Ancestral Golden Era Jobs

[Lincsong]

What were the Golden Era jobs of your parents; grandparents, great-grandparents?

Paternal Grandpa; prizefighter, sugar cane field supervisor, carpenter, Don Juan.
Paternal Grandma; housewife, died in childbirth with #8

Maternal Grandpa; travelling sewing machine salesman, truck driver, shipyard worker, nurseryman.
Maternal Grandma; self employed domestic. Had about two dozen homes she cleaned per month.

 

[CharlieH.]

As far as I know, my paternal grandfather was an electrician at a copper mine. By all accounts, he seemed to fix everything using electrician's tape.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

My dad's grandfather was a blacksmith who followed the racetracks, a wrestler at county fairs, a foreman at a gypsum factory, and a farmer in Upstate New York. A gentle giant who always had candy in his pockets for nieces and nephews, he was 6'7" and his little finger was the circumference of my (tall) father's thumb.


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[RedPop4]

Let's see, my paternal grandfather died in 1948 when my father was 14. He worked for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.
My paternal grandmother, I think, didn'd do much of anything.

My maternal grandfather was a farm hand as a boy, working on local truck farms like the other Sicilians. As a man he worked in a Swift plant

My maternal grandmother was employed at a shrimp packing plant, and during the war, worked at Johns-Manville. This lead to asbestosis.

 

[LolitaHaze]

Goodness, this is a great question... sadly I don't know. I think I will have to ask my Mom now that my interest has been peaked. I know my Grandpa was a Sailor on the Navy for WWII and my Grandmother did volunteer work, but what they did after that time I am unsure of.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Dad was an aeronautical engineer at Supermarine from the early 1930s until 1954, and Mom was a nurse in Austria in WWII. I got war stories from both sides.

 

[matei]

Interesting thread...

My maternal grandfather was in WWII as a mid/top gunner on a B-29. After the war he worked for the defence industry until he was laid off. He then became a well-liked janitor for an elementary school until he retired. He started off in the military as an infantryman. He was very intelligent, and was moved to the AAF after an aptitude test. He told us that preferred flying to crawling over dead people and constantly getting shot at!

When he and his family came to the US he was the main support, even while he was in school. He did all sorts of jobs to keep everyone fed and healthy. Even though he had two older brothers, he was still the "main man" in the family - I think it was because he was the only one with decent English!

His parents owned a brickyard on the Old Continent. They actually held on to it when the whole family came over to the US, and only sold it fairly recently. My grandfather ended up selling it to the workers who had lived and worked on the premises for ages.

My maternal grandmother didn't work until later in life.

Her father was a miner, a popular job for immigrants. Her mother didn't work.

I don't know what my paternal grandparents did. They bounced back and forth between the US and Ireland a bit. I do know that unlike most, during the Depression they were fairly well off and that my grandfather always had work. I remember they had an Auburn automobile.

My wife's grandfather was a tailor. During WWII he was in an artillery unit in the Romanian army. He saw action when the Romanian army switched sides to fight alongside the Soviets to help kick the Nazis out of Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. After the war his shop was nationalised, so he became a beekeeper!

Her grandmother raised the children and looked after the farm. She still looks after that farm.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

Paternal Grandfather - Tire salesman
Maternal Grandfather - Injured during shelling of Papua New Guinea, returned home and became farmer again.

 

[Barry]

Paternal Grandfather: Schohet (kosher butcher) but sold eggs after the depression.

Maternal Grandparents: Owned a menswear store in Virginia, USA. The store was an old "credit" business where a customer would put money down on his suit and then make payments on it. They mostly sold church clothes to African American working men.

Barry

 

[Big Man]

Paternal Great-Grandfather: My great-grandfather Brown was a Civil War veteran who was a farmer, operated a store, and later in life was the Post Master in Glenwood, NC.

Paternal Great-Grandmother: My great-grandmother Brown was a homemaker who raised 14 children.

Maternal Great-Grandfather: My great-grandfather Dobson was a farm colony supervisor at the State Hospital in Morganton.

Maternal Great-Grandmother: My great-grandmother Dobson was a homemaker. She and her father were struck and killed by lightning while standing on her father's front porch during a storm in 1914.

