Father John's Medicine Co., Inc. -- My First Job (for 10 years)

Father John's Medicine Co., Inc.
73 - 93 Market Street
Lowell, Massachusetts

The photo above was taken sometime in 1922, about 40 years before I began my job there. In 1962, the area above looked quite different. There was a private room (for the president) on the right, with a wall between the wall clock and beyond the post, the wall continued to the wall shown. A door was installed. From the new wall on the right, a new oak railing went right to left (to behind the lady in the foreground). This area is where the vice president and treasurer sat, and I was several feet away. My desk is shown below. So when I typed, I would face the front of the building and my bosses.

Photo by Barbara Poole

 My desk, shown above, was on the first floor.

One of my duties was to open all mail. I decided to keep this envelope from 1965 because I was a stamp collector.

The below employees were working on the second floor, doing assembly line work. Employees shown: Margaret Jones, Anna M. Maloney, Ray Wylie, Lila Shannon.

Missing are Frank Shannon, Theodore "Ted" Villandry, Lucien "Sonny" Villandry, Agnes Mellen, Winnie McKuen? and Tommy Fox. In the office were Helen "Mary" McNamara, Annette Tartre, and myself, plus the Donehue brothers, Gerald and George. Chemist, Thomas Casey, Eddie O'Hare, and several men in shipping; Paul Morin, Bill Cheetham, and Joe Carty. Does anybody know any of these people?

Photo by Barbara Poole
Margaret Jones and Lila Shannon

Photo by Barbara Poole

Frank Wylie

Photo by Barbara Poole

Anna Maroney?

Photo by Barbara Poole

Photo by Barbara Poole

The company was sold in 1977 and is now used for senior housing.

Photo by Barbara Poole

Photo by Barbara Poole

Photo by Barbara Poole

Back alley, where the trains would pull up to unload boxes, bottles, and other materials used for manufacturing. The tracks have been removed, and there is now an entrance to a new small park.

Over the years, I've come to realize how lucky I was to have had certain jobs, including this one. Of course at the time, I probably didn't think so.  Imagine these days, going to a building, ringing a doorbell, and asking for a job.

That is what I did, one cold October Friday afternoon. The vice president met with me and gave me an interview, of sorts, no resume or anything.  I was right out of high school. Then his father spoke with me, the elderly president and vice-president.  I began work the following Monday learning the job from Bessie Wallach who had given her notice hours earlier.  That would rarely happen these days.  No references, no experience, nothing. And, I stayed 10 years!

Father John's Medicine Company was in a huge building, with very few employees.  The office where I worked as a secretary had two much older, single women, the president, vice-president, and secretary/ treasurer (father and two sons).  Every day for all those years, the job was pretty much the same. It was like working in a museum, my 1943 manual typewriter was my pride and joy. I used carbon paper and learned to type perfectly very quickly. Regarding printing, Once a year I used the typesetter to compose Christmas letters to orphanages and there were many throughout the United States. I notivied them we were send ing a box of the medicine. By the way, I don't think anybody does typesetting any more. Each day, after lunch, my boss, the vp, dictated letters to me, which I really enjoyed (I took shorthand in school). Before I forget, this medicine company was established in 1855 and since the cough medicine was made in the building, I could smell the ingredients, such as cod liver oil, all the time. You got used to it.

It was the kind of job where there was a lot of flexibility and tons of fun.  I met and dated two guys who worked there, one I am now married to. Yes, it was fun. It was also the kind of job that was impossible to leave. My regular hours were 8:30 to 4:30 with an hour for lunch. In the summer it was 9-4, an hour for lunch. Same pay, so I could never leave in the summer since I was only working 30 hours a week. Every Christmas, we received a week's pay as a bonus and received time off for Christmas shopping.  Every July we received a special bonus, depending on sales, it was usually three week's pay. I was happily stuck there, the benefits were too good, and we even had free health insurance. However, I did finally leave after ten years.

