Images(2)

Flashlight

Object number2016.94.1

Manufacturer Bright Star

Date1965-1975

OriginUSA

MediumPlastic; Glass

Credit LineGift of Robert Kiser

DescriptionYellow and black flashlight.DimensionsLength x Diameter: 7.75 × 2.25 in. (19.7 × 5.7 cm)
InscriptionsBlack along side below the switch "JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL CORP."
MarksBlack end cap on the non-light end has raised text "BRIGHT STAR / No. 1618 / MADE IN U.S.A."
Historical NotesFlashlight that belonged to the donor when he was a foreman at the Jones & Laughlin tin mill in Aliquippa. Kiser went to Muskingum College and then to Duquesne graduate school for business. He decided to apply for a job in the J&L mill because he knew they paid well and he had worked one summer in the tin mill during college and liked the work. Kiser started his six months of training in 1965. Every trainee spent two weeks in every part of the mill, it was a continuous mill so the process started with the raw material and ended with the finished product being shipped. After their two weeks spent in a specific part of the mill each trainee wrote a report about that mill/department. After the six months of training he was asked what area he enjoyed the most, while he did enjoy the coke works the best, he declined to work in that mill because of the health hazards. He became a foreman in the tin mill where he had worked in college. The flashlights were given to foreman because there were many parts of the mills that required extra light, they were also needed to look into machinery and as the donor claimed, to check on employees. The donor retired in 1975 because he was frustrated with the older management style and the unwillingness to change and he thought that the mill would not last much longer as a result. The mill did end up closing about ten years later.

Previous owner Robert Kiser

Related institution Jones and Laughlin Steel Company

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