Cold Storage
I remember the cold storage lockers that were located on NE 10th and Beech on the SW corner. In the 1940s and early 1950s, most of us didn't have freezers, so our moms rented space for our meat and poultry supply. That was always a great place to go to on a hot summer day!
Note: According to Carol (née Hergert) Gass, Bob Leonard, and his mother lived upstairs from the cold storage business for years during her late grade and early high school years.
Note: According to Carol (née Hergert) Gass, Bob Leonard, and his mother lived upstairs from the cold storage business for years during her late grade and early high school years.
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Story contributed by Georgia (Koch) Thomas
The mention of that cold storage locker brings back fond memories for me. Before it became a cold storage locker, there was a Brown's Market in that same building, on the Southwest corner of 10th and Beech. I vaguely remember that Market as not being very busy, which may have been the reason for the conversion to a cold storage locker.
Back then, we lived about a block-and-a-half from that locker, at 3816 N.E. 11th Avenue, on the East side of the street, near Failing. For added orientation, our neighbor to the South was Krieger and our neighbor to the North was Axt.
During one Highland Grade School summer vacation, I can recall working for the two men who built that cold storage food locker. I believe they were brothers and their last name was either Simmons or Simon. Most vivid, is my memory of the first job I had of loosely stuffing shredded redwood bark into the open spaces in the newly constructed cold room walls. That was the preferred method of insulating at the time; many years before fiberglass insulation became popular. Because the redwood bark came in compressed bundles, it had to be finely shredded, prior to hand stuffing into the open wall spaces. The in-door mechanical shredding process that we used was very messy. Accordingly, to provide some protection against the minute particles that flew everywhere, I wore a handkerchief across my nose and mouth. Most annoying, however, were the fine particles that became imbedded in my hair and clothes. I itched for days!
In our neighborhood, at that time, when an opportunity arose to earn any amount of money, youth had no limitations; and being an overly ambitious youth, I fit right in.
After the insulation was in place and the interior walls finished and painted, a more favorable job followed. That job entailed the use of a jig, wherein I align wooden slats before nailing them together to form rigid, latticed panels. After a couple of days on that project, and evaluating other considerations, we agreed that I should be paid for each panel that I assembled, that is, piecework; instead of being paid by the hour. That arrangement was definitely to my advantage, because I was inherently fast and very efficient; which produced an excellent hourly wage for me. Those open panels then became the walls and doors for the individual lockers. That openness not only allowed for the circulation of frigid air throughout the interior of the cold room; it also provided an opportunity for your neighbors to know what you were eating.
I do not know how many years that cold storage food locker was open for business. Nevertheless, with the advent of home freezers, it is likely they were forced to close sometime during the 1950s or 60s. Today, at that same 936 N.E. Beech Street address, you will find the New Freedom Assembly Church of God In Christ.
Because I was recognized for being fast, efficient, and reliable, the two men hired me again, when they began building another cold storage food locker. I am not certain as to its exact location, but it was most likely on the Northwest corner of Fargo Street, facing North Williams Avenue, just a few short blocks from Dawson Park.
Sometime later, though I am unable to recall the specifics, those brothers hired me for the third time; to help with the construction of a new home they were building on either N.E. 16th or 17th Street, between Mason and Skidmore Avenues. In retrospect, what I learned during the course of those three exciting projects, I still carry to this day.
The recollection and writing about this wonderful, youthful, life episode; still makes me ITCH!
Back then, we lived about a block-and-a-half from that locker, at 3816 N.E. 11th Avenue, on the East side of the street, near Failing. For added orientation, our neighbor to the South was Krieger and our neighbor to the North was Axt.
During one Highland Grade School summer vacation, I can recall working for the two men who built that cold storage food locker. I believe they were brothers and their last name was either Simmons or Simon. Most vivid, is my memory of the first job I had of loosely stuffing shredded redwood bark into the open spaces in the newly constructed cold room walls. That was the preferred method of insulating at the time; many years before fiberglass insulation became popular. Because the redwood bark came in compressed bundles, it had to be finely shredded, prior to hand stuffing into the open wall spaces. The in-door mechanical shredding process that we used was very messy. Accordingly, to provide some protection against the minute particles that flew everywhere, I wore a handkerchief across my nose and mouth. Most annoying, however, were the fine particles that became imbedded in my hair and clothes. I itched for days!
In our neighborhood, at that time, when an opportunity arose to earn any amount of money, youth had no limitations; and being an overly ambitious youth, I fit right in.
After the insulation was in place and the interior walls finished and painted, a more favorable job followed. That job entailed the use of a jig, wherein I align wooden slats before nailing them together to form rigid, latticed panels. After a couple of days on that project, and evaluating other considerations, we agreed that I should be paid for each panel that I assembled, that is, piecework; instead of being paid by the hour. That arrangement was definitely to my advantage, because I was inherently fast and very efficient; which produced an excellent hourly wage for me. Those open panels then became the walls and doors for the individual lockers. That openness not only allowed for the circulation of frigid air throughout the interior of the cold room; it also provided an opportunity for your neighbors to know what you were eating.
I do not know how many years that cold storage food locker was open for business. Nevertheless, with the advent of home freezers, it is likely they were forced to close sometime during the 1950s or 60s. Today, at that same 936 N.E. Beech Street address, you will find the New Freedom Assembly Church of God In Christ.
Because I was recognized for being fast, efficient, and reliable, the two men hired me again, when they began building another cold storage food locker. I am not certain as to its exact location, but it was most likely on the Northwest corner of Fargo Street, facing North Williams Avenue, just a few short blocks from Dawson Park.
Sometime later, though I am unable to recall the specifics, those brothers hired me for the third time; to help with the construction of a new home they were building on either N.E. 16th or 17th Street, between Mason and Skidmore Avenues. In retrospect, what I learned during the course of those three exciting projects, I still carry to this day.
The recollection and writing about this wonderful, youthful, life episode; still makes me ITCH!
Source
Story contributed by Melvin W. Cook, October 9, 2012.