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Freige, Mern (audio interview #3 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is final interview conducted with Mern Freige in her small Venice (California) apartment. As previously, the initial rapport developed with the interviewer made the process very smooth and comfortable. Freige talked freely during the interview, and was frank and honest. Although she needed little prompting, at times she found the interviewer's question a prompting, though the interviewer's questions at times had to be re phrased. The audio quality of side b is poor. 6/4/1980
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- 2021-07-23
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- SUBJECT BIO - Mern Freige went to work as an assembler at Doug's, Long Beach in 1942, after moving to Los Angeles one year earlier. Although she was born in southern California, in 1913, when she was one year old the family moved to Texas. She began working on her family's small farm in her teens, and then began working on a ranch as cook. She married a ranch hand ten years her senior, when she was eighteen, and spent the next ten years cooking for the cowboys wherever her husband was working. She left him and came to California in 1941 and worked as a clerk for one year before getting a job as a riveter at Douglas, Santa Monica. After being laid off from Douglas, she held a string of jobs, returning to work for Douglas again from 1950-1953 and 1954-1956. After that, she returned to working as a cook, first in her third husband's bar-cafe and then at ranches, convalescent hospitals and bars, until 1978. Freige was interviewed by on three separate occasions in her apartment in Venice by Cindy Cleary. They developed good rapport, and Freige talked freely during the interview. She did not seem intimidated, though at times she had difficulty understanding the questions. TOPICS - attitudes towards union; gender relations; flirting in the plant; postwar work at Jackson's Auto Seat Covers and North American Aircraft; second husband; marital relationship; daughter; postwar work at Douglas; wothird marriage; household management; working at husband's restaurant and bar; work experiences as a cook following her husband's death in 1966; living arrangements; impact of war work; and reflections about her lihealth; menopause; daughter; grandchildren; family life; retirement; social activities; outlook on future; reflections on life; attitudes towards women's movement, ERA, and societal changes; and impact of work at D
- *** File: rrrmfreige9.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-1:38)... Freige did not join the union because she could not afford to pay union dues and because she did not agree with union policies. She did not think the union did anything for employees and, therefore, believed there was no purpose for joining. (1:38-2:53)... Although flirting and teasing did not occur in her section of production, Freige recalls hearing rumors of these things happening on the production line. (2:53-5:44)... After Freige was laid off from Douglas, she went to work for Jackson's Auto Seat Cover in Santa Monica. Her position there entailed cutting seat patterns in the leather using a machine. When she went to work at this company, there were very few women employed there. By the time the company went out of business in 1947, there were approximately twenty women employed at the factory. She was paid a flat rate of $50 a week. Her wages were "under the cap" and taxes were not deducted from her paycheck. (5:44-8:58)... In 1947, Freige was hired at North American to work in the templates department. At the time, she had remarried and her husband also was employed at North American. When she went into the plant, there were several women employed in production, most of whom had worked during the war. Freige recalls working with a few women who had worked continuously at North American since the war. Freige was laid off from North American in 1949. (8:58-10:08)... Freige never thought about not working after she was laid off from Douglas in 1945 because she needed a job to support her daughter. She also did not want to stay home because she would have had "too much idle time." She never had any problems finding work in the post-war period. (10:08-15:34)... Note: there is background noise of an airplane flying overhead in this segment . Freige met her second husband (Bill Benton) around 1945 on a blind date. It was love at first sight when they met. They were married a short time later in Tijuana, Mexico and again in Santa Monica. When her husband was discharged from the navy after the war, he began working at North American. Although it took Freige awhile to adjust to being married once again, she and her husband enjoyed a happy and active marriage until his death in the 1950s. Her daughter liked her stepfather and she never had any conflicts with him. When Freige remarried, she felt more settled in her life, stating, "I did things different with my second husband than I did with the first one." (15:34-21:31)... Freige outlines her work history following her husband's death. She returned to Douglas in 1950 and was assigned to work in electronics. The hiring process was similar to what she experienced during the war; however, she was not required to fill out any additional paperwork. She went through a brief training program in which she learned wiring and soldering skills. There were several women employed in her department doing the same types of electronic work as Freige. There were a few minority women in the department. (21:31-22:57)... Freige compares the war and post-war working conditions at Douglas. (22:57-26:38)... Freige is unclear about why she left Douglas in 1953 (In interview 2D, she mentions she left Douglas because they offered her a lead position). After she left Douglas, she went to Texas on vacation. When she returned to Santa Monica, she went to work for a flex straw company until 1954, at which time she returned to Douglas. She talks about the women she worked with