Pic of Last 12 Hourly Studebaker Employees...

[50Champ]

Has this been posted before? It's supposed to be a 1972 photo of the last 12 hourly Studebaker employees, but if the plant closed 6 years earlier wouldn't there be a lot more than 12 employees left, and wouldn't some be a lot younger? What do you guys think?







1950 Champion 2 Dr. Sedan

[lstude]

I think Richard Quinn (Studebaker Wheel) posted it. It is on eBay, but going off now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-OLD-LAST-TWELVE-STUDEBAKER-EMPLOYEES-A-RARE-FIND_W0QQitemZ160269877846QQihZ006QQcategoryZ48QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[studegary]

IIRC, the picture sold for $42.93 (not by Quinn).

The South Bend car assembly plant shut down nine years (not "6") before this picture. The employees were mainly there to sell parts so it doesn't surprise me that there were only 12 at the end. I am not surprised at the age of the employees. They would have kept experienced employees for these positions and most of the younger employees would have sought employment elsewhere when Studebaker shut the plant. I also imagine that Studeaker wasn't hiring very many, especialy young, employees near the end.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[Studebaker Wheel]

This photo was taken on November 9, 1971 by Carl Thompson who at the time was Manager of Technical Service Operations at Plant 8. I included it in my Almanac column of February 2008 on Carl's passing. I believe the photo on Ebay was clipped from a recent calendar issued by the Studebaker National Museum so it is not a glossy photo but only an offset. I have glossy copies for anyone interested.

Incidentally all of the men can be identified and I believe one has survived to this day!

Richard Quinn
editor: Antique Studebaker Review

[ivorydan]

I betcha that if they were hourly employees, they would have been covered by the UAW contract. The employees with the most seniority would be the last to go. That's probably why they all appear to be elderly.

[lstude]

The photo is back on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-OLD-LAST-TWELVE-STUDEBAKER-EMPLOYEES-A-RARE-FIND_W0QQitemZ160272447517QQihZ006QQcategoryZ48QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[A1956GoldenHawk]

quote:Originally posted by ivorydan

I betcha that if they were hourly employees, they would have been covered by the UAW contract. The employees with the most seniority would be the last to go. That's probably why they all appear to be elderly.

I betcha you're sorta right!

FWIW; The man on the far right of the first row was a Studebaker Skilled Trades (Maintenance) hourly worker (UAW, Local #5). Quite likely after this photograph was taken, he simply walked from the north end of Plant #8 to the south end and began working for AM General. There also was a Studebaker Plant #8 Service Parts Engineer I worked under at AM General that did that very same thing.

All 600+ former Studebaker hourly employees hired by Kaiser Jeep (later to become AM General) had to start all over again with "Day 1 Union Seniority."


<h4>The older I get ...the better I was! </h4>