our bench and wait while we put on our glorified bodies. What do you think?
The signature on the table that says “father of 2” under it is the saddest one to me. It’s like he was letting everyone know he was losing his job but still had two babies to feed and take care of.
That table is a true tablet of history. The museum sounds very well done and I’m planning on visiting one day.
That is amazing! Wow! So historical. I love that. That makes me think of this certain rock that someone gave to my dad along long time ago. I can’t remember who gave it to him. We had never seen one like it before. So many people that touched it and was amazed by it. But through the yrs. it would get parts broken from it and it would get smaller and smaller. Today I only have a little piece if it. But at least I have that to remember . Loves hugs and prayers for
sweet Granny.
So glad to see they saved that table. What a thoughtful way to honor their employees!! Continued prayers for Granny and all of you.
Hi Tipper. Even though I don’t comment every day, I still enjoy your daily posts. I’ve been praying for Granny and your family. God bless you all.
I worked at Baker Furniture. My deceased brother in law Ulies McGaha was supervisor over the assembly department. He got me a job but I didn’t stay. I broke my leg early one icy morning trying to get to work. I had been there only three weeks and my insurance hadn’t yet begun. After 6 weeks of wearing a cast I went back to the doctor. He put a new one on me and said I needed to wear it 6 more weeks. We were destitute. We didn’t have much before and now had less than nothing.
After a couple more weeks I was so bored that I decided to ditch the cast and find a job. We decided to move in with Yvonne’s parents who lived in Connelly Springs. I whittled the cast off with my pocket knife and went to MDI to find work late on a Friday afternoon. “Can you start tonight?” “No, I need to move my stuff.” “Ok, can you be here on Sunday night?” “I’ll try!” “Ok, stay over Monday morning, we need to fill out an application.”
How many people start work before they even fill out an application? Maybe they saw something in me. I saw something in them, $$$$$. I stayed there 37 years!
Before Baker closed in 2000 they offered Ulies a job in one of their other plants and even offered to help find him a house and move him there. He chose the one in Hildebran but before he got to start he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died in March of 2000.
Ulies gave my wife a tall china cabinet he had gotten at Baker. It was a sample that never was finalized. They usually broke down pieces like that and burned them in their boiler but it caught his eye and he asked for it.
I am rambling now so I’ll hush. Yes, I did work at Baker Furniture and no I didn’t get to sign the table! I guess my 3 weeks tenure wasn’t enough. I didn’t even know there was such a table. I’ll bet Ulies McGaha’s name is on there somewhere. If it ain’t it ought to be.
PS: Ulies McGaha was a Vietnam veteran. He served one day less than two years there. During that time he was exposed to Agent Orange. Although his cancer was the same as was those who were compensated for it, his case was outside the time limit. You know, there is a wall containing the names of those who died in Vietnam but where is the one for men who died after the war’s end from exposure to hazardous materials rained down on them by their own government?
What a sweet idea to remember all the employees of that company. Past and those that finished their time of employment when they. It seems that they really cared about their people.
After watching your video last night before I went to bed, I left our dog out and as I stood on the patio there was the sound of all our katydids. You are right. We get so use to them there are times I don’t even notice. I do love the sound though. When I’m paying attention.
Prayers continuing for granny and your family.
I love the idea of that table! I think of all of the lives represented by those names; the long hours of labor and dedication to the job for the support of their families by working those long years!
I had to go back and enlarge the video to look more closely at the table and then I had to research Baker Furniture, sadly these companies close branches and always seem to take the same path, closing to improve operating efficiency and out sourcing. Sad. I’m looking forward to your segments with Billy Ray.
Praying for you all.
Love the table, and yes, I would have read all the names too! Sending love and prayers to Granny and all of you every day.
Yes, the changes that “pull the rug out from under”. I guess that is as old as humanity. But it still strikes me as tragedy. I can’t reconcile myself to it though I know of many cases and have lived a few of my own. It always seems to me there is – or ought to be – a more profound meaning than just “Change happens”. Solomon tried to have that understanding but concluded he couldn’t tell.
While watching your book signing video I was thinking about that table with all those names written on it and the history it holds. It’s a great tribute to so many folks that worked and passed through there to have their names written on that table. I Love History!
Prayers for Granny today. Hugs!
So glad that someone had the insight to save that beautiful table with all the names & memories.
That table is a treasure! Praying for y’all! Take care and God bless ❣️
History isn’t only written in books.
My husband and I were wondering about the signatures on the table y’all were sitting at when we watched your video about the book signing the other evening. That’s a great way to show the hard working people that they’re appreciated and won’t be forgotten. We will have to take a day trip one day to visit the museum. Continued prayers for Granny and your family ❤️
Beautiful piece of history for that area! So thoughtful.
Prayers and many blessings for the family.
