In an era when people live longer and want or need to work past the traditional retirement age the Vita Needle Company of Needham Massachusetts provides inspiration and important lessons about the value of older workers Vita Needle is a family owned factory that was founded in 1932 and makes needles stainless steel tubing and pipes and custom fabricated parts As part of its unusual business model the company seeks out older workers the median age of the employees is seventy four In Retirement on the Line Caitrin Lynch explores what this company s commitment to an elderly workforce means for the employer the workers the community and society more generally Benefiting from nearly five years of fieldwork at Vita Needle Lynch offers an intimate portrait of the people who work there a nuanced explanation of the company s hiring practices and a cogent analysis of how the workers experiences can inform our understanding of aging and work in the twenty first century As an in depth study of a singular workplace rooted in the unique insights of an anthropologist who specializes in the world of work this book provides a sustained focus on values and meanings with profound consequences for the broader assumptions our society has about aging and employment