My First Job Was Working For My Dad, Who Had A Sawmill At Home
Posted: Sunday, November 20, 2011
by elle kynzer
Today, as I look back on my childhood, it seems work was always a part of that. In my family, there was always farming of some type. However, my Dad was self employed, it was a time before plastics ruled. The knitting mills in the south had to have the hardest wood possible to run the threads across. There weren't plastic shuttles yet, that came later in the 1960s. Well, I was a small child when I went to work. I guess my parents would be arrested for child abuse with today's labor laws. No, I never operated machinery, but I did use some hot stuff!
There was a huge concrete block building in which they had a permanent saw mill, and that's where I worked after I was older....about 7 or 8 years old. Now, my mother and I (only child) went with them wherever the job took us, it was sort of like being a gypsy. Usually it was more summer oriented, so all but one year I went to the same school, until I was a teenager. Then my parents divorced and I was transported into the world of city life, and a different culture.
My job at the Mill was to take the long (22-24 inch blocks about 3-4 " square around ex: 22X3X3) rough blocks, and dip each end into hot paraphene wax about three inches onto each end. The reason for this process was to keep the wood from splitting, as it was transported in the back of a pick up truck stacked alternately, for air support to prevent water saturation of the wood, or mold. If there was a half a load, many times it sat still, until new blocks were cut. Once the paraphene dried, then I would stack them for transport.
The income from this process was very good, and we lived better than a lot of people. The brothers had started this business, after WWII, and being the independents they were, it fed and housed several families for many years. The business also kept me from needing a nanny, as I was there at the business location with them, where else would a tomboy want to be anyway? I loved it, and once I was old enough (7 or 8), there was work I could do. I felt I was doing my part, and contributing. There was pay, but I didn't do it for money.
My family had many entrepeneur's, and living way back in the hills, this was about the only way to make a good living. I had one aunt who made and sold the most beautiful home decorations made out of cones, acorns and other dried leftovers, that come off the trees in fall. Then sprayed them with with a clear varnish, and she won awards, while belonging to a craft club. In her free time she helped her son and husband with the cattle farm. It was a way of life, and most women sewed, sold eggs, butter or made cakes, each with her own talents. My ancestors led by example, expecting less talk, more work.
Yes, that little job was the first experience I had with meeting deadlines, working as a team, and doing a job correctly. If that paraphene was not applied properly, all of that cutting, hauling, and recutting would be for naught. We depended on our work bringing home the money we needed for our lifestyle. Now, my Dad was creative, because he sold vegetables, fruit, and other things at the farmer's market too. There you have it, child laborer, my very first job!
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)I enjoyed this very much, my Sunday reading. I come from a family of entrepeneurs too. I wasn`t invovled like you were ... but I got the entrepeneural spirit. Good luck with your book selling.Please log in to respond to this comment.
It's good to have exposure to entrepreneurs. In fact, it doesn't get much better. Sure, there's lots of work and you keep at it but it pays off if you're determined. What great memories all the way around since you worked as an entire family. You weren't a laborer for someone else. Everything you guys did went into the family till. It's one way to get ahead faster than each member going their own way. Plus you gained so much valuable experience and example. Thank you for sharing.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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