MY MOTHER’S WORK IN THE CANNERY

My mother was born Silvestre Nieto Flores in 1904 in Tierras Nuevas, Mexico. She married my father Miguel Herrera on November 24, 1933 in Mexico and after the marriage came with my father to the United States. Rose was born in 1934 and Frank in 1935. I was born in 1939 and Meli in 1940. Mary Lou was born in 1944.

My mother went by “Mary” at work. I don’t believe anyone knew her name was “Silvestre.” I also believe that in the 40s Spanish names were dropped. Rosa became Rose and Emelia became Emily. A lot of women were known as Mary.

My mother started working in the canneries located in Antioch, California sometime in the 1940s. I know it was in the 1940s because I was in the first or second grade. My mom would leave for work early in the morning and my father was in charge of getting us ready for school. He would have one of the women living in one of our apartments, which were located behind our house, come in and braid our hair for school. I remember that experience vividly.

My mother would leave for work wearing sturdy shoes, work clothes and a little hat that was made of white cloth and netting. It was somewhat like a cap. I believe the hat had a brim that was folded up. The cap identified her as a cannery worker, belonging to the cannery.

Before work she prepared her hands for the scalding water in which the tomatoes or asparagus was dropped. Preparing her hands required that she take black tape and wind it around all of her fingers and hands before putting on the gloves at work. She also had to prepare and take her own lunch.

We lived at the top of South Bay View Avenue and Willow Pass Road. My mother would cross over to Willow Pass Road where she would stand and wait until the bus sent by the cannery picked her up. The bus circled West Pittsburg picking up other women who rode along with my mother to the cannery in Antioch.

She brought home lots of tomatoes or asparagus. My mother returned from work smelling of either tomatoes or asparagus, carrying a filthy rubber apron and long rubber gloves that she had to scrub hard to ready for the next day. She didn’t just smell, she stunk as far as I was concerned. I didn’t want my mom to work that way. The smell of the asparagus and tomatoes repelled me and to this day I cannot eat asparagus or tomatoes. They represent the hard and filthy work she had to do, and I didn’t want my mom to be identified as filthy. Although she may have been tired, she returned happy and never complained.

On the bus and at work she met other women with whom she had a lot in common. She made friends that she would visit during the off season. I remember that in a visit to Mexico City with my parents and my Tia Juana and Tio Jose Maria we stopped in Monterrey, Mexico to visit one of those friends that had returned to Mexico. The cannery gave my mother a social life she would never have had staying at home. Her work, however, did not relieve her from work at home. She cooked all of our meals and made all of our clothes. She had less time to spend with us.

My mother was too busy to attend my Junior High School graduation where I was the top student and speaker at graduation. She also didn’t attend the time I received the Sophomore medal or when I received the Junior medal. She always said she had to go to work. I can’t remember if she attended my High School graduation. I just remember my father carrying my trophies. Mary Lou says she has to have attended.

Cannery work was seasonal. She didn’t work during the off seasons and so claimed unemployment benefits. One of us would take her to the Social Security Office where she stood in line with other cannery workers claiming unemployment benefits. Many of them were her friends. They would spend their time chatting, laughing, and smiling while waiting. My mother enjoyed her time waiting. She did have to claim she looked for work and couldn’t find any work. As a child I felt shame because I knew mother had never looked for work and was not telling the truth.

My father cared for us while my mother worked. Rose was in charge when my father was gone. She was in charge of bathing us and getting the house cleaned. Once in a while on weekends my father would take us to meet my mother at work during her lunch break. We would go to a restaurant and have lunch as a family. My mother would return to work and my father would park us in the local theater while he went to gamble until my mother’s shift ended.

One year my parents brought one of my mother’s cousins, Manuela, from Mexico to live with us and care for us while my mother and father worked. Manuela was mean and we didn’t care for her much. Also, one year my cousin Carmen came to live with us, but she came to work in the cannery.

There were accidents at work and my mother had one while working. She hit her head and we had to go and pick her up. I don’t know whether anything was done because of the accident.

The women bosses at work were mostly Italian. I believe that Anna’s (Mary Lou’s friend) mother was one of my mom’s bosses.

My mother’s work contributed to more income for my family. Because of it we had better clothes, better shoes, and nice treats at Easter and at Christmas.

My mother’s work outside the home and inside the home did not leave her much time for enjoyment. I would see her smile and laugh when she greeted her cannery friends and when we returned to Mexico to see her family. I believe those were her happiest times. Those visits were wonderful for us too because we had so many cousins our age.

My mother continued to work in the cannery well into the 1950s. I know that she was no longer working when my father died in 1963.

My mother liked the work, I believe, because it provided a social life outside the home where she made friends whose friendships were good for her. The work was hard and dirty, but she was important.

Esther Herrera, 2024

Lafayette, CA