5/11/11

Dad frequently traveled the world and could not enjoy quality family time with us. Like Johnny Appleseed, he spread seeds of his plastics calling on a wide range of customers-so many uses for plastics-an endless list. Did you know stylish turkeys wear saddles made from Sommers' plastics? When breeders mate turkeys the male claws scratch so severely that it's necessary to protect the female. Hence turkey saddles.

Growing up, the Schecter family had a traditional Friday night supper. Shabbos was the one night we could count on dad coming home from work to dine with the family. Mom lit sabbath candles and Viola, our beloved housekeeper of many, many years, prepared an amazing multi-course, kosher dinner that we ate in the formal dining room-only used for special occasions. Dad began with a "question and answer" period- Ed or I (Jay was an infant and Stu hadn't been born yet) would ask dad a question-any question. If he couldn't answer it, we would all walk upstairs to the library and refer to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Every household had the complete Encyclopedia from A-Z. Kind of a precursor to Google. I can only remember one question "why is the sky blue?" I believe this simple family interaction made an big impact and sowed the seeds of our intellectual curiousity. After all, many of Sommers' most successful discoveries- Chromaflair, thermochromatic liquid crystal color-change, photopolymer holography, lenticular printing -"fashion engineering" with unique coloring agents-are due to refraction, reflection and light interference. And that is why the sky is blue. But I digress...

One Friday evening, dad surprised, shocked the family, is more like it. He pulled a small pistol out of his pocket and began telling a disturbing story.

Throughout the early 1960s, Sommers Plastics, headquartered in East Rutherford, NJ, continued to prosper and grow. Employees were treated like family. Actually, many were. At least six uncles were employed by Sommers at one time or another. Labor unions thrived during the 1960s as a robust economy relied on a large manufacturing industry to maintain growth. Sommers warehouse workers (see picnic photo above), were approached and solicited by union organizers. Though they were secure and content with their jobs it only took one or two to be sold on the union BBD=promises of a bigger and better deal. In turn, they would convince their colleagues and a battle ensued. Dad was dismayed. He rejected the notion of a unionized warehouse. But the union would not simply let go. Thugs harassed Sommers' truck drivers and personnel. They poured sugar into the gas tanks and threatened physical harm to dad, even driving along side his car and pointing a gun at him (It was a watergun, but a serious threat existed nonetheless). Dad was naturally frightened and he must have felt it necessary to scare his 11 and 9 year-old sons too. Funny, I just asked Ed if he remembered this story, which he didn't, so I called dad in FL who confirmed my memories and helped fill in some details.

Here we are, sitting at the lace-covered dining table, Shabbos candles glowing and challah bread ready for eating when dad pulls out a pistol. WOW! He then tells us he got a gun carrying permit because of the threatening nature and strongarm tactics the union organizers were deploying. They didn't know who they were dealing with. Dad went to court to fight. In order to continue daily shipments to NYC manufacturers without union harassment dad had to rent a warehouse in NYC, on the other side of the Hudson River. Trucks were loaded with rolls of popular product lines all the while being observed by union thugs. Dad led the convoy of trucks through the Lincoln Tunnel connecting NJ and NY. Cousin Frank drove a van at the tail end of the caravan. The union was behind Frank. In the middle of the tunnel, Frank swerved his van, pulled the ignition wires from under the dashboard and blocked the union agents from following. A few days later, the courts ruled in favor of dad. More interesting discoveries while Googling http://law.jrank.org/pages/8042/Labor-Union.html

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