Ralph and Patty - A Love Story Begins
1920s Ralph went to Rhodes University in Johannesburg. He majored in chemistry.
Bob McGaffin
Things Passed Down Through the Generations
A yellow box of Zweibach outlasted teething babies and great-grandkids alike — though everyone knew the real secret was eating it with butter.
1955 - The Trailer Years Begin
A new job at IBM meant a move to Milwaukee — and a crash course in trailer living, where a frozen water line at 15 below nearly turned a quick fix into a fire under the floor.
1954 - Life with IBM
At the next exam time I again took the exam and passed
1953 - Starting at IBM
1953. In the Navy, in order to get a promotion, every eligible
1952 - Early Marriage Years
Early Marriage years. My training was over in the early part of
Buying the Rings
When a young couple in Milwaukee picked out their rings, the groom-to-be came up short at the register — his bride had to cover the tax on her own engagement ring.
Wedding Day and Beyond
Our wedding plans were based on a ship assignment out of one
August 1951 - A Summer to Remember
At a Knights of Pythias social one Sunday afternoon, a young Marine sat down at a table with a buddy and a pretty girl named Joan — and by the time the train carried him back to base, he already knew she'd change everything.
The 1950s - Navy and Meeting Joan
From ‘The Adventures of The McGaffin’s As We Remember Them’ — a family memoir begun July 17, 2003.
Things for the Future
Can you imagine in the 30s what people would have thought if
1949 - The Union Shop
At a union printing shop, a young worker learns the rigid pecking order the hard way — yanked out of the time-clock line by a 15-year veteran defending his spot.