June 17, 1904

Born in 1883, Johnny Sicotte was 20 years old and probably working as a fireman aboard a locomotive when this photo was taken. (Later, he worked for the Buckle Factory.) In 8 years time, John would settle down and marry Mary Rodier, but in 1904 he seems a rather jaunty turn-of-the century young man in celluloid collar and cap.

Waltham Watch Company

A significant physical presence in the city and maybe even a claim to fame, the Waltham Watch Company was known for the quality of its timepieces. Therese’s Bronx-born husband Alex owned stock in the company well before he met his future bride.
    The Sicottes had their impact on Waltham Watch (or vice versa.) Quite a few worked there in various capacities. Edward says: “My brother Leo worked for over twenty years at the Watch Factory, however, he was in the Speedometer Department assembling & repairing speedometers. As far as I know he never worked on watches. At that time, the Watch Co. made speedometers for the Ford Motor Company. For many years he was the only technician in that department except for a foreman who would drop in every so often to see how things were going. My aunts Annie, Leonie & Alma worked there for a few years when they were probably in their twenties. Annie got married & moved to Canada. Leonie left the Waltham Watch Company employment in 1915 to take care of the household on Central Street after her mother died and Alma quit to go to work for E.A. Young Watch Repair Company on Moody Street. She and the owner, Mr. Young, did all the watch repairing. She was very clever and even the production manager at the Waltham Watch Company used to bring his watch in to be cleaned, etc. Alma said he would ask her to come back to work for the Waltham Watch Co., but she was happy where she was and told him so. For about a year, I worked in the Waltham Watch Company on defense work, making anti aircraft time fuses. I quit there to work for the Raytheon Company for a few months until I was called into the Air Force in January 1943. I had signed up in the Air Force Reserve Aviation Cadet program in October of 1942.”

Waltham Watch Company

Edward took this photo of the Watch Factory building from a vantage point at the Mount Feake Cemetery across the Charles River in 1962. “You can see the pilings of what formerly was the dance hall and boat house, Nuttings on the Charles, that burned down. The river, in the winter, sometimes froze completely from Nuttings to Forest Grove quite a distance away. It's hard to believe, but at times a truck was placed on the ice to plow the snow so skaters could skate all the way. I skated it many times.
    Although I was a good ice skater, I never became a passable roller skater. I tried roller skating in Nuttings when it was no longer a dance hall, but allowed roller skating.
    I had to quit that pastime because I kept bumping into the pillars in the huge room and falling to the floor when I tried to stop or turn. That floor gave one quite a burn besides putting a hole in one's trousers.”