Title: Oral history interview with Andy Foley, May 18, 1994
Description: Andy K. Foley made drawers for the White Furniture Company, but he did not stay on the job very long before the news came that the factory was going to close its doors. In this interview, he briefly describes his work routine and recalls his and his coworkers' responses to the closing. Like many of his coworkers, Foley worried a bit about his financial future, but his greatest concern was the dissolution of the friendships he formed on the job and as a member of the company softball team, and the loss of a fun work environment. This final element is the focus of this interview. Foley is an enthusiastic prankster, and he and his friends used the factory as a playground, playing jokes on one another and their coworkers. This sense of fun sustained him during a long period of unemployment, but he could not bring it to his new workplace, where horseplay is unwelcome. This interview emphasizes the unique, social atmosphere at the factory, drawing attention to a change that may have been echoed as North Carolina's industries endured challenging transitions in the 1980s and 1990s.
Subjects: Interviews, Furniture workers, Furniture industry and trade, Social life and customs, Plant shutdowns, White Furniture Company
Places: North Carolina, Mebane
People: Andy K. Foley (1967-)