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ErnieCopp
Guest
Some members have expressed interest in hearing stories about some of the things I experienced along the path UP from the big Depression, and the advances and refinements i hve seen in Trucking, Heavy Equipment, and Technology. I consider an ADVANCEMENT to be when a new method or machine is developed, and a REFINEMENT is when that new method is improved. Putting wheels on the early drag scrapers to move more dirt was an advancement, but putting rubber tires on the wheels is a refinement.
The big Depression almost stopped the demand for almost everything, so while the Diesel Engines and Rubber Tires had been invented, with the lack of demand, very little had been done with either invention. When we left Kansas in 1936, they were grading and re paving Main Street, using Horses and Fresnos to move the dirt. When we got to California, they were still mixing large quantities of Concrete on platforms with about ten men, using shovels and hoes. So, as i entered the workforce in 1940, part time, and full time in 1941, I am one of the few men still living that had a ringside seat to all the ADVANCES that took place over the next 15 years and the refinement of those advances that continue to this day.
We were all very tired of being poor, as the depression had been several times as tough as the current recession has been. When jobs began to open up from the Defense Industry building equipment for the English and the Russian Lend Lease program, everyone that was able bodied either joined the Military before they were drafted, or went to work for what seemed like big money. I dropped out of the tenth grade in the Spring of 1941. I was big and strong enough to do a man's job, and no one ever questioned my age.
I was working in a Grocery warehouse, that was among the first to package Beans, Rice, Dried Fruit, etc., in plastic bags, as most items were still being sold from barrels or sacks, and measured into paper bags by the Grocers. That warehouse was organized by the Teamsters and i was given a Union membership for my help, in November of 1941.
Pearl Harbor was bombed about three weeks later on December 7th. In February, my brother and I saw a small ad in a newspaper, offering to train Equipment Operators that were willing to go to Christmas Island, South of Hawaii. The instructions were to come to an address downtown L A. I was 15, and my brother ws 18, but I looked older than he did.
Apparently very few men were interested in going to Hawaii to work that soon after Pearl Harbor, because only two other men besides my brother and I, showed up. The address was a vacant lot, and there was a Tournapull there, which was the first rubber tired, self propelled earthmover. We had never seen one before. But it had a Cummins engine in it, and a four speed transmission like trucks had. We were told how the control levers worked, but could not load it as it required a push cat. We each got on it, and drove it around, showing the guy we knew how to double clutch and shift, etc. so he told us to bring our Birth Certificates and go to the office the next week. We confirmed that we had to have Birth Cetificates, so that was the end of that road for me. My brother had his, and he was hired ,and left me with a burning desire to be a Heavy Equipment Operator. Not being able to let anyone see my Birth Certificate also kept me from working in Shipyards or Airplane plants, but there were plenty of other jobs available. To be continued.
The big Depression almost stopped the demand for almost everything, so while the Diesel Engines and Rubber Tires had been invented, with the lack of demand, very little had been done with either invention. When we left Kansas in 1936, they were grading and re paving Main Street, using Horses and Fresnos to move the dirt. When we got to California, they were still mixing large quantities of Concrete on platforms with about ten men, using shovels and hoes. So, as i entered the workforce in 1940, part time, and full time in 1941, I am one of the few men still living that had a ringside seat to all the ADVANCES that took place over the next 15 years and the refinement of those advances that continue to this day.
We were all very tired of being poor, as the depression had been several times as tough as the current recession has been. When jobs began to open up from the Defense Industry building equipment for the English and the Russian Lend Lease program, everyone that was able bodied either joined the Military before they were drafted, or went to work for what seemed like big money. I dropped out of the tenth grade in the Spring of 1941. I was big and strong enough to do a man's job, and no one ever questioned my age.
I was working in a Grocery warehouse, that was among the first to package Beans, Rice, Dried Fruit, etc., in plastic bags, as most items were still being sold from barrels or sacks, and measured into paper bags by the Grocers. That warehouse was organized by the Teamsters and i was given a Union membership for my help, in November of 1941.
Pearl Harbor was bombed about three weeks later on December 7th. In February, my brother and I saw a small ad in a newspaper, offering to train Equipment Operators that were willing to go to Christmas Island, South of Hawaii. The instructions were to come to an address downtown L A. I was 15, and my brother ws 18, but I looked older than he did.
Apparently very few men were interested in going to Hawaii to work that soon after Pearl Harbor, because only two other men besides my brother and I, showed up. The address was a vacant lot, and there was a Tournapull there, which was the first rubber tired, self propelled earthmover. We had never seen one before. But it had a Cummins engine in it, and a four speed transmission like trucks had. We were told how the control levers worked, but could not load it as it required a push cat. We each got on it, and drove it around, showing the guy we knew how to double clutch and shift, etc. so he told us to bring our Birth Certificates and go to the office the next week. We confirmed that we had to have Birth Cetificates, so that was the end of that road for me. My brother had his, and he was hired ,and left me with a burning desire to be a Heavy Equipment Operator. Not being able to let anyone see my Birth Certificate also kept me from working in Shipyards or Airplane plants, but there were plenty of other jobs available. To be continued.
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