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Vintage work crew photos
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In the picture of the farmer it looks more like they are lined up to go seed a wheat field than buy or sell livestock or produce.
I see more than a dozen grain drills and not a head of lettuce or a cow in sight
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That is the same thing I thought! looks like they are lined up to fill their drills when the train brings the seed. Even a single row drill at the beginning of the line
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That last picture reminded me of years ago a young lady came to my shop to apply for a welder's position. We all know the saying about first impressions, but this was one time my wife and I both were glad we could look beyond the first impression stigma, which was admittedly quite difficult. My wife did most of the prescreening of job applicants. having them fill out the forms getting a brief work history background and explaining our policies and requirements regarding work place safety showing up for work in a timely manor, wearing the proper personal protection equipment and clothing where and when required designated work area housekeeping no horseplay, things like that, before they were sent to me. So when I saw my wife heading over to where I was with this young woman in tow I was confused. From her attire a pair of micro Daisy Dukes cut offs that would not have gotten past censors in even an R rated movie and a sports bra and tennis shoes I wondered why my wife would be bringing her to meet me unless the young woman was in need of help or something.
This is Susan my wife said and she is here applying for a pipe fitter/ welder position here is her resume and application form. After briefly scanning the papers I said, Susan please don't take offence but I cannot take you to the welding area and let you take a test wearing what you are almost not wearing out of safety concerns for both yourself and the men and the other female in there working the first thing that will happen is one of them will trip over their tongue and break a leg or something.
I'm sorry sir for the way I am dressed it was not my intention to apply for a job in shorts but it is a 40 mile drive one way for me to go home and change I saw your sign on my way to visit friends but really needed a job so I stopped. I have my welding gear in the truck of my car if you will give me a couple minutes I'll get it because I really do need a job and I promise you I won't let you down.
The rest is history she turned out to be an excellent pipe/ fitter, and better than average welder she stayed with us for 2 or 3 years
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Check out that planishing hammer
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Skirts, aprons and heels on an assembly line. My how times have changed. Moreover, I can't even see any tattoos.
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OSHA would have a field day if they saw that today
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I grew up in Allentown. And, no, that's not me on the far left in that photograph.
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5 rows of at least 25 stations per row power shaft driven from under the floor " Note the drive belts passing through holes in the floor. It took very quick and nimble fingers to keep up a pace with everyone else
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Women working in the welding department at Lincoln Motor Company. Detroit, Michigan, 1918.
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Hmm, I see 1 welder & 2 cutters. Anyone else see the same? Have a look at the helmets, Says volumes. Oh and the woman on the right is sure as _ell gonna learn what the one in the center would have learned at one time or another. The 6" cuff on her pants gives that lesson away. Some even learn to tie their boots up proper real quick also! Women or men makes no difference at all. We all seem to burn up pretty much the same. No big gender differences there. Yup! Bit of red hot slag slides down a slightly open boot or into a rolled up cuff and one gets to learning real, real quick. Oh ya and all the while looking around to see who's watching your silliness.
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Ya, no Tats. What's up with that? Heehe. High heels, low heels, no heels. Everyone was on deck and working there tails off to get those Jeeps off to where they had to be. They were so vital back then, it literally could mean life or death to some of the fellas in Europe.
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Captn Roy I am not too sure you are seeing what you think you are seeing. here is not a single pair of trousers/ pants in the photo. the one in the right or the center or any other woman there, what you are seeing there is the tail of their work apron not extending all the way below the hem of their dress or skirt.
As far as welding it would appear they are all welding using oxy/gas in which case they would normally only wear goggles instead of helmets there are some who may be wearing head bands to keep their hair up out of the way.
While arc welding was invented by 1800 it was mainly in the form of carbon arc between to carbon electrodes and adding a filler rod to the molten puddle. Coated metal electrodes came along around 1914 in Sweden. But coated stick electrode welding didn't become popular until years later, tig and mig welding wasn't even invented by 1918.
Any bench welding that would have been done in 1918 would have been done using an oxyacetylene torch. Prior to that it may have been oxygen and a coal gas & hydrogen mix.
