(BUILDING TRADES) International Hod Carriers and Building La

Sale 2223 - Lot 228

Price Realized: $ 600

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(BUILDING TRADES.) International Hod Carriers and Building Laborers Union of America banner for Local 130. Painted denim banner, 56 x 28 inches, with contemporary crude wooden roller and rope; the "30" painted on a separate piece of denim which has been sewn over the original local number to make "130"; remnants of fringe on bottom edge, minor wear and moderate fading. Scranton, PA, nd

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

The Hod Carriers union, now known as the Laborers International Union, was founded in 1903 to represent construction laborers. Local 130 was in operation by 1920. This somewhat crude banner is in contrast to the more lavish silk banners sometimes found at other unions (see lots 226 and 275). This local gained national notoriety in 1954, when a non-union contractor began building a house in Scranton. Local 130's business agent Anthony Bonacuse allegedly advised the contractor that "It would be a smart thing for you to be union--the boys play rough here." The contractor ignored this friendly advice and went ahead with the project. The partially constructed house was soon blown apart with dynamite in the dead of night, and Bonacuse was implicated along with other Scranton labor leaders. See Fredericksburg (VA) Free-Lance Star, 17 April 1957 and Life Magazine, 29 April 1957.