As I dip my tow into watch collecting I decided to buy this guy
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/301857043695...parms=gh1g=I301857043695.N41.S2.R2.TR4
Why did I buy this? Between Regina being a Canadian representative of Omega and the numismatic reference on the back it was a no-brainier, Canada and coins!
The seller knew little about it so I went digging.
H.M. Hill was part owner of a hardware business in Minneapolis during the engraved period on said watch.
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00848.xmlHe was also listed in the book
"Union Against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and its Fights Against Organized Labor, 1903-1947"
My understanding of trade unions is limited. Most comes from a class on Cape Breton coal miner protest songs I took at C.B.U while studying folklore and ethnomusicology. The rest comes from The Simpson's episode "Last Exit to Springfield" and my Grandfather telling me how workers at his Co-Op would refuse to do any little chore not in their job description and leave at 5 on the dot.
Luckily for me the experts at Wikipedia had this to say:
Citizens' Alliances were state and local anti-trade union organizations prominent in the United States of America during the first decade of the 20th century. The Citizen's Alliances were closely related to employers' associations but allowed participation of a broad range of sympathetic citizens in addition to those employers apt to be affected by strikes. Originating in the American state of Ohio as the "Modern Order of Bees," the Citizens' Alliance movement spread westwards, playing a particularly important role in labor relations in the states of Colorado and California. Citizens' Alliance groups often worked in tandem with smaller but better financed employers' organizations interested in establishing or maintaining open shop labor conditions, including the Mine Owners' Associations (MOA) or the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
Now I am more confused.....
My question is...a) What bank do you think the bank in question was? There must have been a few open during this time period. Maybe I could find a cheque or bank statement for the hardware store?
b) Briefly, what where the citizen's alliance.
C) Do you think this was some short of "kick back" from the bank to Mister Hill for "playing ball"?
The little bit of leg work I have done just leaves me more confused. I hope to have this watch in hand by the next coin show up in Florencville-Bristol so I can get the out of town watch guy to gives it a look over.
Thank you all in advance. I always learn something new when I log on to this forum.
Posted 02/03/2016 10:32 am
