Mary Lou Wright worked at Marx from 1947 to 1980.  Lorraine Artimez worked at Marx from 1951 to 1980.  Both worked on the assembly lines under the direction of Mike Yankoski assembling playsets, Johnny West action figures, and Big Wheels.  Both commented that the pay was fair and they enjoyed working with their friends.

Mr. Mike Yankoski first started his career at Marx in 1937.  Upon his return from the service, Mike returned to Marx to work in the shipping department and eventually to the assembly department where he became Foreman of Assembly from 1947 through 1980.  As Foreman of Assembly, Mike would be in charge of the assembly line workers, ware boys, and setting up the assembly line. 

Mr. Francis Sigler went to work for Marx when he graduated high school in 1941.  Initially in the model room, Mr. Sigler transferred to the machinist department where he was responsible for working on the machines when the broke down. 

Francis comments, “It was my job to know how every machine in the factory worked, and when it broke down, everyone looked at me to fix it.” 

Throughout our years of interaction with Marx employees, some of the most memorable and most gruesome stories have been those of “lost fingers.”  Many of the stamping machines would have safety arms which would sweep the front of the machine when the foot petal was pressed to remove any arms, hands, or fingers from the path of the stamping.  Since most of the workers in these departments were paid by piecework, oftentimes workers would remove these sweeping safety arms and rely on unnerved concentration and precise timing. 

In addition to Mr. Sigler’s role as a machinist, Francis was also responsible for recovery, that is, recovery of limbs.  Francis remembers, “They would call me up and I would take a coffee can of kerosene with me down to the floor…I would have to pry open the machine to get the finger out…we had to save them in a coffee can so that the worker could get compensation.” 

Francis remembers dozens of fingers, an occasional hand, and even an arm, “It was one thing for a man to lose his finger, but to see that happen to one of those pretty ladies…”  Mr. Sigler’s wife, Betty Sigler, lost one of her own fingers while working on a doll house piece.

Joe "initialed" many pieces of his artwork.

Joe lived at 303 10^th Street in Glen Dale.  Joe marked some of the toys he worked on with 303, such as doll houses (shown in this photo), the two-story fire houses, and truck license plates.  The tin jalopy and Marx Moon Base playset have Joe’s son's initials.  Check out the Online Museum Tour of the Model Room for more information on Joe Chamberlain...

Eric Chamberlain, son of Joe Chamberlain, points out one of the pieces his father played a role in designing to Gary Nisperly, son of Walter Nisperly, who was in charge of the Model Room for many years.  Both Eric and Joe spent many hours down at the model room watching their fathers work.

Marvin Bennett and worked from 1944 to 1972 .  Marvin worked on the line turning shells for the war effort.  Marvin went to the army and came back in 1946 and continued to work until 1972.  Favorite job was talking to the girls on the production line.  Marvin became a foremen in the shipping department and was the vice president of the union.

“Marx Toys could still be operating because they designed some of the best toys of the time…” 

Jacklyn Bennett worked in 1948 for 37 cents per hour in the assembly department, and worked until 1952. 

Nancy Carney worked at Marx from 1952 until they closed in 1980.  She worked in the plastics and was part time ware inspector.  She made sure the pieces went together well and that the paint was quality before the toy was assembled in the box.

Kermit Carney began working for Marx in 1949 in press room and then in the shipping department.  In 1957 he started driving truck.

“I don’t think everyone realized what a nice place it was to work until it closed down, Marx created a lot of jobs for the area and provided a lot of income.”

Don Steward worked at Marx for 28 years, starting in 1947.  He worked in plastics, shipping, tool and die, lithograph, wire room, etc.  Don would say he worked in every department except for rough assembly. 

“What a great bunch of people to work with…that was the treat of working up there…all the people you got to work with…like a big family.  Everybody worked as a team with the same goal, to get the toys out!  The girls would work on the assembly and the guys were working in the tool and other departments to keep everything moving.”

Loran Magers was a machinist and also worked in lithograph. 

"When Quaker Oats bought the company, they came in and got rid of a lot of the toys against their image, including guns.  Buck Livingston was replaced...Buck commented that the guns paid the bills in the winter."

Loran remembers when Marx sold the company to Quaker Oats, “Quaker Oats said that they had never saw a company run by so many uneducated people…”  Loran explained, “you see  most of the managers would come up through the tool shop and engineering department, and then up to managers…and most workers had a high school education, some with additional training, but no professional engineers really ever worked at Marx.” 

Arnez and Anita are two of three sisters who dedicated many years to Marx.  In fact, their other sister Maria, lied about her age so that she could get a job at Marx...

Warren Cunningham worked for Marx from 1951 to 1980 and worked in shipping and receiving.  Warren received parts and would handle incoming letters, such as people looking for a replacement part.  Warren also worked on demonstrators to be shipped out.

Anita went to work for Marx when she got out of high school and worked on the line making boxes for the doll house.  Anita would run the paint machine on the Big Wheel.  In addition, Anita was financial secretary for several years with the union.

Chuck Davis worked in McMechan, West Virginia (just a few miles from Glen Dale) at the shell plant.  He worked to produce the 3” navy shells and 105 mm shells during the war effort.  The McMechan plant was one of top three plants in the country for producing shells at the lowest cost.  Chuck was then then asked to go to Glen Dale as a tool and die making for 30 years.  He was also the president of the Machinist Union. 

Robert Mickey worked at Marx from 1952 to 1979.  Throughout his years he worked in the assembly room, steel department, flat line assembling boxes, and worked with the demonstrator boards.