Graeber, Ruth interview on "Pins and Needles", 1997
Collection Number: 6036/081 AV
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Ruth Graeber interview on "Pins and Needles", 1997
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
6036/081 AV
Abstract:
The collection is a video recording of Ruth Rubinstein Graeber discusses "Pins & Needles"
at at event sponsored by the New York Public Library.
Creator:
Graeber, Ruth
Quanitities:
0.11 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union was once one of the largest labor
unions in the United States founded in 1900 by local union delegates representing
about 2,000 members in cities in the northeastern United States. It was one of the
first U.S. Unions to have a membership consisting of mostly females, and it played
a key role in the labor history of the 1920s and 1930s. The union is generally referred
to as the "ILGWU" or the "ILG". The ILGWU grew in geographical scope, membership size,
and political influence to become one of the most powerful forces in American organized
labor by mid-century. Representing workers in the women's garment industry, the ILGWU
worked to improve working and living conditions of its members through collective
bargaining agreements, training programs, health care facilities, cooperative housing,
educational opportunities, and other efforts. The ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995 to form the Union of Needle trades, Industrial
and Textile Employees (UNITE). UNITE merged with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees Union (HERE) in 2004 to create a new union known as UNITE HERE. The two
unions that formed UNITE in 1995 represented only 250,000 workers between them, down
from the ILGWU's peak membership of 450,000 in 1969.
Ruth Rubinstein Graeber was born March 1, 1917. As a member of ILGWU Local 32 Corset
and Brassiere workers, she was involved in the courses and activities offered by her
local, mainly the dance classes. When the dance classes she attended were cancelled
due to low enrollment, Graeber was told of the various classes and offerings available
at Labor Stage. While applying for the dance classes at Labor Stage, Graeber was instead
put in the drama classes where she became an actress and performer. She was a member
of the original "Pins & Needles" cast, spending two and a half years on Broadway and
with the touring company. Graeber had solos in the numbers "Mussolini Handicap," "Economics
I," and her most famous performance "Chain Store Daisy" ("Vassar Girl Finds a Job").
After the end of "Pins & Needles," Graeber took a three month vacation before returning
to work in the shop. She died on March 15, 2006.
"Sing me a song with social significance"began the musical comedy revue "Pins and
Needles." Produced by the Educational Department of the International Ladies' Garment
Workers' Union (ILGWU), the show with an amateur cast of garment workers won critics
and audiences to become the longest running musical of the 1930s.
The Educational Department began to expand beyond its original function of educating
workers in labor culture, and soon started to offer recreational outlets for members
including art, music and dance. In 1934, the department was reorganized under new
director Mark Starr to create three divisions, Cultural, Recreational and Education,
managed by Julius Hochman, Louis Schaffer, and Starr respectively. The Cultural Division
offered classes in drama, acting, dance and music, and also organized a chorus and
orchestra composed of union members. For years members had been trying to develop
and present labor themed plays, and while many locals were successful in staging small
productions, the drama department became formally established in the fall of 1934.
With Schaffer joining the staff of the ILGWU in October 1934, a dramatic group, the
ILGWU Players, was formed from members of several locals. Professionals were recruited
to instruct the classes, and Schaffer envisioned broadening the scope of the department
to create a venture that brought the labor movement to Broadway. At the American Federation
of Labor (AFL) Convention in 1935, Schaffer, with the encouragement of ILGWU President
David Dubinsky, introduced the idea of establishing founding a theater company for
New York City's labor movement. With enthusiastic support, Labor Stage, Inc. a non-profit
with revenue supporting the Educational Department, was established in 1935 with financial
backing from the ILGWU. The union leased the Princess Theatre and began renovating
the space to become Labor Stage, housing an intimate auditorium, studio and rehearsal
space and dressing rooms, with a dedication in January 1936.
