The summer of 1967 was a very turbulent time in this country. There was a very strong anti-war movement going on, as this was the time of the Vietnam War. There were also a great deal of happenings surrounding the folk music scene, the biggest of which was happening in San Francisco. The “Flower People”, the peace movement, and the Civil Rights Movement were all happening. The drug culture was exploding (LSD was still legal). There was a lot of anger being expressed, and rioting was not uncommon, especially in the city slums. And I was working for Uncle Sam. My exposure to these events was as a sidelined spectator, I could not participate even if I wanted to.

Check out Scott McKenzies song, “San Francisco”. This really sums up “The Summer of Love”. in one tune.

My Army training lasted thru August of that summer. I was at Ft. Lee, Virginia, going thru Quartermaster School. I was being trained to be a supply NCO, which basically means being able to supply our troops with all the necessary items needed to accomplish our mission, from toilet paper to trucks to ammunition and guns. While I was in Virginia, I did have some time off (“Leave Time”), and my buddies and I would do a little travelling around. Most of us had cars, and I remember in particular going to Philadelphia on the Fourth of July. Being there on that historic day was quite a thrill, and walking the cobblestone streets that our Founding Fathers walked was something special. At that time the Liberty Bell was in Independence Hall, before they placed it in its own special building.

I was discharged from Ft. Lee toward the end of August, and drove home straight thru the night. I was eager to get back and resume a “normal” life. Of course, being in the Army Reserves or National Guard still had its responsibilities; we had a monthly weekend meeting, and a full two weeks away from home in the summer (“Summer Camp”). Some of my buddies were going to college in Boston, and transferred to a unit down there. A few of those units were activated and sent into the war that was going on. But our unit in Chester did not get that call.

Shortly after returning home, my wife gave birth to our first child, a daughter. I had gone back to work in the drafting pool at J&L, and took a day off to celebrate, and visit friends to announce the event. Maybe have a beer and cigar, I can’t remember. But my boss was mildly upset with me. He could not understand why I took a day off, saying when his wife was due, he dropped her off at the hospital on the way to work……….

I have since discovered that this was not an uncommon occurrence, but I still don’t understand it.

One of the draftsmen announced that he had bought a new “chevelle” on winter morning. The Chevelle was a popular automobile Chevrolet had been building since 1964. It could be a utilitarian car, or a high performance one, depending on the options purchased. Of course we all asked him about it, what color was it, etc. I must explain that this fellow was a French-Canadian, with the attendant accent. He could not understand why we wanted to know what color his SNOW SHOVEL was………..

The drafting pool was situated pretty much in the center of the office area, with the main aisle running down one side of it. The aisle allowed for much visiting as the girls (and guys) travelled back and forth to the restrooms. I was fortunate enough to sit right next to the aisle, and had the opportunity to make many new friends. Girl watching was an important sport at J&L (or anywhere). But sometimes being on the aisle was not a good thing. The Boss kept pretty close track of his people, and if he didn’t speak to you then, he certainly would at Review Time. There were semi-annual reviews to discuss your progress (or lack thereof), which I actually did pretty well with. There was a structured, and published, chart of job titles and the range of pay assigned to each. This chart started out as (if I remember right), Apprentice Draftsman Class 1, 2 and 3, then Draftsman 1, 2, 3. If you were paying attention, did well, and there happened to be an opening in any of the product engineering departments, you might be asked if you would like to “move up” into the Designer classification. At this time business was very good, and the office structure was slowly being modified to eliminate the drafting pool and place people directly into the various product engineering departments.

During my early years, The Vietnam war was slowly building up. And I was classified as 1-A (available to be drafted). When I joined J&L, Textron applied for, and received, a “deferment” for me (meaning I was exempt from the draft). Back then the draft was always on your mind, and you were never really sure when your deferment might end. Many guys joined the National Guard or Army Reserves, which at that time were not activated as much as they are today. I decided to join the Chester Army reserves in January of 1967. That was a busy month for me, as I also got married. Married in January, shipped off in March. Not much  time for cuddling.  I remember getting the Official Order, report to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina for basic training. Wait a minute, ain’t that where the 82nd Airborne are? I don’t wanna jump out of planes!!

As it turned out, the Company Commander was ex-National Guard, and many of us recruits were Guard or Reserve affiliated. But the D.I.’s were AIRBORNE, BABY. I would never again be in as good a condition as when I graduated and headed north to Ft. Lee, Virginia, for Quartermasters (supply school) training.

My boss in the drafting pool was George Julien. He had a wife and a daughter who were pretty much at home. George was the breadwinner. Sitting near him was the Manager of Standards, Ray Hastings, whose job it was to keep the Standards Book “up to date”. This was quite a volume, probably three inches thick, as it contained all the standard items that were used by the company in all its assemblies. By standard items I mean the hardware, fasteners, and company made pieces that could be used on the product line. Ray had an assistant to help him keep this book current. There were always new pages coming out, and because each department in the company had a copy, the assistant was forever moving (there were probably a hundred books scattered around the buildings).

Another item that was vitally important, especially for newcomers, was the J&L Drafting Manual. This book contained what every engineer / detailer should know, beginning with the basics (how to print and dimension legibly), to information on hydraulics, pneumatics, sheet metal, castings, forgings, etc. It was meant to briefly describe the various disiplines  that had to be mastered if a person was to become successful as an engineer.

This manual was also the responsibility of the Standards Department.

