Jean Hinds, August 11, 2014

Started at Caradco in 1953. Worked as a secretary in the traffic department for 20 years.

It was so funny how I got that job. I’d just come to Dubuque and I was working up at this Beadle, Smith and Weber up on Central. And anyway this man Jim Devine came in to pay his insurance and we got to talking. He ran the traffic department at Caradco and his gal I guess had just moved to California and he was looking for somebody. He said, “I sure could use somebody like you,” and do you know he hired me on the spot! He was a real nice person to work for. Real Irish. But a nice person.

I was 26 when that picture of me as the queen candidate was taken. I think I was 24 when I came to Dubuque. My home is Elkader and I just came down by myself to find a job. I had no family living in Dubuque and I can’t believe my parents let me come alone because they were pretty strict. And I’m not a brave person so it just baffles me how I did that. I didn’t have a car. I used to ride the bus. When I first came down I lived at Mary of the Angels. Then I got acquainted with some other gals and they asked me to move in with them at the David Apartments down on Jackson Street. I used to walk down there by myself at night. Do you think I would do that now? No way.

Caradco was a great place to work, though. We just had so much fun. I was thinking of this last night, just kind of reminiscing in my mind. A lot of us gals, you know, we were all single at the time and we used to have some great parties. Those were fun, fun years.