photographs by bill bamberger

When the White Furniture Factory, one of the oldest furniture manufacturers in the Southeast, closed its doors for the last time in 1993, the residents of Mebane, N.C. found their livelihood -- and what had been the livelihood of three generations before them -- abruptly cut off. Neither Pat Buchanan nor the New York Times knows as well as those factory employees -- many of whom had worked there for more than 30 years and had weathered a corporate buyout in the mid-80s -- what is meant by the catchphrase "The downsizing of America."

During the shutdown, documentary photographer Bill Bamberger spent five months photographing White Furniture and its employees in an attempt to capture, and in some way preserve, a passing way of life. The project, tentatively titled "Closings," is co-authored by Cathy Davidson and will be published in book form by DoubleTake Books in 1998.

Next page: Images of a vanished world

All photographs copyright DoubleTake magazine

Photo above: Jane in the Rub and Pack Department, the month before closing