Grandfather's Apprenticeship
Grandfather was a Kentucky hill boy, born in 1900, whose family owned
the local corn mill. There was virtually no paper currency and very
little hard money, so the local economy was based upon the barter of
corn. This made the family much like the local banker, and they became
well to do by that standard of exchange.
Rather than having to hoe the family tobacco, grandfather had the
option of choosing trade, and at the age of thirteen, apprenticed
himself to the local blacksmith. By the time he was in his early
twenties, Grandfather had the reputation of being able to make and
build anything out of metal.
Hearing of this ability, Harvey Firestone came and hired Grandfather
out of the blacksmith's shop and took him to Ohio, where the first
tire building machine was constructed in Firestone's garage.
But, Grandfather's apprenticeship never ended; he went on to
establish seventeen manufacturing plants in the US, three in Europe,
and established the rubber plantations in India and Southeast Asia.
Today, D-line at the Des Moines plant, now owned by Bridgestone, still
utilizes ten machines hand built by my Grandfather. My own father was
the leading light of the national rubber workers union, until it was
busted.
The ethic of apprenticeship, which is the subject of my dissertation,
is well founded in this story. Until the last few generations, the
bond between father and son, grandfather and grandson, was cemented in
the love of sharing the knowledge and understanding of their
craft...through the daily experience of honest labor.
An acquaintance, a seventh generation woodcarver, said it best. "If
I tell you it's Chippendale, it's Chippendale...not because of
conformity to design...but because I use the same tool and the same
technique that I learned from my grandfather, who learned from his
grandfather, who learned from his grandfather...who was there.
What was your grandfather's trade?

LivingTrade.org
http:/groups.google.com/group/senior-apprentice

"daclark" wrote in message

What was your grandfather's trade?

Maternal: rice farmer, saw mill owner, hardware store operator in rural S.
Louisiana. Built his own home out of timber he cut and milled from his farm
and made most of his own furniture, some of which is still in the family:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.w...cd3fe 1a0f824

Paternal: Farmer, blacksmith and wheelwright, made all his own tools. Raised
four sons in rural S. Louisiana through the depression, 3 ending up with
master's degrees.

The common thread is self reliance/sufficiency, to a degree rarely seen
today.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 6/21/06

Hello Swingman,
Your story on the link tells more than the cumulative words.
Would you kindly post it at
LivingTrade.org
http:/groups.google.com/group/senior-apprentice
daclark

"daclark" wrote in
ups.com:

What was your grandfather's trade?

Paternal grandfather was a blacksmith, in the Central Valley of California.
Two of his sons became finish carpenters. My father repaired aircraft
during WWII and Korean conflicts, then moved on to distribution and
insurance industries. I learned masonry, carpentry and building skills, as
well as customer service skills, from my father. My grandfather passed
away before I turned 5.

Maternal grandfather was a civil engineer, from a long line of railroad
builders. A german, whose grandfather had come to Mexico to build their
railroad. He went to Japan, to rebuild their infrastructure, as WWII
ended. I saw him maybe three times that I remember, he having divorced and
remarried long before my birth. But my mother got an education, became a
registered nurse during WW2, and was an example of service and dedication
all her life, to family and friends too numerous to count.

Not all of us are/were sufficiently fortunate to know our grandfathers, but
their legacy rolls down the generations anyhow. Honor that, too.

Patriarch

Patriarch wrote:
Not all of us are/were sufficiently fortunate to know our grandfathers, but
their legacy rolls down the generations anyhow. Honor that, too.

A most honorable sentiment...

In reply to this story, somebody wrote, "he sure as hell wasn't a union

organizer..."
Well, that presents a rather interesting story as well.
Being the son-in-law of a company man, my Father was a company man too,

and was central to union negotiations in 1952. Shortly after the deal
was signed and delivered, the company ordered my Father to subvert the
contract he had just delivered in some way or another that has never
been made perfectly clear to me; he refused and the result was my
Father was summarily fired from the company.
The next day, the local union walked out, and three days later the
entire nation, all seventeen plants were on the street in wildcat
strike. The company held out for three weeks before relenting and
giving my Father his job back.
But from that day forward, he was no longer a company man. His clock
number was 396, and he spent thirty years building tires on the line.
It is not a pleasant job, and since the demise of the union, it is even

less so.
Every year, when I was a kid, a delegation from the national union
would show up at our door, asking if he would stand for national
election, but he always refused. And, if that respondent's father had
as much character as mine...
LivingTrade.org
http:/groups.google.com/group/senior-apprentice