I taught a welding class in the Army in the early 70's where I demonstrated how to make a coated electrode in the field for an emergency repair of a broken steering tie rod using a coat hanger or other wire like mechanics wire by making a solution of baking soda salt toilet paper and water. by making a slurry then dipping the wire into it several times then laying it on the hot exhaust manifold of a deuce & a half until dry then used jumper cables connected to the 24 volts of the batteries. After welding it I drove it around the motor pool to show that it actually could work.
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that cart in the fore ground looks like a load of liberty engine cylinders and heads, They were probably welding the intake or exhaust flanges on them.
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2nd more detailed reply to the reply that Frank S so graciously made references regarding my eyesight or lack thereof. I also received an email regarding this reply and this also fuels the need to further comment on the topic.
First point of interest that should be noted would be the topic of the Thread that I was commenting on. This was "Vintage Work Crew Photos" Seamingly by Jon.
Secondly the photo in the thread added by Jon dated 01/16/2018, bearing the #5 in the top brown border on my screen is in fact the image that I commented on! I hit the Reply with the arrow that veers of to the left and away I went. My comments were only to appear a time later beneath another image that I had NOT made any comment on whatsoever, listed as #19 and again posted by Jon.
I do not know why the comments do not always follow the exact image we comment on but, I had noticed this on other occasions with comments by other folks and thought no big deal as it was in the right thread and usually by the comments to go back a page or so was simple right? Hmm. The photo I had commented on was showing 3 Woman in shop garb doing their thing in 1944. The photo above when my comment appeared also had 3 woman in quite different shop garb but in 1918 doing a stationary type of work in a shop that manufactured some type of parts in Michigan. There are other examples of this type of incident happening and one can be seen on this same thread. There is a comment regarding the wagons lined up at the train that was made and showed up just below another photo about TV service or repair guys. That one was real easy to relate to as it was right close by the original photo so easy to put 2&2 together on that one, right. I thought so & so it goes without saying that there could be more, simple deduction.
Frank S, does not seem to think along the same line by the colorful references he made regarding what I was seeing or thought I was seeing in the photo I commented on. Would not have been to serious if we were talking about left and right Tie Rod Ends. The topic was women and welding. The comments were out of line and condescending to say the least. Only a blind man or a complete idiot would have made those kinds of errors in the clothing or even the gear. For god sake, I talked about helmets and he says I saw goggles and a bandana. Then I'm entitled to a lecture on welding just to top off the insult, like a good swift kick in the rocks Frank finishes with the "in the Navy" thing.
Gee Frank, Thanks for being so considerate. Being scholarly and all I'd of thought that you would have figured the comment placement thing out and then gone over the rest of the great thread Jon put together and there would have been no doubt as to what I was talking about. By your comments one really would think I knew nothing about welding and commented crap on anything. 40 sum odd foot high stainless liquid foodstuffs tanks, Dozens of company re-fits on anything from stainless screws to gas pipe to filter towers to steel silo's to in shop rolling and fitting to making a REAL nice ride for my MIG and one for my ROD WELDER TOO! Heehe. Most fun I had was cutting up the stainless recyclables we brought back after a refit. 38-40 degrees celsius out in the back 40 cutting stainless with a Rod. Ever done that Frank? You did teach your class about cutting rods Hunh. I know it's not much experience compared to yours and yes Frank I do love a good lecture as much as the next guy. Just not when it's meant to humiliate or belittle me.
Oh and I took my deuce and a half home with me after my stint Frank. It's out back, Glad to send ya pic's if ya like.
Respectfully, RR
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Captn Roy If my reply to your post came off as condescending or offensive in any way then I deeply apologize.
Yes replies often land after other replies and not in the intended placement the poster desires. when threads in forums take on a life of their own sometimes numbering in the 100's of ages on some forums I frequent it becomes next to impossible to know which post a member may be referring to unless they use the reply with quote function and even then there is one particular forum where by the time you search through all the "R+Q's" in the reply it is difficult to even locate the posted reply.
Yes cutting Stainless with rods, been there done that perfect way to use up rods that are no longer suitable to make coded welds
Like cutting Aluminum sheet with an oxyacetylene torch by clamping a sacrificial strip of slightly thicker mild steel over it not a pretty as a plasma rig but it gets the job done.
