1958

1958 The Army had built a large group of apartments for the families. However, many of the soldiers decided that they did not want to stay on the base, which resulted in a number of vacant apartments. The Army decided that they would rent to any interested civilians. When we heard about that, we decided to sell the trailer and move to an apartment. Most of my work was on the base so it worked out quite well. Going back to the branch office for parts, etc. was a 70-mile round trip and took 2 to 3 hours. To save time, we would phone in our orders and they would be sent out in a day or so. The branch wanted to save some money so they signed a contract with Brinks Service to do the delivery in the Baltimore area using normal delivery trucks. In addition to delivery service, they also provided delivery service for the banks using armored trucks. Because of the distance, Brinks decided that they did not want to send a delivery truck all the way to Aberdeen. They serviced the local bank, so it made sense to send my packages on the armored truck. Imagine our surprise when Mom went to answer the door one day and found two armed guards and a little package. We thought it was great, but after the next delivery we realized that having an armored truck come to the house on a regular basis would make some people think that we were getting jewelry, cash, etc. instead of some IBM machine parts. This could make us a tempting target, so we canceled the service and went back to regular delivery methods. This was a case of excellent service resulting in a cancellation of the service.

We stayed there for at least a year until the Army decided that they wanted to bring the service families back on the base. At the beginning of February 1960, we were told that we were going to be evicted by the middle of April. By this time the transfer request had been in for almost 4 years. Mom and I decided that we had waited long enough. I went to the branch manager and told him that I was going to the Midwest with or without IBM. He was not encouraging, but within two weeks, I was told that they had an opening in the Rockford branch and that I was to report there by the middle of March. We knew that we were going to move to Janesville and temporarily move in with Mom's family. Therefore, we had to find a place to store our furniture. Uncle Henry worked for a moving company that was a Wheaton Van Lines agent. We decided to put our stuff in their warehouse. We also made the decision to use a Wheaton agent to haul the goods. The moving day came and we were struggling to get ready, and because this was going to be our first real move, we were not progressing very well. On moving day I looked out and saw the moving van parked in front of the apartment. The doorbell rang and when Mom opened the door, she let out a scream. There was Uncle Henry with a big grin on his face. It turned out that he had just finished a job in Philadelphia and decided to head back to Wisconsin. When he called his dispatcher, they told him that there was a job in Aberdeen. He knew that it was us and he volunteered for the job. Henry had the skills and packing materials, so we got excellent professional help and excellent care. It turned out to be a very nice move. We didn't realize it at the time, but six years later he would again move us. This time, away from the Midwest to Raleigh.