or as I would likely have known him, Great Grandfather.
Among the family heirlooms are pictures of him in a Fireman's uniform and his badge.
His daughter, Verna Stevenson, my Grandmother was a teller of tales. One of her favorite tales was how her Father lost his job as a Fireman.
According to the story, Herbert was storing sugar and flour for a neighborhood bakery during the Second World War. As many may know (or may not know), rationing was the word of the period. So much was rationed for the war effort. Among them was gasoline, rubber, meat, sugar, flour and others. This was serious business.
That is, unless you were in comedy. When Curly of the Three Stooges sang "She was bred in old Kentucky (but she just a crumb up here)", the closing lines deal with cutting a slice of her "cauliflower ear." Then he sings, "'Cause that ain't rationed." Bugs Bunny was in plane that was getting ready to crash because of the gremlin, when it ran out of gas. The last gag is him making reference to the ration sticker on the window of the plane.
In real life, though, there were stiff penalties for hoarding rationed goods. Herbert was found to be hoarding, which, according to my Grandmother, cost him his job. Story told.
But wait! My Father remembers that he was a fireman at the Navy Yard during the war. Is it possible that there is more to this story than anyone thought? That's really a silly line. I mean, if there weren't more to tell, why would I bother blogging about it?
Here is where your resources go beyond the census. In Philadelphia, there is the Fireman's Hall Museum. Not many visit this wonderful place. As a kid, I remember it fondly. Every bit of fireman history for the city is here. Considering that Ben Franklin created the country's first fire department right here in Philly, where else would it be? The Museum has a file on everyone who ever worked as a fireman in the city. An email put the research wheels in motion.
They don't get a lot of funding. Needless to say, there was a contribution. Try to remember to be generous to your sources, especially those that are underfunded. Most people don't even know that the Museum is there. It was more that a year for the response to show up.
Herbert became a fireman on 9 July 1920. The letter went on to say there he was "dismissed" on 6 March 1928, more than 13 years before the war! It was also noted that there was nothing in their records to show employment as a fireman after 1928.
About six years after the letter, I was using Newspapers.com. I plugged in his name. This is where the story gets juicy.
It seems that Herbert ran into a little trouble in 1926.
Yes, Herbert wasn't hoarding sugar, he was bootlegging. Prohibition has begun in 1920, with even stiffer penalties than hoarding.
The article says that he was to go before a judge the next day. So far, I have found little to say what happened. As far as the Navy Yard story, it may have been true. He had experience and with all the able-bodied men in service overseas, the Navy may have hired him. Maybe he did hoard sugar and flour during the war. There is no newspaper stories to support any of this. There is also no one left from that time. Sadly, the facts came to light after my Grandmother had passed.
Next time: Why my Grandfather came to America
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Bootlegging?
ReplyDeleteNow that is an exciting thing to find out about a relative!