Or 2 men carbon arc gouging welds apart using only 1 machine 1 gouge connected to the stinger the other to the ground. don't try it with a Lincoln pipeliner but a 400 amp Hobart diesel machine will smoke through boxes of 1/4" carbons all day long and never stutter.
Take a length of 1/8 or 1/4" pipe connect it to an air supply preferably the oxygen from your torch and your stinger turn your machine up to Maxine unless using a Hobart 400 amp then better only go just over half way. and lance through the length of a frozen bucket pin spray it with a garden hose then tap it out with a 4 lb shop hammer
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Felling a tree. I believe this is the famous "Mark Twain" redwood, but I'm not certain. Late 1800s.
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Can you imagine how many strokes it took with the 2 man saw to fell that tree? that looks like a pair of 12 ft blades welded together.
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Yes, it's the "Mark Twain"...
National Geographic Found
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It is hard to imagine the difference in people or that time period with the ones of today `Had in not been for many of our grand mothers or great grand mothers filling in at the factories making things for the planes trucks tanks and general weaponry our grand fathers or great grand fathers could never have done the things they had to do to win the wars
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Thank you Jon, this has become quite a thread, thanks to your great sense of history! I always enjoy seeing pictures of where we come from and how we did things to get to where we are. To me, our ancestors, men or women, garnered up the creativity, fortitude, stamina and will to take care of business out of that basic instinct to continue and thrive as best they could through necessity or just a dream of something better. Pictures like these speak volumes in detail about the stories of these peoples lives. Their expressions, stance, clothing, working conditions and the products of their efforts give us opportunity to explore those stories and maybe make some up...either way it's the stories that define them and their character.
When my Dad passed in 07' I ran across an old tin type of my GGGpa (1814-1875) back in MO. circa 1870ish a few years before his passing. It was in pretty bad shape but I kept wondering about his stories and decided to restore it in PhotoShop. Huge undertaking and about 80hrs of work, but the more it cleaned up the stories from his face, dress (actually fixed a slight tear in his jacket, as I'm sure he only had one) and the background, really started to come through for me and the stories from Gpa (1876) as a kid going to town for supplies in a wagon by himself first time when he was nine, which was a 3 day trip, came forward again.
This was actually my first restoration but learn a lot at the pixel level.
Attachment 24337 Attachment 24338
The picture of the Mark Twain Redwood, reminded me of my dad working in the Redwoods just after the WWII seeing what he had on a tanker in the South Pacific, with a bunch of stories about tough logging with donkey engines and cables snapping and Tough Terrain, eating breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse in those days. Redwoods are special to me too and spend as much time up there as I can, eaten at the Samoa (Best biscuits and gravy next to Gma's) and cherish the ageless serenity of them. Also took my son up there in his youth so he could experience that and the history of it. He then went on the wheat harvest for a year or so and being a John Deer mechanic toward the end before joining the AF for another 23 years of service and another 30 in community service. Then on to me making mine and my son his and now 6G's forward his son making his stories.
On it goes story after story, sewing a fabric or tapestry of our lives as a species interconnected through lineage, our work, defining character and a foundation of those people of creativity, fortitude, stamina moving through time, necessity and dreams of becoming. I once had an epiphany of sorts in the valley in Yosemite waking up having to do my morning drain and while doing it I looked up and saw a 1000' of granite before me, carved and mottled by ice, water and time, and thought what stories they must have, and shared with us...
Capturing, sharing and talking about these seems important, especially now days, to me anyway. Rattled on here, but Great Thread guys...thank you again, Jon for creating such a great place to create and share the stories!
:hattip:PJ
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Thanks for sharing PJ, Like you I have developed a keen interest in this thread I dare say should it run into the hundred's of pages I doubt if my interest will waiver.
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Mt. Lowe Railway. California, 1893. Colorized. Named after the very legendary Thaddeus S. C. Lowe.
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Opening day ceremonies.
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I wonder if there's a long German word for wistfully wishing that you were born in a different era. I was listening to stories from an old hotrodder years ago, and I said something like: "I wish I was a hotrodder in the 1930s. I was born at the wrong time."
Then he says: "I was born at the wrong time too. I wish I was a cowboy in the old West."