Paternal Grandfather: Following his service during the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902), my grandfather Brown went to work as an "attendant" at the State Hospital at Morganton (the same place I work). When he and my grandmother were married in 1904, he became a farmer. Later he worked for a number of years as a carpenter. At the time of his death in 1932 he was working at McDowell Hardware.

Paternal Grandmother: My grandmother Brown began working at the State Hospital in Morganton as a nurse. Once she and my grandfather were married, she became a homemaker.


Maternal Grandfather: My grandfather Dobson was a lumber buyer for Drexel Furniture Company. Later in life he took a position as Safety Director for the Department of Defense. When he retired from the government, he returned home and took a job as the Veterans Service Officer for McDowell County, NC.

Maternal Grandmother: My grandmother Dobson was a homemaker.

Father: My Dad said his first job was a caddy at a gold course in the late 1930's. He went to UNC (go Tarheels!) to play basketball in 1943, but was drafted in the Army before the season was over. He served in WW II, and upon his return to the states in 1945, attended Appalachian State Teachers College (now ASU). He was a school principal from 1949 until he retired in 1979.

Mother: My Mother went to work for the FBI in washington, DC during the war. Following the war she returned home and finished school at Lenoir Rhyne College. She was a school teacher, taking several years out of her teaching job from the time my sister and I were born until we were in school.

 

[AtomicBlonde]

My maternal great grandparents were farmers, although my great grandfather was also a preacher.
My maternal grandfather was in the army durring WWII, but switched to the Navy right after. He and my grandmother were "introduced" by his uncle who gave her his address so they could write. They exchanged letters and photos for a couple years until the war was over. She came home one day from work (she worked in a pants factory durring WWII) and there he was! They got married 4 months later. After they married, she stayed home and was a housewife. He was in the Navy until 1962.
My paternal great great grandfather was an interesting fellow... he hoboed on a train up to Virginia from North Carolina in the early 20th century... apparently, he stopped in Culpeper because thats where he ran out of money. He took up work on a local farm, where he met and fell in love with my great great grandmother. He is quoted as saying he worshipped the ground she walked on while they were courting... he wrote her poems, he sang her songs... but, after they married he discovered that "she was the meanest woman God had ever strung guts in." They had a few kids and he did farm work until he got tired of her being so mean and he ran off to Maryland somewhere.
His son, my great grandfather (who only died when I was 14, so I knew him well) was a carpenter and was in the Army durring WWII. He was fun to talk to.
My other set of great great grandparents on my dads side were farmers. They eeked out a living in Madison county in the shadow of the blue ridge mountains. They were tough people... there is a family story about my great great grandmother being quite pregnant, but still plowing the field... apparently, she came in from the fields, had her baby, smoked a cigarette, and went back to work. Holy cow, thats hardcore!!! Her husband apparently liked to fight and he'd take off on Friday nights to go into town to kick hiney. The scary thing was he took all the kitchen knives with him, stuck into his coat.

My moms side of the family is fairly normal. My dads side of the family is full of jacked up crazy people who drink and fight. They were all pretty much farmers... but their extracurricular activities were quite... interesting....

-Jess

 

[Big Man]

... My other set of great great grandparents on my dads side were farmers. They eeked out a living in Madison county in the shadow of the blue ridge mountains. They were tough people... there is a family story about my great great grandmother being quite pregnant, but still plowing the field... apparently, she came in from the fields, had her baby, smoked a cigarette, and went back to work. Holy cow, thats hardcore!!! Her husband apparently liked to fight and he'd take off on Friday nights to go into town to kick hiney. The scary thing was he took all the kitchen knives with him, stuck into his coat...

-Jess

If that's Madison County, NC, not much has changed over the years (Madison County is just "up the road" from where I live).

These are great stories. Thanks for sharing.

 

[AtomicBlonde]

If that's Madison County, NC, not much has changed over the years (Madison County is just "up the road" from where I live).

These are great stories. Thanks for sharing.

Nope, Madison County Virginia... it hasnt changed much there either. I took a couple friends up there over Easter weekend... we went to the Syria Mercantile and got coke in a bottle then I took them up to Mr. Gordons house to buy apple butter... he's a WWII vet (was at Normandy) and now he makes chicken vegetable soup and apple butter and sells it. When he's home you can sit on his front porch with him and shoot the breeze... when he's not, his apple butter is still for sale on the "honor system." Take your stuff, and leave your money. Its THE BEST you'll ever get, and its only 6 bucks for a whole quart. Here's a pic of my friends Drew and Kate up in front of the mercantile with their spoils:

 

[decodoll]

Maternal great-grandfather was the head of the California Deptartment of Veterans Affairs under Governor Knight in the 1950's.

