May 18, 2011, Wednesday - 'In the Mood for Munsingwear,' with Susan Marks at Mill City Museum

Time: 7:00pm

Location: Mill City Museum, 704  2nd Street South

Fee: Free

Munsingwear was once the nation’s largest manufacturer of underwear. In her new book, "In the Mood for Munsingwear: Minnesota’s Claim to Underwear Fame," Susan Marks shows how the history of the company and its ad campaigns reveal a great deal about America’s changing mores. Join Marks for a talk about working conditions, labor relations and how they affected the people who worked at Munsingwear, the underwear manufacturer founded in Minneapolis in 1887. Former employees of Munsingwear are invited to attend and share their own stories.

The program also includes a performance by a costumed History Player portraying Eva Valesh, a journalist for the St. Paul Globe in the 1880s who exposed working conditions for women Minneapolis factories, including Munsingwear’s predecessor, Northwestern Knitting Company. Marks will sign copies of her book, which is available for sale in the gift shop.