On Labor Day, Wirth Watching honors the workers and jobs of the past

Salt Lake City, Utah – Many unions used to stand for photos in front of city hall one hundred years ago. Thankfully, many of those images are still in existence, and fortunately, we have footage of a large number of devoted people from the past. This is Wirth Watching’s tribute to Labor Day.

We consider the people who toiled to create the modern-day Utah that are now forgotten. Many of them worked in highly mechanized occupations today.

Like the laborers in this nearly century-old footage who toiled in the Great Salt Lake, harvesting salt. We pay tribute to those who earned their living the hard way in this story.

To everyone’s cheers, “nearly a mile of workers walked down the street,” according to Wirth.

For those laborers, the march held a unique significance.

“You see, back then, professionals wore uniforms. and Labor Day was the day for pressing and cleaning them. This is the union of plasterers. When they were housed in Trolley Square, very few occupations wore as fancy of a uniform as those who worked the street cars. The men in the automobile wore unique hats, wool coats, and brass buttons! says Wirth.

For many of those unions, there was, of course, the obligatory photo op in front of the city-county headquarters.

“Do you recall the newspaper boy’s cry as he called out each headline?” Wirth queries.

Indeed! The Helper Utah Journal, a long-gone publication that ceased printing in 1976, according to University of Utah records, employed linotype operators who made lead sheets for printing paper.

This is an homage to those who worked hard and took pleasure in their work, even though the past gives way to the present and what is ahead in the future. We honor the people who founded Utah.