On March 15, 1995, we attended an exhibit of Father John's Medicine memorabilia. It was sponsored by The Archives of St. Patrick Parish between March - April 1995. Below is a large flyer for that event.

 

Prince Spaghetti of Lowell, Massachusetts

Prince Spaghetti of Lowell, Massachusetts

Home of Prince Spaghetti and Prince Grotto Restaurant, Lowell, Massachusetts

I am including my employment at Prince Spaghetti as one of the things I like about Lowell. When I got the job, my mother-in-law was thrilled, since she had worked there in the 40s. I began working there the 8th year of being owned by Borden and lasted just two years before Borden sold the company in 1997. Below are various photos I took during my employment.

The building in red brick is the original plant (where shipping, quality control, mini grocery store, and the Prince museum are ) and the large white/grey building was where the pasta was manufactured and executive offices. The party picture shown below was on the 2nd floor of the new building.

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The courtyard of The Prince Grotto Restaurant faces the old and new buildings. Below are two railroad cars. There was also a fleet of large trucks with the same logo.

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Original business envelope.

A cook's paper hat, front and back. Some employees got together for dinner the week after the plant closed, and we signed our names.

Paper placemat (above).

Here is an iconic ad: Prince Spaghetti commercial, starring Anthony.

 The small book, Prince Treasury of Italian Recipes has 305 pages.

The above items were used for advertising the Prince Spaghetti Company and their restaurant, The Grotto Restaurant in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Some of the employees shown are Geoffry Ireland, Plant Manager in yellow shirt with tie; Dennis Hovland, Plant Engineer; Kathy Blair, Edmund T. Nelson, Systems Manager, Tony Iria, and Vincent Federici (Vinny). Gabriel Cannata. I am in the rose jacket, looking elsewhere.

Other employees I knew were Connie Gath, Larry LeCam, and briefly Margaret Carnevale (I replaced her when she left).

These two photos show what the area looks like in December 2021. The old factory and restaurant were torn down. There is a black iron fence around the entire facility. Photo taken on Newhall Street.

The above photo was taken on October 18, 2015.

The entrance to the new company, Markley, on Moore Street. The photo was taken on April 23, 2017.

Update:  A rare look inside the largest data center in Massachusetts (as reported by WBZ Boston and shared by YouTube. (As reported June 21, 2026)

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/inside-lowell-markley-data-center/

Veterans Day at Arlington National Cemetery with Max Cleland and a shot of President Jimmy Carter

Max Cleland

Many of us celebrate Veterans Day in different ways. We have our traditions, whether to go to a cemetery to honor a lost soldier or a loved one, go to a parade, or do something else to celebrate or remember. For many years it has been a day of looking back for me. The picture above is of Max Cleland, taken by me on a Veteran's Day (either 1978 or 1979) at Arlington National Cemetery. He was the administrator of the Veterans Administration (now called the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs). This was taken after the ceremony which is often seen on TV, in which the president and the administrator both speak at this amphitheater and the president also lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. I remember this day clearly. The president was Jimmy Carter. I had a press pass and a green ribbon, allowing me to walk about freely. The reason for my credentials was, as an employee of the Veterans Administration in Washington, D.C., I worked in the film library at that time. This department did all the filming of anything newsworthy pertaining to the Veterans Administration, and the staff needed an extra hand and photographer. They provided my film but kept the prints. They did give me two copies of the picture above; note the black border, all developing was done in their dark room. I have no recollection as to how many photos I took of the president.

I knew Max Cleland for three years. He was remarkable to say the least, having lost three limbs in the Vietnam War. His car was designed so that he could drive himself to and from work. He also wrote a book, "Strong at the Broken Places" which he autographed for me. He is still out and about in the country or on TV campaigning for those Democrats running for office. I wanted to see him five years ago when he campaigned for John Kerry for President in New Hampshire, but I just couldn't get there in time. With his phenomenal memory, I like to think he remembered me. I also have a personal photo somebody took of him and me (when I half sat in his lap.)