At that time we had an in-house fluid power engineer, whos job it was to assist anyone with a hydraulic or pneumatic question, or to even design circuitry. There were periodic classes given to engineering personnel to help educate them. The drafting Manual had a chapter showing what symbols should be used on diagrams for various valves and other devices. The use of hydraulics was important in the machine tool industry, as it provided point-of-operation power with a remote reservoir and pump.

Many of the major parts of the J&L machinery were castings. It was, of course, very important to design these items properly. The Drafting Manual had some general guidelines concerning types of iron, wall thicknesses, etc. But the best way to learn was to look at some past drawings for guidance, and to talk to some of the older engineers. We had another Ace-in -the Hole in this arena- Lucas Pattern Company. They made most of the patterns for us, and were just up Bridge Street, a short walk (the building is now gone, having collapsed from heavy snow a few years ago). Ralph Lucas gave classes at his place for us budding engineers, showing us how to design the castings so he could create the wooden patterns in the most economical way. How to choose the correct wall thicknesses so the molten iron would flow properly, and fill the mold. How to design radii, again for proper flow. Any new casting drawing (we called them “pattern drawings), would be reviewed by him and his suggestions were always welcome. A win-win situation, he could make the pattern the most economical way,  and we would get a solid casting. Ralph is gone now, but I will never forget his handshake- ouch!!

 

As was mentioned before, there were ten or twelve people who made up the drafting pool at J&L. Most were involved with creating mechanical drawings (details) of parts extracted from a layout created by an engineer in one of the product departments. There were also a few folks who were working on the electrical side of a project, mostly concerning electrical junction boxes, and the panel layout and detailing of electrical components. There were very few women who had an interest in this type of drafting work (although most of the hands-on electrical panel wiring was done by women).

I think it was toward the end of 1965 when I was placed in the drafting pool. One of my VTC classmates, who had an electrical degree, was also there. I had been staying at various rooms around town, none with cooking capabilities. He and I decided to rent an apartment on Wall Street, so we could cook for ourselves, and save some money. I was never very good at saving money (or cooking either). But between us, we learned to improve in those areas. In a typical bachelor fashion, the dishes would pile up in the sink, getting washed only when we ran out of clean ones. The cooking was never very good, but it was better than what we had been doing on our own.

Back in those days, most automobiles were rear wheel drive, front engine setups. There were very few four-wheel drive, or front wheel drive, cars. So getting around a town like Springfield was quite a challenge in the winter. Just a slight incline (like there is in front of the post office), could stop traffic flow if the conditions were right. And there was plenty of traffic when the shops got out. Getting thru town could take an hour (and the side streets were even steeper). Being on a tight budget, I usually bought winter retread tires, which cost considerably less than new. And they worked fine, as long as I didn’t drive on the interstate much. Higher speeds tend to create heat in a tire, and sometimes the retread would fail. A couple of cement blocks in the trunk helped in the traction department. It didn’t help the fuel mileage, but gas was less than 40 cents a gallon.

As with any group of people, we had our share of, shall I say, “interesting folks”. One young fellow always seemed to do things to create attention. He had been taking some sort of self-defense course, and he wanted to show us just how much he had learned. He brought in a heavy hand file from the shop (the technical term is “bastard” file). It was about 1/4″ thick,  and placed it on top of two stacks of books. He then proceeded to karate-chop it………..of course the books were not very firm, the hand went down, the file did not break, the hand was very swollen for several days………..

 

 

After my stint on the lathe assembly floor, it was decided that I should be placed in the environment I was hired for. The engineering department was set up basically along the product line mode. There were separate departments for the manual lathe product ( Fays and Tracer Lathes), the NC product (the early NCTL lathe), and the grinder product (form and thread grinders). These departments were where the design and layout functions took place. After the final designs were approved, the layouts were sent over to the Drafting Pool. These were the folks who took the layouts and detailed all the parts so that the mechanism could be built. We are talking here about pencil drawings, as this was before any CAD (Computer Aided Drafting)  existed. Some of these “layouts” could measure three feet wide by eight feet long. All in pencil. And the mechanism might contain fifty or a hundred separate parts.

The drafting pool  was my first stop in the engineering department. There were perhaps ten or twelve of us, some had been in the pool for a few years. Some were happy just being a detailer, and did not wish to climb the ladder any further. It was a lot of fun, deciphering  the layouts and coming up with a drawing that could be used to manufacture a part. Some parts were simple, some required quite a lot of creative thinking.

So it was the detailer who extracted and drew up every part. And dimensioned it. And quite often there were problems that the designer did not foresee, so there was a constant back-and-forth review as each detail was made. It was here where the detailer really starts to learn his craft, an actual working drawing, that is easy to read, manufacturable, and as economical as possible. It is here that he becomes involved with the Methods Department, the folks who have the knowledge concerning the limitations of the various machines that will be used to make each part. Every job the detailer does adds to this knowledge, so his future details will be more correct and require less changes. One thing a detailer does not like to see are his drawings all marked up in red!! If he does his job correctly, and pays attention to past suggestions, his drawings will become less “colorful”…….

Which brings me to the department all detailers dread, the Engineering Checkers. After the detailing is done, all the drawings and the original layout would be sent to The Checkers. We had maybe six checkers at J&L, of different temperments. And it was Pot Luck who got your job; so it might sail thru with little change, or you might get the guy who we called SUPER-REDESIGN. Even the basic layout and design were fair game to him. Now remember this was back in the days of pencil and eraser. A lot of eraser. A half inch thick on the floor. Burning rubber. Drawings with thin spots (or holes). A learning experience……………