I am amazed this table exists and the people left their legacy. I remember in school, I always loved reading what was scratched into desks. It was somehow like a hillbilly Walk of Fame. I’ve never been one to write my name on stuff since I was about 5 and would hide underneath the bed and sit against the wall under the headboard writing stuff like “mommy is mean” and my cats names when I felt sorry for myself. I had lists I recall of friends. I’m sure everybody saw my graffiti when the room was cleaned. I just never did much graffiti except on my notebooks. However, I’m all for telling juicy tales, signatures, life messages and pictures in graffiti best on bathroom walls and lockers. When trains roll through, I see some colorful stuff although it’s unnecessary and usually ugly done in the big cities. That table from the factory in Andrews is exceptionally cool and unique! Id actually put a very high estimate on its historical value. KILROY WUZ HERE. Lol
Each person’s name on that table represents a part of their life they gave for that company. If I had to guess, I would say they represent some fine hardworking people. Glad you were able to give them some extra recognition. More of this should be done. So much of the time when an important local business folds there in nothing left to for the people who gave so much time and effort along with devotion. One of my favorite places to work was called OH9, and for many years in southern WV it was associated with the first to call ambulance service, WIC, health clinic, Home Health, Environmental, and had reached out into several counties surrounding the main office. It closed down from many problems including gov oversight. No matter where I see or hear from those coworkers, they are always a bit like family. It was so common in that area that most locals said “call OH9” instead of 911 or an ambulance. They did a lot of good for the area, and I was fortunate enough to see that first hand. Later, I went to the auction where all the furniture was being auctioned off, and it gave me a sad lonely feeling. I now wonder why I didn’t buy something to keep. I ran across a cup at a thrift store with their logo and speedily grabbed it up. Always interesting and informative, you give so much depth to the ordinary things we encounter day to day.
I find things like this so interesting. I would have strained my eyes pouring over that table as well.
That table is certainly documenting history. My peas are coming in all at once certainly wish I could send you some lol.
Sad to see such places go. Import furniture outselling domestic I guess
I worked 38 years at the Michelin (US1)Donaldson Center Plant. Many of these years were spent working rotating/swing shifts-7 straight days one shift, 48 hours off and 7 more days on a different shift. One 4 day weekend off each month. On some of the shifts, I would be with my coworkers more than my family. Many of my coworkers seemed to be more like family than friends or coworkers. Hundreds of workers at this Michelin plant have died since it opened and first began production in the fall of 1975. In the last few weeks I know of 5 that I had worked with that have died, two of them were very close friends. I started working there on Feb.2,1976, two weeks short of being 22 years old. Along about 1978 we were told the average age of the workforce was 25 years old, many of us stayed until we could retire. Not trying to brag but compare the work ethic of the young people back then to many of the young people of today. One thing that made a difference, we were taught to work by our parents when growing up and did not have everything handed out or gave to us like so many children of today. Beside working at home home, I made my first money -maybe $1 dollar, at 12 years old helping a farmer get up square bales of hay. I would also dig pasture fence post holes with hand held post hole diggers for 10cents a hole. Many country boys did similar things. We would cut the grass for elderly neighbors for a dollar. I cut one yard of two acres with a push mower for $2 and permission to fish in a lake owned by this man.
I was only paid 5 cents per hole – 2.5 feet deep. Corner posts went 3 feet and I got 6 cents for them. My first paid job was to carry water for tobacco setters. Two 10 quart buckets for 10 hours and I was paid 2 dollars per day – 20 cents per hour.
We were invited to the 100 year anniversary celebration of a ministry where we had served, There was a man there about mid 50s in age that was a child when we served, He said he had always been able to get and keep jobs because I had taught him that to work was an honor. He said none of the fellows he grew up with were able to support their families because they wouldn’t or couldn’t work when they had a job
Jackie, when your parents can’t afford to give you an allowance, you are glad to get any amount of money, no matter how small the amount. At 14 years old I started cutting the grass at my church and the church cemetery. This was in 1968. I think it paid something like $20 a week , I thought I was rich. As soon as I had made enough money to pay for them I had my parents take me to the Sears store at Anderson, SC and I bought me $75 dollar set of Craftsman tools that I still have and use. At that time I wanted to be an auto mechanic. I have added a lot more tools, most of them Craftsman, to this set of tools I have already told of driving a school bus when I turned 16 and paying for my clothes and everything needed during my senior year, not because I had too, but I thought it was only right for me to help my parents after their years of doing without to raise me.
I am bragging but not apologizing, my daughter (now dead from an accident) and son have always worked (since high school) and never asked me to help pay their bills. My 23 year old grandson had two companies begging him to work for them when he was 20 years old and had finished a tec school. He had worked part time at both companies while going to school. He is now a manager at one of these companies and was asked by the district manager to consider putting in for another higher up manager job at something they are adding on. He has also recently bought himself a house. I helped teach each one to work.
In my lifetime of working at Michelin and for a few other companies, I never worked less than 40 hours a week, drew a dime of unemployment pay, went on light duty or out on medical leave. There was times when I should have been on light duty, but I would grit my teeth, suck it up and run my job.
I drove through Andrews last week. It looks like a town that has seen better days.
John, many small towns of the south dried up and pretty much died when the textile or cotton mills closed. These mills were the life blood of these towns and the people. A local town in my area Ware Shoals had Riegel Mill located there that had around 3,000 employees at one time, people would drive from many miles around to work here. Now the West End (business district) of this town only has a few stores left.
That’s a really neat table. I would have done the same thing you did, and look for familiar names.
A beautiful memorial to employees.
Patty and I really enjoy your blogs and vlogs. Prayers for you all and Granny