Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 92 Factory
New York, Factory District.

Colin, led by Jack, came to the place where the idle color printing machine factory was located.

"Be careful."

Walking on the muddy path of the factory, Jack reached out to stop Colin behind him, carefully avoiding a small puddle in front of him.

And not far from the puddle, a few children in ragged clothes were playing in the water with their bare feet.

Their almost bony bodies can be vaguely seen through the ragged coats.

These children are the children of factory workers. Their parents work in the factory every day and night, enduring the harsh working environment, just to earn a meager salary, and have no time to take care of these children.

Under the impact of the Great Depression, the exploitation of factories and enterprises became more and more serious.

In the early stage of the crisis, under the strong demand of the Hoover administration, which was still somewhat prestigious at the time, the proportion of wage cuts in major industrial enterprises was very small.However, as the impact of the Great Depression gradually spread, those factories that had been on the sidelines finally could no longer hold on. By reducing working hours and working days, they managed to cut workers' wages by [-]% of the original amount.

At the time, many industrial enterprises and small businesses refused even to pay lip service to the government's entreaties to maintain wages.

The headwind of growing unemployment has led some department stores to pay employees as little as $5 to $8 a week.

In addition, garment workers, confectionery employees, and cannery workers are among the most brutally exploited classes.

Someone conducted a survey in Chicago. It is said that most female workers are working hard for less than 25 cents an hour, and 1/4 of them earn less than 10 cents.

1932年，随着大萧条的持续，伐木业每小时工资减到了1美分，一般承包工程业的是7分半美分；砖瓦制造业是6分；锯木厂5分；纽约第一流速记员的薪水，从每周35至45美元下降到了16美元；家庭佣人不得不为了每个月10美元而劳作。

And New York City is the most exploited worker in New York State.

"Time Magazine" once conducted a survey. A clothing company employing 5 female workers in the city: hatmakers get 0.4 points for crocheting a dozen hats, but can only knit 2 dozen a week; female workers who make aprons get 2 points , You can only earn 0.2 points a day.

But even in the face of such severe exploitation, the workers did not dare to have the slightest complaint.

Because even if it is such a job, there are a lot of people watching behind it, whether it is an unemployed man with a family or an elderly person, they are all competing with them for this job.

After passing the overcrowded garment factory, Colin and Jack came to the location of the printing factory.

"Mr. Colin Luper, nice to meet you?"

At the gate of the printing factory, the factory owner, who had been waiting for a long time, wiped his hands repeatedly on his work pants before stepping forward to greet him.

"Me too, Mr. Doug."

Reaching out to shake hands with the factory owner, Colin replied with a smile.

Immediately afterwards, the two, led by Doug, came to the location where the color printing rotary machine was located.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Reaching out to lift off the tarpaulin covering the machine, Doug covered his mouth and coughed several times in a row, and explained to Colin and the two beside him, suppressing his discomfort.

"Sorry, both of you...ahem...I bought this rotary machine before the Great Depression, mainly to print posters and promotional materials for merchants, but not long after I bought the machine...the Great Depression happened, and many The merchants who cooperated with the factory went bankrupt one after another, and the printing factory had to idle this color machine out of cost considerations and reuse the original black and white printing process..."

I don't know how long the dust on the printing press has been accumulating, and when it is torn off, it will float in half the factory.

Standing aside, Jack covered his mouth and couldn't help coughing.

Turning to look at Colin behind him, he found that the other party didn't seem to be affected by the dust.

When Doug, the factory owner, lifted the tarpaulin, Colin had already used [Super Breath] to protect himself from the dust.

After waiting like this for almost ten seconds, until the dust in the air gradually fell, Doug coughed, cleared the thick phlegm in his mouth, pointed to the machine in front of him and said, "Gentlemen, this It is the color wheel machine you want."

Following the direction pointed by the factory owner, Colin's eyes fell on the colored rotary machine in front of him. As a layman, he didn't know much about this type of machinery, but just judging from the appearance of the machine, it seemed to be just as the other party said. As I said, it hasn't been used for a long time, and it looks at least [-]% to [-]% new.

Although, Colin doesn't know much about machines.

However, there are obviously people who know about it. Hearing the introduction of the factory owner, Jack immediately stepped forward and opened the flip cover of the machine, tried to press the button again, then turned his head and asked Doug beside him: "Can we Try printing it out and see the effect?"

"This?"

Facing Jack's request, Doug showed a hesitant expression on his face. After all, color ink printing is not cheap.

But in the end, he nodded and agreed: "Yes, but I have to wait for a while. I'm going to the warehouse to see if there is any color ink left."

Simply, in Doug's printing factory, there are still some colored inks left over from the original printing.

Although, I don't know how much time has passed since now, but it shouldn't be a problem just as a trial.

After starting the machine, along with the rotation of the gears inside the color rotary printing machine, Doug, the owner of the factory, operated the machine skillfully to complete the printing of a color poster.

I don't know whether it is because of the aging of the ink or the general quality of the paper used for printing. The effect of the poster printed by Doug is not ideal.

The color leakage can be clearly seen on the poster pattern, which is especially obvious under the lines of the characters. Picking up the poster with a strong ink smell, Jack frowned and handed it to Ke Ke in front of him. Forest.

Reaching out to take the poster, Colin glanced left and right.

"Mr. Colin, this has nothing to do with the machine, it is entirely my own fault."

"I can ask the printer to come over, he will definitely be able to print works that satisfy you!"

Looking at the shoddy and colorfully printed poster in Ke Lin's hand, the factory owner couldn't help but make an excuse.

I am deeply afraid that this customer who finally arrived will leave because of his poor operation.

In this period, not many people are willing to buy such a big machine.

Once Colin is missed, it will be a question of whether Doug's printing house will survive the next time.

　Thank you for the 100 starting coins from Liushang, and the 1500 starting coins from Shenxiao_.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)