Maternal grandfather was a principal engineering technician for SMUD (Sacramento gas co.)

All the maternal and paternal grandmothers and great-grandmothers were homemakers.

Unfortunately, I don't know about my paternal grandfather.

Here's my great-grampa in Barney Google. He's writing a chain letter and starting a whole lot of hub bub. This scan is cropped to just him. I have the rest of the strip scanned somewhere.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

My grandmother worked in a factory which made marshmallows. Back when they were treated like candy and individually coddled in fancy boxes...

I have no idea what my grandfather actually did that far back, as when I was young, they owned a burlap bag sewing company, back when you rehabbed old feed sacks a few times before then using them as sandbags.

My grandmother still did that for a few remaining clients out of her garage until well into her 70's.

 

[Raegan]

As far as I know, my paternal grandfather was an electrician at a copper mine. By all accounts, he seemed to fix everything using electrician's tape.

Oh that's so funny, my Papa fixes everything with duct tape and wire (usually a coat hanger.) He had a truck that he held together that way for years. It's neat to know there's others out there with memories like mine.

 

[Haversack]

My paternal Grandfather was an English valet and butler (and later caretaker) on a couple of the estates in Montecito. He also played cricket.

My paternal Grandmother was initially a Scottish farmgirl who went into service, (as did all her sisters), as a 'tweenie, parlourmaid, and housekeeper. In later days she was a force to be reckoned with in the Canadian Legion Auxillery.

My maternal Grandfather was a Salinas Valley Rancher.

My maternal Grandmother was a ranchers' wife.

Haversack

 

[Hondo]

My Grandfather and Great Grandfather, Vets of WWI, Europe, Los Angeles county Police and Sheriff. My Father, a vet. WWII in the pacific, Deputy U.S. Marshal. Long line of law enforcement.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Paternal Grandfather was a US Army drill instuctor during WWI, and then ran the family owned funeral home until he died in his early 90's in 1987.

Paternal Grandmother sold insurance and was a housewife. Passed away in her late 80's in 1986.

Maternal Grandfather was a farmer, and then late in life a handyman. Passed away in his late 70's in 1982.

Maternal Grandmother was a housewife, and worked sales at a department store sometimes. Passed away in her late 70's in 1983.
(no handy photos of them)

My maternal grandparents died "early" from complications from smoking their whole lives.

We can trace our family line (Stovall) directly back to 1682 Jamestown.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I don't know what family members did on my father's side going too far back, his father was a farmer, mother a housewife, but they both died very young, he in the polio epidemic of 1916, she of the Spanish flu in early 1919.

My father was raised by his aunt, who, for all practical purposes, was his mother. Her husband was in a wheelchair by the age of 28; she started a grocery store and ran the store most of her life until she was in her mid-70's. Sold the store and tried to retire, but got bored and went out and got an Avon sales route, got an award in Pennsylvania for selling the most Avon in one day -- at the age of 76. She lived to be 86 and worked right up to a few months before she died.

My father started working in a bakery and, when WW II started, he enlisted in the navy and was a baker, there, too. Finally in the late 40's, he got a job assembling gears at the John Deere plant in Ankeny, IA. Worked there until he retired, got bored and started fixing up old VW bugs with a friend. When that business finally stopped (ran out of old bugs), he got a job for seniors at Hertz, got to drive cars back from the airport. He loved it, and worked up until about a year before he died.

I can trace my mother's side way back to the early 1700's. My g-g-g-grandparents were ministers -- methodist and baptist. One g-g-g uncle was a well known circuit rider. My great grandfathers were farmers. My mother's father was a house painter, very poor, was not particularly ambitious. He and my grandmother had 12 kids. Mother mostly was a homemaker, but had jobs in stores and was head housekeeper in the girls's dorms at Drake University back in the 60's. I got tuition free because she worked at Drake. She also worked in factories during WW II.

My brother has been a sheet metal worker for many years. He designs the guts of buildings or some such thing. I have been a school teacher, social worker, summer stock actress, and an editor in publishing, among other things.

karol