More:
Professor Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe
Water and Power Associates
Lowe airship patent #1,061,484
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lowe_Railway
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaddeus_S._C._Lowe
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Jon the MT lowe incline car was what I patterned a tram after for a guy at a lake.
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400 ft drop in 1000 ft total length of pipe railway was 1500 ft total drop just over 600 ft
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Nice pics Jon. The stories from the links are great and Lowe was quite the self made wizard. The witness names on the patent looked familiar for some reason but didn't find much. Colorizing is always thing of Taste but this looked pastel good but a bit crisp on the people to me.
Good story on the Cowboy! I also agree about being a hotrodder back then too, or even Dad's stock car days from the early 50's. The pic on my home page is of one of Dads wins in "Old 99" and my SC400 behind, being the dream of that. I colorized the 99 for kicks but restoring the BW was a bit of work, probably shot with a Hawkeye Brownie as I remember.
On my best dreamy days I've often had the thought of driving a Stutz Bearcat off across country with goggles and a flat cap. Had the opportunity once to finish restoring one that the owner was murdered and his mom wanted me to finish it for him and get the other stuff to the auction house, as he also had a 27' Rolls and a bunch of other stuff...but had quite the shop, foundry and all. Didn't work out because it needed a year at least of work to finish it right plus shop costs and she couldn't afford that, nor I as a young buck with 2 little ones. I did help inventory and organize it all for her and lined up a few buyers for some of it. Always wondered where it went and who finished it.
PJ
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Frank, You sure have covered some ground in your days! Always amazed...Hell of a book to read, I bet!
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pJ, I probably have covered a lot of ground if compared to someone who had worked for wages all their lives. I could blame or give credit to Clarence Ward the old blacksmith I apprenticed under up until a bout a year prior to going in the Army. after I had gotten a little older around 14 he told me if I took in a job at the shop it was my job do it right do it over or ask for help no problem but satisfy the customer He wouldn't even tell me how much to charge. I'd collect the money then hand it to him and he would hand most of it back to me only keeping what he figured was fair for use of shop and materials the rest of the time I worked for him for a dollar an hour still pretty good wages for a kid in the middle 1960's My 6 years in the Army or the last 3 years that is at night weekends or any other time I could squeeze it I had a cadre of Officers and senior Enlisted who kept me busy working on or rebuilding their vehicles Made more at that than my Sgt pay. Once out I was just too arrogant or independent to punch a time clock. SO I had to cover lots of ground to feed the wife & kids if you know what I mean.
I built that tram during the time I was building docks on 3 lakes. the Tram was raised and lowered by 2 endless cables 1 attached to the tram and the brake, there were 3 rails 2 for the tram and 1 in the center for a brake, if the cable broke the weight of the tram would be held by the jaws being forced against the pipe The 2nd cable could then be locked to the tram by a clamping device and the car could be brought back to the top dragging the brake. It was powered by a windless, nothing more than a 3 HP motor and a gear box with an 18" diameter drum mounted on either side
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Frank, I do know what you mean about arrogance & independence and having to cover lot of ground. Most take one job for chump change and a lot of grief and learn to get by, or if lucky find a foundation to enjoy and to work and grow with. As a kid (Jr. Hi/HS) I mowed lawns (7 regulars) had a 200 house paper route and apprenticed the local with TV/Electronic shop guy "ACE" and went to school and got good grades too, all at the same time...and still had time to build and learn hobby stuff...even picked walnuts one summer...never do that again. I've Always had multiple irons in the fire burning in my belly whether I punched a clock, salary or for myself as an owner. It never really stopped but did fluctuate (Rhythm of life) in quantity of hours/day and number of irons. To me it's satisfying that hunger to learn, do, and experience different things. Mostly I chose, won some and sometimes got kicked in the teeth, but mostly...keep looking for as many of the twinkly lights that light My candle, as I can handle.
Still, I'd Read Your book! Ever read Chuck Yeager's Autobiography? Got it when it first came out, outstanding imho, covered a lot of ground and funnier than Heck.
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I'm a test pilot not a sardine in a tin can. or maybe he said spam in a can
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Apple Hill photo...hope the UFO's didn't spook the horses!