This paper presents a case study of the thread and cotton yarn factory Dalmatinka in Sinj, focusing on workers’ culture as the backbone of collective memory within the local community. Starting with the history of this industrial plant, through the elaboration of the concept of labor in the context of socialist Yugoslavia, the study identifies several narrative elements as the basis for the construction of workers’ memory. Based on their accounts, the relationship between workers and the factory is explored through the concepts of life history and life story and in relation to the construct of the socialist man. Following these conclusions, the paper concentrates on contemporary interpretations of Dalmatinka’s immaterial heritage. An analysis of a civil initiative project, aimed at reevaluating the factory’s contribution to town’s infrastructural, economic and cultural development, indicates a sustained presence of Dalmatinka in the collective memory.