Schaffer soon set to work to make his vision, "Pins and Needles," a realitya revue
style production that slyly satirized politics and the elite while skewering current
events staged for working men and women. Harold Rome was brought in to write the music
and lyrics, numerous writers contributed sketches, and Charles Friedman was hired
to direct (though he would later be replaced by Robert Gordon). Union members and
others active in the Educational Department were encouraged to audition, and a cast
of fifty five garment workers were selected and began extensive rehearsals. The performers
were not professionals, and in addition to learning their lines and songs, were also
instructed in the fundamentals of acting and basic stage movement. In June of 1936,
Schaffer staged an early version of "Pins and Needles" using a professional cast to
demonstrate the numbers, and though well received, Schaffer chose the unorthodox decision
to proceed with the cast of untrained garment workers. The official opening was delayed
for almost a year and a half to make sure the performers, who were still working in
the factories during the day, had sufficient time to practice and rehearse.
On July 4, 1937, the cast traveled to Unity House, the union's vacation resort in
the Poconos, for additional rehearsals that lasted ten days and concluded with a close
to completion trial performance of the show. After numerous adjustments and fine tuning,
"Pins and Needles" held its first invitation only performance at Labor Stage on November
6, 1937. After additional postponements, finally, on Saturday, November 27, 1937,
"Pins and Needles" opened to the public. The critics were favorable and with good
reviews and word of mouth, the show became an instant hit. The box office was busy
and tickets in high demand, and by January 1938, performances were sold out. Since
the performers were still working full time in the garment factories, initially the
show only played on the weekends. The garment workers were given leaves of absence
from their factory jobs to become full-time actors with pay to accommodate the increased
show schedule which now included nightly performances. When the primary target audience,
union members, found it difficult to obtain tickets to see the show, a second performing
company was organized to provide daily late afternoon matinees for the workers. Close
to fifty skits were created during the course of "Pins and Needles," of which nineteen
to twenty-two were performed at each performance, including such favorites as "Sunday
in the Park," "One Big Union for Two," and "Lesson in Etiquette." Revisions were continually
made throughout the three editions, with sketches and songs added and deleted as the
show evolved to adjust and adapt and remain current and timely.
While the show ignored references to racial issues on the stage, behind the scenes
racial inequality abounded. Olive Pearman was the first African American cast in the
show and initially only had a supporting role and worked as the seamstress on the
road. Additional African American cast members were added later after pressure on
Schaffer, including Dorothy Tucker and Dorothy Harrison, but no Hispanics appeared
in the productions. Other cast members were pressured to suppress their Jewish ethnicities
and forgo religious observances during performance schedules, some changing names
and a few altering their appearances. On the road during the touring productions,
the African American cast members were often forced to follow local segregation laws
in the cities where they were performing and encountered prejudice in finding accommodations,
eating with the cast in a restaurant, or in the extreme case, being unable to perform.
To bring the show to audiences outside of New York City, a ten month national tour
of "Pins and Needles" began in April 1938 visiting cities Philadelphia, Boston, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago, as well as smaller towns in between as the cast
made their way across the United States. For many cast members, this was their first
time traveling away from New York and their families, and especially traversing the
country on train. Stays in the larger cities were often extended, and in many instances
the cast was greeted by members from local unions. Multiple companies were formed
to accommodate the expanding schedule between touring, evenings and matinees. The
original company went on the national road tour, second and third companies formed
to perform the evening shows and matinees for union members. As the cast multiplied,
so did the number of "ringers," or semi-professionals. Schaffer started adding "ringers,"
talented ILGWU members, and individuals with aspirations to become professional actors
to replace the initially amateur cast, which created tensions among the various companies.
In March 1938 in the East Room of the White House, a smaller cast performed for President
Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor, whom had already seen the show several times. Afterward,
the cast and crew performed another condensed version of "Pins and Needles" for the
twenty-fifth anniversary of the U.S. Department of Labor. The first road show ended
on January 30, 1939 after 319 performances in 34 cities across the country. The original
company that was still remaining headed back to New York to find the new casts filling
all the roles and numerous new numbers added to show. Unfortunately, most of the original
and road show cast were forced to return back to their jobs in the garment factories
as many became phased out by semi-professional replacements. The second and revamped
edition of "Pins and Needles" debuted on April 21, 1939 and on June 26, 1939, the
show moved to the larger Windsor Theatre. The new edition proved successful, and finally,
a third edition of the show, "New Pins and Needles," opened on November 20, 1939.
