I spent a day visiting car buffs. There is a mall in Grand Rapids where they have an old VW, of 60’s vintage, the utility golf cart version. It is a 60hp, rear engine, with the gas tank in the front. Its Spartan interior reminds me of an old, Triumph series 4 that I drove into my early adult hood. The cockpit had only a couple of bucket seats – not even carpet covering the floor – not even a radio. It was shod with, Dunlop SP57 radial tires, before radials were popular. The tires gave me the advantage of high-speed corners.
In Grand Rapids, the old VW shares nothing in common with, Triumph other than devoid of every creature comfort. It looks like a weird attempt to imitate a jeep. The cockpit is open. It resembles a stick shift, rectangular bathtub interior finished in Z Bart, with two bench seats. Both seat backs are diminutive. The rear seat looks like they designed it for toddlers, without seatbelts. The paint is bright yellow, including the hub -less wheels. It is roped off so that one can look, without sitting in it.
On the passenger side, there are several chairs where guys can rest their backs and wag their tongues. Two brothers, Ike and Randy told me stories about their youths. The early Willis type vehicle had a crank starter similar to a T model car. They used it for hauling scrap. Later they bought a larger truck for their business. Ford seemed to be a favored vehicle. There was a limited edition in 1948 that had the optional V8 and that emblem. The six cylinder cars had just a flat chrome line across the trunk base. Somehow, their car had the flat line, lacked the V8 emblem, but possessed the eight cylinders.
Ike told me that Randy changed the oil once and used a non-detergent brand. He was driving down a hill and decelerating, when he noticed a trail of blue smoke that signaled the engines rings worn out.
My favorite car was a, Pontiac Judge with four-barrel carburetors and a transmission capped with a Hurst stick shift. Awesome! It was white, with black leather interior and bucket seats. I loved the tuned exhaust sounds resonating from the back end, and the thrill of rum running trips through New England.
They do not build cars the way they used to. Triumph was the first car I ever bought that had seat belts. Radios were a luxury. Air conditioning was optional for expensive brand cars. Most of those things come standard on today’s cars, except, Porsche and some high-end racers. Cars today offer more comfort and styling. Tuned suspensions and mid mounted engines that propel vehicles are far superior.
Ike and Randy worked at, Brown Paper Company (later, James River). Brown Paper Company was a worldwide maker/distributer of, American products that once included pharmaceuticals. Brown Company, was where, James Corbin invented paper towels.
I started working at, Brown Company when I was fourteen. They used to get giant snowdrifts on top of the huge factory buildings, in winter. If the drifts got too high, the buildings might collapse. The ladders had to go up three or four stories to the flat roofs. They were made of wood, by millwrights. In order to make ladders that tall, they belled the bases, and the ladders narrowed at top. It was an asset to be thin and light, as one could climb the ladders, to shovel snow. That was one of my jobs.
Memories of, Brown Company, and climbing those narrow, creaking, icy ladders in freezing snowstorms, are like yesterday to me. The ladder top was just tall enough to touch the building top ledge. I had a manure shovel in one hand and would start shoveling my way onto the roof, just enough to stand and shovel. I would dig an area about half the size of a room, while throwing snow over the building side.
A long rope was tied to my waist. At the other end, a wooden snow scoop was fastened. When I cleared enough room, I hoisted up the snow scoop, using the top rung as a pulley, and the ladder sides as runners. It could take a few days to clear snow from all the factory buildings. By that time there was another snow storm. There was steady work, shoveling snow for the winter.
We worked in small crews of three or four guys. By the time we cleared the roofs, it left a mound of snow, reaching like a slide, to the building tops. We mounted shovels and snow scoops, sliding to the bases, while some preferred to slide on their feet. Nobody used the ladder as a decent.
By the time I was old enough for the service, Brown Company had been sold and, James River was already parting it out to the south and overseas. There was not much to come home for, no hero’s welcome, no place to work. My only choice was to start walking and hitch hiking across the country to find work wherever it would be.
Fast food restaurants were not popular, as they are today. People liked to sit and enjoy their food. I could cook and wash dishes while crossing the country. That helped keep me alive. Sometimes, strangers would take me in for an evening. It was a way I could shower, shave and change cloths. Work was hard to find. Factories were downsizing. People were losing jobs. Many people, who were working, did not notice the decreasing job market, as they were gainfully employed. Finding employment was more difficult for newcomers.
At one time in America, it seemed like half the country worked in factories. Today, there are less than nine million factory jobs. I saw factories close and jobs lost across the country. It was comparable to a falling stack of dominoes. Fifty percent of working class people under 25 cannot find jobs.
Gotham City was spared the hurricane Irene’s full fury, but that may not spare, Wall Street; as people are protesting in the streets, they are lighting an international candle of hope there will be changes made. We need truth and transparency in government. Government in America needs to be fair. It must consist of people, in poor and working class communities, to coincide with the present structure . Social Security needs to be set into a special fund, for the specific purpose of assisting aged and retired persons. People do deserve health care, and poor people are the norm, not the exception.
The demographics of leadership have changed. Gotham City is currently the world’s richest city. Washington DC , is secondary to Wall Street. When the hurricane dumped water on everything, including, Wall Street, they survived to forget about the massive structural damage, and all the poor people who were devastated. There was never an audible offer from, Wall Street to lend a hand or back to shovel or machine. No offers of help were made. They forgot, Irene. They wonder why we are there to protest.
Randy, Ike and I parted ways, just as we had met. We were destined to be there. I needed to touch base with older memories. We left in opposite directions to separate doors. They walked back into their neighborhood. I got into a, Lemans Ford and headed to, North Korea, Michigan.
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