Max Cleland wrote this book while in office. I had him autograph this first edition while we were both working there. I noticed that Amazon has a new edition, shown below (it may be updated, I don't know.)

On July 20, 1980  the VA's had its 50th Anniversary at the headquarters in Washington. There was lots of celebrating, with a huge cake and a slice for all. I had my photo taken with a very happy Max Cleland. The weather was unbearably hot, that they closed early because the a/c broke down.

Max Cleland a triple amputee hero.

One of the few photos I liked of myself. But I think I liked Max and my new Diane Von Furstenberg pink and white dress more.

Along with other things I think of on this day are the days I worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, also in Washington, and my years as a soldier. I have very fond memories of this day.

A good friend was an employee photographer, and I was able to keep this picture I took of her. President Carter was at the podium.

See my close-up photo of President Carter.

Prince Spaghetti of Lowell, Massachusetts Fame -- Wordless Wednesday

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Home of Prince Spaghetti, Lowell, Massachusetts

In 1912, in the North End of Boston, three immigrants from Sicily began making spaghetti and sold it to customers. The business was so fantastic that they needed more space, so in 1941 they moved to Prince Street in Lowell. In 1987 the company was sold to Borden, Inc., whose headquarters are in Ohio.

The stipulation between Borden and Prince was that nothing would change for ten years; no major changes and no layoffs. It was one huge family, mostly of hard-working Portuguese employees, many who worked there 30-40 or more years on one of the three shifts. When I began working there, into the 8th year of being owned by Borden.

It came to no huge surprise, that when the 10 years was up, Borden had no need for Lowell's plant, but they wanted the name. They had other plants, incl. one in St. Louis. Word of our closing spread like wildfire, I received phone calls from the press, and everybody wanted to know all the details.

Fortunately, I had more information and warning than most people, since I worked for the Plant Manager. Over 400 employees lost their jobs. We received nice severance packages and other benefits, but the pride of working for one of the most well-known companies in Massachusetts was no more.

The building in red brick is the original plant (where all offices, shipping, quality control, mini grocery store, and the Prince museum) and the large white/grey building was where the pasta was manufactured.

Prince Pasta / Spaghetti is now owned by New World Pasta in Pennsylvania. I can still buy the same blue Prince box in any local store. It didn't go away, just changed several hands and locations.

I shared some advertising products from the company in a recent post, see HERE. 

Nice article about the history from Mass Moments.

Courtyard facing the old and new buildings. Below are two railroad cars. There was also a fleet of large trucks with the same logo.

Update: On June 25, 2014, there was an article in The Lowell Sun newspaper about the old Prince plant and property being up for sale again.  See article at HERE.

Update #2 on October 15, 2014. Lowell Five buys former Prince building. http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_26732377

Photo of building from the back, Lawrence Street side (November 2014).

Advertising for Prince Spaghetti

Above is a paper place-mat.

They were given out when large groups were having spaghetti meals for a fund raising event.

Here is an iconic ad: Prince Spaghetti commercial, starring Anthony

UPDATE for February 3, 2016: The mother from the classic Prince pasta commercial has died (click on the link to read the article about her death. "Mary Fiumara, the woman who shouted “Anthony! Anthony!” in an iconic Prince pasta commercial, died on February 2 at 88 years old.

Prince Spaghetti began 100 years ago in Boston, MA, this week, and later moved to Lowell, MA. I was lucky to have a great job working directly under the Plant Manager and was able to have all the spaghetti I wanted.

 The small book, Prince Treasury of Italian Recipes has 305 pages.

The above items were used for advertising the Prince Spaghetti Company and Restaurant in Lowell, Massachusetts. The large paper place mats were still given away at the time the plant closed in 1997, 10 years after Borden, Inc. bought them out (my check came from Borden, employees always called it Prince). The bottom two items are much older things from Prince's past. I have a few other items, taken at the time the company closed, which I'll have to dig out and post some day.

UPDATE:  I located a pen with Prince advertising, and decided to post here on this page for Prince products.

Originally posted January 12, 2012.