[LABOR HISTORY] MOVING PICTURE OPERATORS UNION LOCAL 306

[Bottle Opener] Do Not Patronize Theatres Where Local 306 Is Picketing

[New York]: Moving Picture Operators Union Local 306 / A.F.L., n.d., ca. 1932. Original steel bottle opener/milk cap pick (6.5cm. in length). Minor rustiness, else Near Fine.

Presumably issued during the 1932 union wars between the New York-based Moving Picture Operators Union Local 306 and the Empire State Motion Picture Union. The dispute came to a head on a Monday evening in early September, 1932, when several bottles of phosphorus were thrown into a movie-going crowd at two theaters in Flatbush, Brooklyn, injuring six. Leaders of the local were interviewed by the District Attorney but claimed innocence, arguing that "some persons inimical to Local No. 306 were responsible for the throwing of the phosphorus in the hope of having the blame placed on Local No. 306" ("Trade Union" (Brooklyn), September 8, 1932). Tools like this—which combined a bottle opener with a sharp pick for prying caps off milk bottles—were often used for advertising a variety of businesses.

Price: $300.00

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