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majority of the shoe factories were located in
Endicott with a few satellite locations in Johnson City and Binghamton. The Johnsons 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 through 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
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a pair of affordable housing sites. Utilizing a combination of bond financing, historic tax credits, funding from the
Johnson City and developer equity, construction commenced in the spring of 2017 and is expected to continue into 2018. The completed buildings will provide more than 80 affordable multi-bedroom apartments, and portions of the ground floors will be converted for commercial use. Additionally, the site will include a small museum displaying artifacts discovered during the construction, including machinery, signage, worker timecards and what is believed to be the first elevator car specifically designed to a maximum weight capacity
513:) 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.
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751:), 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). The
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285:. 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,
614:. Most of the company's factories have been torn down, with the majority of the remaining facilities vacant, except for some that are partially occupied by area businesses. EJ Footwear, LLC persists as a subsidiary of Rocky, but all its manufacturing is outsourced. A number of its former Johnson City manufacturing facilities are included in the
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Sunday evening in
Endicott En-Joy Park. There were also recreation buildings in Endicott and Johnson City, which 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.
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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
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at West
Endicott are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the autumn of 2016, New York State Homes & Community Renewal entered into a development agreement with Affordable Housing Concepts and Libolt Construction to gut rehabilitate the former Sunrise and Century buildings into
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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 did not provide free medical and hospital care or build houses for employees they recognized that
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capitalized to evoke E-J). Each Triple Cities Parks contained a carousel called "merry go rounds" and they also contained playground equipment, a baseball diamond, picnic areas, a large swimming pool, and a band stand. During the summer the
Endicott-Johnson workers band performed concerts every
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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
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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
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568:, 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
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the
Johnson family also provided and 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:
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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
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the daunting
Johnson City monument displaying a bronze bust of Harry L. Johnson erected by "Endicott Johnson workers and citizens of Johnson City" which contains the Johnson motto "BE NOT WEARY IN WELL DOING." which is from the Bible Galatians
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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
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The Triple Cities contain a number of statues of the Johnson family, including Johnson City's statue of Harry L. Johnson (George F's youngest brother), and Binghamton's statue of George F. Johnson in the
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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
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closed in 1968. E-J's medical department was not closed until 1969, and the plan to close the last of its shoe manufacturing plants in the Triple Cities area was not announced until April 1998.
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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,
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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
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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):
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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.
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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 "
505:(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.
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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
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957:(Copyright 1938 by Huntington Corporation)] - a glorified version of the company's history sponsored by the company and characterized on the frontispiece as
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good pay and benefits were key to remaining non-union. In recent years IBM has significantly reduced their benefit programs for employees and retirees.
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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.
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Postcard view of one of the Johnson City (then Lestershire) factory complexes. Much of the history of E-J was documented only in such post-card images.
984:(2005). The Journal of the Historical Society 5 (1), 47–77 - discussing IBM's employee benefits, and the role of Endicott-Johnson in influencing them.
947:(Copyright 1955 by Huntington Press, Inc.; first edition copyright 1935)] - a glorified version of the company's history sponsored by the company.
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Various roads and bridges refer to the Johnsons, including CFJ Boulevard in Johnson City, and the C. Fred Johnson Bridge over the
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E-J workers paid for and erected these arches. Both arches were dedicated on September 6, 1920. They were listed on the
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State University of New York at Albany.edu: Prof. Gerald Zahavi's History of Endicott Johnson Corporation Web site
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states "This Fountain Was Given By The School Children In Memory Of Their Friend Harry L. Johnson MCMXXII;" and
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countries and so Endicott became a small town with a rich ethnic mix. Many of the sons and daughters of these
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EJ had previously been the sole licensee for Rocky's "Dickies" line of work footwear. According to its 2005
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934:, University of Illinois Press) - a history of E-J, focusing on its methods used to discourage unionizing.
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694:-fired steam generating plants to power factory machinery, and factories for tanning animal hides to make
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The former central headquarters, located on the eastern edge of Johnson City, has been converted into a
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West Side Neighborhood Association of Binghamton.org: West Side Recreation Park history + photo gallery
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The entrance to Johnson City on Main Street from Binghamton is marked with a stone arch embossed with
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which began in Binghamton in 1854. In 1890, the Lester Brothers moved their business west to a nearby
818:"Bygone Binghamton: Remembering People and Places of the Past Volume One," p. 254 By Jack Edward Shay
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IBM's "New Deal": Employment Policies of the International Business Machines Corporation, 1933–1956
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appeared in many places, including E-J's first (1901) factory in Endicott, Endicott's
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One of the E-J swimming pools was shaped in the outline of a gigantic shoe sole.
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The company was responsible for nearly all of the shoe and footwear for the
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Frank Chetko Photographs: Endicott Johnson Shoe Manufacturing (circa 1950)
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on the other end of Main Street that served as the entrance to Endicott.
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Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 9/28/15 through 10/02/15
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Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 8/23/13 through 8/30/13
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Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 8/29/11 through 9/02/11
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Finally, on December 6, 2004, EJ Footwear agreed to be acquired by
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At its peak, E-J was one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the
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Square Deal Arch on the border between Binghamton and Johnson City
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Shoes, Boots, Rubber, Paracord, Welts, and related care products
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Official IBM chronology of its history in Endicott New York
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A souvenir gift to the E.J. Workers from George F. Johnson.
