1947 - Working on a Truck
From ‘The Adventures of The McGaffin’s As We Remember Them’ — a family memoir begun July 17, 2003.
1947 Working on a Truck During the summer of 1947 I took a job as a helper for a local trucking company. The main business for the company was to pick up empty Dixie cups from the Dixie Cup Company in Pennsylvania. They were unloaded at the warehouse and then reloaded for delivery in central New Jersey. Most of the deliveries were made in New York and Newark. It was hard work but fun, especially in New York. The driver that I rode with was a friend from our Sea Scout troop. He was an ex-marine who loved to play practical jokes. Hall's Freight was a non-union company and when we arrived at a union warehouse the workers were not allowed to touch anything that was connected to the truck. We would have to carry the boxes and put them on the dock, while they watched. Then they would put the boxes on a fork lift and take them away. The boxes containing the empty cups were not very heavy; however, the boxes for the lids were the same size but quite heavy. The driver would go into the truck and throw the boxes out to me as I stood on the ground. He loved to throw a number of cup boxes and then throw a box of lids. If I wasn't prepared for the heavy box, it would almost knock me down. It was a challenge to make sure that I was braced for the heavy toss. Some of the deliveries were for oversea shipments. We would go to the piers and then wait, sometimes for hours. I learned how to sleep anywhere. Sometimes I would just lie on the truck fender and nap for a few hours. One time we made a delivery to the Breyer Ice Cream Company. It was a very hot day and after we dropped our load, the warehouse man asked if we would like some ice cream. We quickly agreed and he went off to get some. We waited for a while and he didn't return so we started to leave. Another man saw us and asked if we needed some help. We told him we were waiting for ice cream. He said that he would help. He soon returned with a box of wrapped ice cream sandwiches. We thanked him and as we were getting into the truck the first man returned with two big plates full of vanilla ice cream and some spoons. We couldn't refuse and started to eat as we drove away. It was a hot day and we could not finish all of the ice cream by ourselves, so as we drove through Newark and stopped for traffic lights I hopped out of the truck and handed out ice cream packs to kids on the street. It was great fun. I imagine that when they went home and told their family, it was a surprise. If I were to do that today I would probably be arrested.
