Bin There

Done That

Met Them

Volume 1 [1927-1952]

ISBN: 978-1-926813-442-4
Pages: 397
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Keshet Productions, 2016
Price: $25.00 CAD
Bin There Done That Met Them Volume 1
Cover by Wayne Mortensen Enterprises


synopsis

This Volume covers the period 1927 [my birth] to 1952 when I left for the Korean War.

I had been painter/decorator, a watch repairman, a menswear clerk, a steel foundry hand, a tailor, a farm hand, a soldier, an animal researcher, a paramedic, and an author; and I had never had an employment that I didn’t enjoy and from which I didn’t learn a tremendous amount.

I have always been a “people person” and, in all of my employments, it was those with whom I have worked that have brought the greatest joy to my life.

I hope that this modest biography will help future generations to know and understand where they came from; and, just maybe, it will be a small incentive for them.

My wife, Daphne, has been my best friend and greatest source of encouragement.

God bless them all.

excerpt

In the fall Dad and Gramps would kill off the animals that were to be put down for our winter food — basically chickens and pigs. Mom and the maid did the chickens; that is, after Dad killed them the ladies plucked and cleaned them. Most were put down in jars [Oh, how I loved that jelly!]

The pigs were done in the garage between the house and the barn. Dad had rigged up a hoist from the garage rafters from which the pig’s carcass was hung. Below was a 45 gallon barrel filled with boiling water — I don’t remember how they managed to keep it near boiling, but I imagine with a blowtorch.

Anyway, the pig was gutted and the Carcass cleaned of offal, then the carcass was dipped into the boiling water for a few minutes. When it was removed the men would scrape off the the carcass hair with knives.

I watched it all in fascination!

I can remember the smell, even today.

When the pig was bled out, Gramps would collect two glasses of blood — one for him and one for me!

In the meanwhile, Gramps would take the bladder, clean it, blow it up and seal it, and present me with a new football!

reviews

Reviews of this book will be posted here as they are available.

[Original book stack image © epitavi/Dollar Photo Club; Original feathered inkwell image © Stekloduv/Dollar Photo Club]
companion books in this series
Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4 | Volume 5