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The Shoeworkers and Tanners of Endicott Johnson, 1890–1950
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Endicott-Johnson Sunrise Plant (Defunct), Johnson City, NY
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of E-J factories from George F. Johnson Memorial Library.
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Modern Manors: Welfare Capitalism Since the New Deal By
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unionizing. The company had a chess and checkers club.
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about Johnson family which is reflected, as examples:
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shoes was expanding and potentially more profitable.
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View of the E-J Victory Factory building, from 2009.
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View of the E-J Victory Factory building, from 2009.
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60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
702:from used automobile tires for use as shoe soles.
1043:Manufacturing companies based in New York (state)
312:The Endicott Johnson Corporation grew out of the
1038:Buildings and structures in Binghamton, New York
955:A pictorial narrative of an Industrial Democracy
481:Charles F. Johnson Pool, Charles F. Johnson Park
269:, with factories mostly located in the area's
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524:But the Square Deal campaign also created a
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1058:Manufacturing companies established in 1890
945:George Johnson and His Industrial Democracy
915:(April 22, 1998, Business Section page 1E).
920:Workers, Managers, and Welfare Capitalism,
761:George F. Johnson Recreation Park Carousel
716:") and IBM's predecessors in Endicott the
382:Example of EJ's dress shoes from the 1920s
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120:Learn how and when to remove this message
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583:, and its base of operations changed to
403:The E-J Workers Arch and other monuments
1063:1890 establishments in New York (state)
1048:Companies based in Binghamton, New York
909:"Endicott Johnson closing last plant,"
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883:"National Register Information System"
865:"National Register of Historic Places"
847:"National Register of Historic Places"
829:"National Register of Historic Places"
718:Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company
358:George F's reign was dominated by his
314:Lester Brothers Boot and Shoe Company,
796:Madrigal, Alexis C. (July 19, 2017).
150:Lester Brothers Boot and Shoe Company
7:
888:National Register of Historic Places
871:. National Park Service. 2015-10-09.
853:. National Park Service. 2013-09-06.
835:. National Park Service. 2011-09-09.
777:National Register of Historic Places
620:National Register of Historic Places
446:National Register of Historic Places
257:") was a prosperous manufacturer of
58:adding citations to reliable sources
1033:Shoe companies of the United States
967:, 1977 Princeton University Press (
1053:History of Broome County, New York
622:in 2011. In addition, the former
460:and, also in Recreation Park, the
458:George F. Johnson Recreation Park,
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939:http://www.albany.edu/history/ej/
332:and in 1899 made factory foreman
628:West Endicott Hose Company No. 1
466:Endicott had En-Joie Park (with
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765:George W. Johnson Park Carousel
744:The Herschell Carrousel Factory
638:E-J Sunrise Plant, Johnson City
624:Endicott-Johnson Medical Clinic
45:needs additional citations for
736:George F. Johnson donated six
616:Johnson City Historic District
575:In 1995, E-J was purchased by
347:The E-J story is dominated by
69:"Endicott Johnson Corporation"
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757:C. Fred Johnson Park Carousel
732:Carousel Capital of the World
596:Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc.
295:Rocky Shoes & Boots, Inc.
251:Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company
579:and its name was changed to
520:Monument to Harry L. Johnson
133:Endicott Johnson Corporation
773:West Endicott Park Carousel
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532:in the inscription in the
462:Harry L. Johnson memorial.
27:American shoe manufacturer
798:"How Checkers Was Solved"
749:North Tonawanda, New York
534:Harry L. Johnson memorial
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667:Contribution to economy
425:Home of the Square Deal
322:Henry Bradford Endicott
217:Henry Bradford Endicott
753:Highland Park Carousel
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326:Dedham, Massachusetts
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175:Rocky Shoes and Boots
978:David L. Stebenne.
492:Expressway Route 201
54:improve this article
698:and for reclaiming
585:Franklin, Tennessee
526:cult of personality
232:Number of employees
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775:are listed on the
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340:George F. and the
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186:Endicott, New York
995:Historical Photos
965:Sanford M. Jacoby
926:(Copyright 1988,
895:. March 13, 2009.
724:In the 1976 film
581:EJ Footwear Corp.
511:Endwell, New York
488:Susquehanna River
349:George F. Johnson
334:George F. Johnson
291:Nelsonville, Ohio
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912:The Buffalo News
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802:. Retrieved
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52:Please help
47:verification
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726:Taxi Driver
677:World War I
606:Present day
540:Honorable."
429:There is a
366:that, like
362:version of
360:Square Deal
342:Square Deal
198:Area served
147:Predecessor
1027:Categories
973:0691015708
953:subtitled
804:August 14,
783:References
566:free trade
397:immigrants
275:Binghamton
208:Key people
110:April 2011
80:newspapers
738:carousels
589:Citigroup
555:tanneries
497:The word
490:(part of
448:in 2001.
261:based in
202:Worldwide
171:Successor
470:and the
391:and the
353:George F
300:Founding
283:Endicott
263:New York
223:Products
696:leather
675:during
570:stylish
293:-based
155:Founded
94:scholar
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771:, and
700:rubber
612:church
393:Slavic
281:, and
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499:Ideal
389:Italy
318:rural
259:shoes
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