After 1,108 performances, "Pins and Needles" closed in New York City on June 22, 1940.
The second national tour began a month later and toured the country before playing
its last show in Los Angeles on May 31, 1941. After the end of "Pins and Needles,"
Labor Stage did not put on another play and closed. The actors returned to the shops
and factories, with only a few trying to turn their experience into a career in show
business. "Pins and Needles" challenged the idea of labor sponsored entertainment
to become a popular hit with memorable lyrics, hummable tunes, and a social message
that appealed to a broad audience.
The collection consists of a DVD recording of a program at the Muhlenberg Branch of
the New York Public Library on December 4, 1997. Ruth Rubinstein Graeber was invited
to speak about the history of "Pins & Needles" and her experience as an original cast
member in the show. Graeber recounted her time rehearsing and performing and had displayed
posters with photographs from the show, and at the end of her talk she plays a recording
of her singing "Chain Store Daisy." Also in the audience at the library and identified
in the video were Elise Bregman Bretton, Eugene Goldstein, and Nettie Harary Schrog.
Graeber begins with recounting the history of Labor Stage, the ILGWU's involvement,
the classes and activities offered, and the drama group that sought to produce labor
themed plays. She tells of her own history as a member of Local 32 Corset and Brassiere
workers and her involvement in dance classes offered by her local before she came
to Labor Stage and was recruited by the drama department. She talks of how "Pins &
Needles" came about and the amount of work and rehearsals that went into the show
before it was ready to debut. Graeber had solos in the numbers "Mussolini Handicap"
and "Economics I" and then rehearsed privately with the director for a new number
"Chain Store Daisy" (Vassar Girl Finds a Job). She was initially concerned that she
had so many solos in the show over the other cast members.
When "Pins & Needles" opened, Graeber discusses the popularity of the show and mentions
how all the celebrities that went to see it were brought backstage to have photographs
taken with the cast. With sold out performances, the cast needed to take leaves of
absences from their jobs so that "Pins & Needles" could play nightly. Graeber recounts
that she was earning $22/23 a week as a piece worker and needed it to help her family
so couldn't make any less in her new job as an actor. She remembers that Burgess Meredith,
who was head of the Actors Equity Union came to speak to the cast about joining the
union, though management did not want to pay the higher wages required ($40 a week
for actors). A compromise was reached in where eight of the performers joined the
union as actors while the remaining members of the show were counted as the chorus.
With "Pins & Needles playing every night, Graeber states that an additional 5:30 p.m.
show for union members for $.25 a ticket was added and performed by a second company.
Graeber tells in great detail her experience of going to the White House to perform
for President and Mrs. Roosevelt. The cast only knew that they were going to play
a condensed version of the show with the strongly satirical and possibly offensive
numbers cut, at a dinner for the Department of Labor, a Labor Gala with 1,200 people.
It was kept a secret until only a few hours before that Graeber and the cast would
perform in the East Room. Graeber remembers the strict security by the secret service,
an out of tune gold plated piano, a curtain strung up across the room, and shaking
hands with the president who said something to each cast member. Mrs. Roosevelt served
punch and cookies afterward. On April 19, 1938, Graeber discusses the first stop in
Philadelphia, for the road show that lasted eight months and took her and the cast
across the U. S. and Canada.
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archivist for access to these materials.
This collection must be used in keeping with the Kheel Center Information Sheet and
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INFORMATION FOR USERS
Ruth Graeber interview on "Pins and Needles" #6036/081 AV. Kheel Center for Labor-Management
Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library.
Related Collections: 5780: ILGWU records 5780 OH: ILGWU Oral History 5780/110 OHT: ILGWU Oral histories 6036/006: Harry M. Goldman "Pins and Needles" Oral History 6036/031: International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union "Pins and Needles" Additional
Scrapbooks 6036/077: Rose Newmark Collection on the ILGWU Musical Pins and Needles
Names:
Graeber, Ruth.
International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
CONTAINER LIST
Container
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Description
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Date
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Box 1 |
Ruth Graeber discussing "Pins and Needles"
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1997 | |
Scope and Contents
1 DVD
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