at Douglas during 1954-56. She did not like working under a woman because many of them were not qualified and antagonistic. She believes that men were better leaders than women, stating, "I didn't mind a man telling me what to do because I knew that he knew what he was doing." End of tape. *** File: rrrmfreige10.mp3 (0:00-4:10)... Note: the audio quality of this segment is poor. Freige left Douglas in 1956 after she married her third husband and started helping him in his bar & restaurant. She worked at Douglas during the day and at her husband's bar in the evenings until about 3:00 a.m. When working two jobs took its toll, Freige decided to leave Douglas. Her husband died in 1966. (4:10-6:15)... Note: the audio quality of this segment is poor. Freige talks about how she managed her household while she helped her husband run his bar. (6:15-14:49)... Note: the audio quality of this segment is poor. After her husband died in 1966, she sold his bar and decided to travel. She visited friends in Oregon and Nevada. She decided to move to Carson City where she lived for three years. She then returned to Van Nuys where her daughter was living and she decided to go back to work. She worked as a cook at a dude ranch for one season. In 1969, she returned to Van Nuys and began cooking for convalescent hospitals. She goes into detail about her experiences working in convalescent homes; however, the audio quality is poor and it is difficult to understand her. In the early 1970s, Freige moved to Idaho and continued to cook for convalescent homes there. (14:49-17:03)... Note: the audio quality of this segment is poor and it is difficult to understand some portions. When Freige returned from Idaho she moved to Oxnard where her daughter was living. She supported herself for a short time on unemployment. She then moved in with her sister in Lawndale. Freige moved to her current location. (17:03-19:05)... Note: the audio quality of this segment is poor. She discusses her job experiences as a cook, indicating that it was difficult cooking for the elderly because of their varying diet sensitivities. (19:05-22:41)... Note: the audio quality of this segment is poor. Freige notes that she enjoyed working at Douglas because it gave her an opportunity to work with tools and build things. She talks about her previous experience fixing things when she was a young woman living in the country. After working at Douglas, she became even more skilled at doing things around the house. (22:41-27:38)... Note: the audio quality of this segment is poor. Looking back, Freige says that she lived a beautiful life and was proud of the way she raised her daughter. She talks about how losing three husbands affected her life, but notes that she was always very independent . Even though she misses her husbands, she likes the fact that she does not have to answer to anyone and can come and go as she pleases. End of tape. *** File: rrrmfreige11.mp3 (0:00-5:54)... Except for walking pneumonia, she never contracted any serious illnesses. She walks every morning and believes that she is in good physical condition. She never had any miscarriages and was happy that she never got pregnant again. She enjoys her only daughter and her grandchildren. Menopause was a relatively easy experience. The worst menopausal symptoms she experienced were hot flashes. (5:54-10:43)... Freige talks about her daughter's family and her career. She does not spend a lot of time with her daughter, except for telephone conversations and visits a couple times a month. (10:43-15:34)... Freige enjoys retirement and spends most of her time sewing, reading, watching television, and cleaning house. She likes to go for walks and visit with friends. She continues to have an active social life. Retirement is especially precious to her because she does not have to live her life by an alarm clock and a work schedule. (15:34-16:25)... Her plans for the future include traveling and visiting family around the country. She does not dwell on the future, stating, "I'm just as happy right now and I just want to live here, I guess, forever until I kick the bucket and I hope I'm a real old lady whenever I do that." (16:25-19:39)... The happiest years in her life were those traveling and vacationing with her second husband. She discusses some of their vacationing experiences. The most fulfilling times in her life occurred when she was a young girl growing up on a farm and living with her first husband on a cattle ranch in Texas. The only times she ever felt truly unhappy was when she lost family members and her husbands. (19:39-20:45)... If given the opportunity to live her life over, she would not change a thing. There were times when she felt exhausted from working; however, whenever she took time off, she always missed her work. She maintained a realistic view about life and understood that "you had to take the good with the bad and the bad with the good" in everything. (20:45-25:58)... Freige comments on the women's movement and the ERA, stating that women "let themselves go too far with this liberation." Although she understands equal rights for women, she does not have the same feeling towards people of color. She lived a "good, clean life, which [people] don't do nowadays." She would like to have had a better education and has mixed emotions about women who with professional careers. She chooses not to express her attitudes about societal changes in public because "when you get as old as I am you have to go along with the times." (25:58-27:56)... She discusses how working at Douglas impacted her life, stating, "It gave me an incentive to go out and do a job and put more confidence in myself than what I had before I went to work." Working at Douglas not only broadened her knowledge but also increased her social network of friends. (27:56-29:34)... The segment concludes the interview with Freige's closing remarks about her desire to meet new people and her memories of the people she met while working in convalescent hospitals. End of tape.
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